Meet Customer Needs with 8×8 Business Phone

How 8×8 Business Phone System Helps an Organic Retail Business – Case study

Find out how this organic retail business meets the growing customer demands, increases sales capacity, and gains more insights into overall business operation using an 8×8 business phone system.

Company Profile:

Eversfield Organic is a Devon-based organic farm, run by Owner Mark Bury. The business includes a farm, an online shop, a farm shop, and a deli.

How Eversfield Started?

In Bratton Clovelly, Devon, nestled on the edge of Dartmoor is Ellacott farm. Mark Burry founded it in 2002 with his family’s cooperation in nurturing the land back to health.

He aimed to provide the finest quality food with animal welfare in mind. It took him two years to plant over 30,000 trees and bringing back hedgerows. He also built the fencing on the farm and was finally granted organic status. His hard work paid off when he witnessed how the natural flora and wildlife flourished in the area. He also started rearing native Aberdeen Angus cattle fed on a 100% pasture diet.

Another turning point in the business was when he started offering meat deliveries to people’s homes.

The Well Hung Company and its Acquisition

Another significant part of Eversfield is the Well Hung Company. The latter started when Geoff Sayers quitted his job as an investment banker in Asia two decades ago. He went back to his family in the UK and a few years later started Well Hung Company.

It was a family business selling lamb to family and friends and prided themselves in working with passionate local farmers. His belief in traditional methods of food production combined with a concern of the unbelievable prices by supermarket chains, pushing conventional farms to the brink, prompted Mark to start the business.

Geoff Sayers wanted to get closer to the customers by bypassing the big retailers. His strategy was to deliver high-quality meat directly to people’s homes, which will generate better margins for the farms.

His start-up costs were kept down to 10,000 pounds with only eight staff. The company delivered a box service in which clients can get a selection of curated meats. Every year, they noticed a growth of about 25 percent with customers based in London and the southeast.

Geoff Sayers has always been a hands-on boss and believed in the importance of training. He always aimed to provide the very best organic meat in the UK, that he made sure every health and safety rule is adequately followed.

In 2017, retailer Eversfield Organic bought The Well Hung Meat Company, intending to push the business into the top three organic box delivery businesses in the UK. It created a turnover of 5 million pounds.

Eversfield founder Mark Bury shared how he and Geoff shared similar principles and values in all things organic. Two businessmen who used to be competitors finally joined in and created a stronger team.

Continuous Growth 

With all the changes in the company, Eversfield continued to adapt. Currently, they can cover every household’s weekly needs from fruits, vegetables, dairy, meat alternatives, and wild fish. They also offer vegetarian and vegan options. Eversfields continues to deliver products in the UK.

Fast forward, the company now has 32 employees. The operation now includes an online shop, a farm shop, and a deli, supplying to organic retailers such as Ocado, Abel, & Cole, and Whole Foods. The company has a lot of great plans ahead. It planned to innovate and to grow by adding another farm shop and a Bar & Grill.

The company’s mission and vision made them an award-winning organic producer and online retailer. Eversfield created the name for itself by believing that organic food should not only taste better and deliver the proven health benefits that conventionally farmed produce cannot live up to. The company’s products remain organic with a conscientious and holistic approach to environmental concerns.

The Challenge Eversfield Organic is Facing

With every growing company comes some growing pains. The company foresaw the need to introduce a more sophisticated small business phone system. It needs to have many features that will cater to their needs, such as connecting employees across their various sites. The call flow must be smooth and must provide valuable insight into every incoming and outgoing call.

Why 8×8 is the Small Business Phone System of Choice?

Upon looking for the best office phone systems, Eversfields came across 8×8, which aims to transform the future of business communications. Here what makes the 8×8 small business phone system the no. 1 choice:

Integrated Platform

The company integrated voice, video, chat, contact center, as well as enterprise-class API solutions into a secured cloud communication platform.

