Zoho CRM and Zoho Desk Implementation for an EdTech Company – Case Study

Overview  

Our client – an Edutech Company is a leading educational and social-impact platform that began as a highly active social media page delivering engaging daily current-affairs content to engineering students and competitive exam aspirants across the Telugu states. As learner demand grew for deeper analysis and structured learning, the company expanded into full-fledged education services, offering training in emerging technologies and career-oriented programs.

With a mission to provide affordable, inclusive, and regional-language education that equips learners with practical, real-world skills, the Edutech Company continues to empower communities while also using its platform to highlight social issues and drive awareness.

To support its rapid growth, the company adopted Zoho CRM and Zoho Desk to streamline sales, student management, and multi-channel support operations.

Executive Summary  

The client required a unified system to manage its rapidly increasing volume of student inquiries, course enrollments, support tickets, and sales operations. As the organization expanded its edutech offerings, teams were relying on scattered spreadsheets, manual follow-ups, and fragmented communication channels, leading to delays in student onboarding and inconsistent support experiences.

To overcome these challenges, we implemented Zoho CRM and Zoho Desk as an integrated solution to centralise lead management, automate follow-ups, track student lifecycles, and deliver structured, multi-channel support.

The implementation focused on streamlining sales workflows, improving student engagement, enhancing internal coordination, and ensuring real-time visibility into performance metrics. With Zoho’s automation and reporting capabilities, the EdTech client achieved higher operational efficiency, faster response times, and a significantly improved experience for both students and internal teams.

Problem Statement and Key Challenges  

Before implementing Zoho CRM and Zoho Desk, the client faced several operational challenges that limited its ability to efficiently manage a growing student base and expanding edutech operations:

Fragmented Lead & Student Data:

Leads, student details, batches, and payment records were stored across multiple platforms such as Graphy, spreadsheets, and communication tools, resulting in inconsistent data and limited visibility into the student lifecycle.

Manual Follow-ups & Lead Qualification:

Sales teams lacked a structured process to evaluate lead intent, prioritise high-value prospects, or track the performance of different marketing channels. This led to delayed follow-ups, missed opportunities, and inefficient outreach.

No Unified Source Tracking:

There was no clear way to understand where each student inquiry originated (YouTube, Instagram, ads, referrals, webinars, WhatsApp, etc.), making it difficult to optimize campaigns or measure ROI.

Limited Automation for Enrollment Conversion:

Key processes—such as identifying high-intent leads, converting students after payment, and assigning tasks to tele-callers—were manual, time-consuming, and prone to errors.

Disjointed Communication Channels:

Student communication happened through WhatsApp, calls, Graphy notes, and Zoom interactions, but none of these channels were integrated. As a result, teams had no consolidated view of student engagement or attendance across sessions and demos.

Inefficient Support Management:

Support queries were handled informally via WhatsApp and phone calls, with no ticketing system to track issues, monitor turnaround times, or ensure consistent resolutions. This affected the overall student experience.

Lack of Real-Time Reporting & Performance Insights:

Tracking metrics such as attendance rates, registration trends, lead stages (hot, warm, cold), and team performance was difficult due to the absence of centralised dashboards and automated reporting capabilities.

Evaluation of the Problem

The organization recognized that its rapid growth in student enrollments and course offerings was being hindered by disconnected systems, manual processes, and a lack of unified visibility. Operating across Graphy, Zoom, WhatsApp, spreadsheets, and various social media channels created significant inefficiencies, making it difficult for teams to manage leads, track student progress, or provide timely support.

As marketing efforts expanded, the absence of structured lead qualification, source tracking, and automated follow-up workflows resulted in inconsistent conversions and limited insight into campaign performance. With increasing expectations for quick responses and organized communication from students, the client needed a centralised platform capable of:

• Consolidating lead, student, course, batch, and payment information in one system.
• Automating follow-ups, lead scoring, and enrollment workflows to reduce manual workload.
• Providing real-time visibility into lead quality, source effectiveness, and attendance metrics.
• Integrating directly with tools like Graphy, Zoom, and WhatsApp for seamless operations.
• Delivering structured, trackable support through a dedicated ticketing system.

