How eDesk helped Sauder create a connected customer experience and increase sales

Industry
Furniture manufacturing

Integrations
Amazon, eBay, Home Depot, Lowe’s, Walmart, Sears

eDesk solutions
eDesk

eDesk customer
Since September 2020

„Sauder Woodworking Co. is North America’s leading producer of ready-to-assemble (RTA) furniture. We are here to serve our customers so they feel appreciated, valued and loyal. For us, eDesk is a one and done customer support solution. You can answer any customer question from one screen and even employees who are not digital natives find it easy to use. We know we have a winning combination of quality service and products because almost half of our customers purchase again within six weeks.“

Brendan Toone
Direct Sales Manager, Sauder

In 1934, Erie Sauder started a woodworking business in a barn behind his home in Archbold, Ohio. Originally a builder of custom cabinetry and church pews, he began crafting small occasional tables from the fine, leftover wood. In 1940, the workmanship of these tables eventually inspired a traveling salesman to place an astounding order of 25,000 — a seemingly impossible purchase order for a budding company. But with a little ingenuity and a lot of determination, Sauder Woodworking Co. grew and flourished. Fast forward to 1953 for Sauder to find the answer to its calling — a patented table that could be assembled at home. And it was this snap-together table that marked the beginning of the ready-to-assemble furniture industry.

From their base at Archbold, Ohio, they run a number of subsidiary companies and now have 2,800 employees, generating sales of nearly $500 million annually.

Fragmented customer communication was the problem

Sauder is proud of its commitment to customer service, but

a lack of connectivity between related support tickets was threatening Sauder customers’ experiences. Data privacy compliance meant every time a customer switched communication channels a separate support ticket was created, resulting in fragmented customer histories which made it difficult for the online retailer to maintain their exceptional service standards.

Sauder urgently needed to achieve a balance between data privacy and data transparency to ensure consistently smooth and personalized customer experiences.

Solutions

A 360° view of the customer was the solution

The key to overcoming this challenge was eDesk’s ability to generate unique customer IDs that connect their buyer’s multichannel touchpoints to avoid repetition and save time, without compromising data privacy.

eDesk gave the Customer Service team at Sauder a 360° view of the customer for the first time. Unique customer IDs allow Sauder to compliantly connect one ticket with multiple touchpoints from pre-sale, sale and after-sale channels within eDesk without needing to use Personally Identifiable Information (PII) such as telephone or Social Security numbers.

An added benefit is eDesk’s Insight tool, which means performance reporting can be shared with management for real time visibility at the touch of a button. As a result of their quality customer service and products, Sauder now has 42% of buyers purchasing again within just six weeks.

eDesk makes it easier for Sauder to maintain their Center of Excellence recognition, one of the most prestigious awards in the customer service and support industry. The award recognizes their superior customer service performance metrics compared with their industry peers.

Results

• 66% increase in efficiency

• 98% customer satisfaction

• 42% return customers in 6 weeks

• >50 tickets per day personally replied to

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