8×8 Business Phone System is Secured and Compliant

8×8 uses the highest levels of data security, verified by third-party regulations such as FISMA/NIST SP 800-53 R4, GDPR, and ISO 27001 that proves that its platform is secured.

8×8 Wins in Reliability.

Reliability is one thing they are proud of, claiming that there is no single point of failure. The highly secured infrastructure only delivers a service from top-tier and geographically diverse state-of-the-art data centers.

The system of the company is at an all-high availability. It has been consistent in any condition and tested for resilience. It includes their multiple redundant active hot spare hardware and software systems, staff, and processes. Because of the global and reliable platform, people around the world are more connected than ever. Businesses increased productivity no matter where they are.

Innovation in the Small Business Phone System Industry

Another notable feature of the 8×8 company that makes it the best office phone system is its analytics and artificial intelligence. By using data collected from every conversation, it can detect speech that can spot patterns in customer behavior. It can also provide insight into every transaction. With its customizable interface, the AI can make better decisions.

Transition to 8×8 X Series Business Phones

In March 2019, Eversfield implemented the X series for Eversfield. It first went live for 20 of its employees. This includes three supervisors and 17 call handlers of inbound and outbound that took only four weeks.

The X series provided Eversfield Organic with one central system that manages all calls. That means the platform would report every call received and made by the business with its innovative mobile app or a desktop. Another impressive feature is no calls are missed throughout the day even when all the staff is busy because every call is ported through an auto attendant.

Because Eversfield Organic is using a cloud-based system, it provides the business with enough room for flexibility. Keep in mind that their location is quite remote that it would be a struggle for sales staff to travel to the main office in the evenings to work. Nowadays, as Anna Elliot, sales and marketing director of Eversfield Organic, the sales staff are now comfortably set up remotely at home.

During peak season, with the increase of customers wanting to add additional products for Christmas and Easter, Eversfield Organic would need to hire other staff. Because of the new office phone system, they can easily add remote staff to the phone system.

With 8×8, the organic retail business can direct calls in a more accurate way. It makes their customer care executive’s time more focused. The customers are happier too with the services they are getting.

The Result of Using 8×8 X Series Business Phone

Compared to other small business phone systems, here are the key benefits of using 8×8:

• Remote Working: Through the use of a mobile app, the staff can work wherever they are in the UK, whether on the farm, meeting with the supplier, in the shop, or at home. With remote working, employees can save time from traveling and can be more productive where they needed to be.
• Proactive Support: Eversfield does not have an IT department to need all support they can get. 8×8’s support has been brilliant, with problems often solved in the same hour.
• Supports Growth: As Eversfield continues to expand with an additional farm and Bar & Grill, they can also add another option for its auto attendant with 8×8.
• CRM Integration: Like Eversfield, 8×8 continues to grow and is planning to include a more feature-rich integration with CRM provider Zendesk. This means all live call lists will be created and updated whenever there is a need.

With the above features, there is no doubt that 8×8 leads the small business phone system industry. No wonder they are trusted by more than one million business users worldwide, including Regus, McDonald’s, and Farmers Insurance.

Key Takeaways

Our 8×8 Review – Strong Platform for Growth

In every expanding business, smooth communications within and outside the company are essential. Every form of communication from the customers into the company brings value that even big companies can’t afford to miss out on.

With calls being directed and handled, the number of customer support staff answering calls has dropped from four to one. And still, the company maintains its great quality customer experience.

The same thing goes with regards to communications between the staff. To ensure high quality of service, employees must be clear with every instruction that goes through. Having a reliable call flow will result in efficient and more productive staff.

8×8 has always provided a robust platform for growth. It is a partner you can trust wherever the direction your company goes to. A well-functioned company can only result in happier customers, and that’s a 5/5 rating for 8×8!

Do you have a thriving business, and you want to meet the increasing customer demand? The 8×8 X Series might be suitable for you!

Like our partner, 8×8, Call Flow Solutions is a reliable partner you can trust. Let us help you navigate your phone system through our simplified process. Save your precious time with a single discovery call.  Get in touch with us!