1
Challenge

Company

Otus is an educational technology company providing a learning management system that helps students, teachers, parents, and administrators.

https://otus.com/

Headquarters

Chicago, USA

Industry

EdTech

Key features used

Custom Bots
Articles
Product Tours
Messenger

EdTech platform Otus previously used email to engage with and support its customers, but found it limiting as it didn’t enable in-app communications. As the team grew, they needed a unified platform that would act as a single source of truth for all customer communications, which email also didn’t provide.

They sought a flexible, omnichannel solution that would enable them to meet customers where they are, create stellar experiences across the user journey, and provide robust reporting so they could optimize communications, boost customer satisfaction, and drive business growth.

“Many of us at Otus are former educators, and we know just how little time teachers have to spend on technology. That’s why it was important to us that our communications solution could streamline our efforts and save our customers time.”
Samantha Mason
Director of Client Success at Otus

As a company built for teachers, by teachers, a core focus for the Otus team is designing technology to save its customers time. The team wanted to ensure that their communications platform mirrored this focus, making it easy for customers to contact the team in a quick and seamless way. "Many of us at Otus are former educators, and we know just how little time teachers have to spend on technology," says Samantha Mason, Director of Client Success at Otus. "That's why it was important to us that our communications solution could streamline our efforts and save our customers time. The less time teachers spend with us, the more time they have to spend on what truly matters, which is connecting with their students."

2
Solution

Having started out using Intercom for live chat, Otus has expanded its use of the platform to power customer support, engagement, and acquisition and serve as a single home for all communications. They combine proactive and real-time messaging to create best-in-class experiences for their customers.

case-studies-otus-solution-bg-image
3
A one-stop shop for customer messaging

With a unified platform for customer communication, Otus is empowered to create consistent experiences, collaborate more effectively, and drive continuous improvement by leveraging Intercom’s analytics – specifically, Conversation Topics and Custom Reports – to understand their customers’ needs and celebrate their team’s success.

Here's how the team leverages all of Intercom's features to support, connect with, and acquire customers.

Support: Otus has customized the Intercom Inbox to streamline its support and manage the Support team’s workload. The team leverages automation features like Custom Bots and Articles to offer customers instant answers in real time and empower them to self-serve. With the help of bots and automation, Otus is resolving 22.2% of its customers questions automatically – and with a CSAT score of 97%, it's evident that customers are happy with the fast, personal service they're receiving.

Engage: The team leverages Intercom for mass communications across marketing and product announcements, which allows them to provide customers with the education they need to be set up for success. They use Product Tours, along with post messages and emails, to proactively communicate with customers during onboarding and notify them when new products or services are being launched. They can also closely monitor engagement rates and find areas of opportunity to optimize their communications.

Convert: The Intercom Messenger greets visitors to Otus's website and seamlessly connects them with the Sales team so they can understand prospective customers' needs – and drive business growth.

4
Building a tech stack for success

Otus also utilizes a number of Intercom's integrations to ensure the team's core tools and systems are in sync.

  • Salesforce: The Intercom and Salesforce integration gives Otus access to important information when working with customers.

  • Jira Service Desk: The team uses Jira to process their support tickets, and have integrated its service desk with the Intercom Inbox to ensure a seamless flow of updates for both customers and support reps.

  • Slack: Leads from Otus's website are sent to a dedicated Slack channel for the Sales team's attention.

“Our use of the [Intercom] platform has grown a great deal over the last seven years, allowing us to continue to provide a consistent, great experience across customer support, engagement, and sales.”
Samantha Mason
Director of Client Success at Otus
5
Creating best-in-class experiences at every touchpoint

“Thanks to Intercom and the support of their team, we’re able to offer a swift and seamless experience to our customers," says Samantha. "Our use of the platform has grown a great deal over the last seven years, allowing us to continue to provide a consistent, great experience across customer support, engagement, and sales. Intercom makes us feel the same way we want our customers to feel – supported."

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