Proposed Solutions

To address these challenges, the client adopted Zoho CRM and Zoho Desk as an integrated solution to manage their complete student lifecycle from lead capture to enrollment to ongoing support. The proposed solution included the following features:

Centralized Lead, Student & Course Management  

• Custom / Standard CRM Modules: Dedicated modules for Leads, Students, Courses, Batches, and Payments ensured all information was maintained in a single system.
• Contact Conversion Automation: When a payment was received in Graphy, automation converted the lead into a student (Contact) and mapped the relevant course details.

Seamless Integrations for Real-Time Tracking  

• Graphy to Zoho CRM Integration: Enabled automatic syncing of payment records and enrollment data, eliminating manual entry.
• Zoom to Zoho CRM Integration: Tracked attendee participation in webinars, demos, and online sessions directly inside CRM.
• Wati (WhatsApp) to Zoho CRM & Desk Integration: Allowed sales teams to instantly engage students reaching out with queries, enabling personalized and quick communication.
• Zoho Forms Integration: Enabled direct capture of registrations and course inquiries into CRM with accurate source mapping.

Intelligent Lead Qualification & Prioritization  

• Lead Scoring Models: Automated scoring based on behaviour (registrations, webinar attendance, WhatsApp engagement, etc.) helped identify high-intent students.
• Source Tracking (History): Every lead’s journey—from first interaction to enrollment—was tracked to understand which campaigns performed best and optimize marketing spend.

Automations for Sales & Telecaller Workflows  

• Follow-up Automation: Timely reminders and tasks were triggered for telecallers to ensure no prospect was missed.
• Hot/Warm/Cold Classification: Based on lead score and activity, CRM automatically categorises leads for targeted communication.
• Batch & Course Mapping: Automations ensured students were consistently mapped to the correct course and batch after payment.

Enhanced Support Operations with Zoho Desk  

• Centralized Ticketing: All student queries (technical issues, class access problems, payment questions, certification requests, etc.) were routed into the Zoho Desk for structured resolution.
• Faster Response Times: Automated acknowledgment, categorization, and assignment ensured the right team addressed issues quickly.
• Consistent Communication: Students received clear, trackable updates on their tickets, improving overall satisfaction.

Comprehensive Reporting & Dashboards  

• Lead Performance Reports: Insights into hot/warm/cold leads, source effectiveness, and lead-to-enrollment conversion.
• Attendance & Engagement Tracking: Reports derived from Zoom activity helped measure demo and session participation.
• Telecaller Productivity Metrics: Call status tracking and scheduled tasks helped monitor outreach performance.

Together, these solutions provided the client with a unified, automated, and scalable platform to support their expanding edutech operations.

Implementation  

The implementation of Zoho CRM and Zoho Desk for the EdTech organization was carried out in structured phases to ensure a smooth transition for all teams involved:

1. System Setup & Data Migration  

All existing lead and student data from spreadsheets, Graphy, and internal records was consolidated and imported into Zoho CRM. Custom modules such as Courses, Batches, Payments, and Attendance Tracking were created to support the client’s operational structure.

2. Integration Configuration  

Key integrations were set up to ensure end-to-end automation:

• Graphy Integration for real-time syncing of payments and enrollment data.
• Zoom Integration to automatically track student attendance for webinars, demos, and classes.
• Wati (WhatsApp) Integration for instant communication and automated responses.
• Zoho Forms Integration to capture inquiries and registrations with accurate source mapping.

3. Customization & Workflow Automation  

CRM modules were customized with additional fields, scoring models, and automated workflows to streamline:

• Lead qualification and hot/warm/cold classification
• Contact conversion after successful payment
• Telecaller reminders for scheduled follow-ups
• Mapping students to courses and batches
• Attendance and session tracking

Internal processes were optimised to reduce manual effort and improve data accuracy across the student lifecycle.

4. Zoho Desk Setup & Support Structure  

Zoho Desk was configured with custom departments, ticket categories, SLAs, and email templates. Support teams were onboarded to manage tickets efficiently and maintain consistent communication with students.

5. User Training & Adoption  

Training sessions were conducted for sales, telecallers, operations, and support teams. They were guided on using CRM modules, dashboards, ticketing workflows, and daily tasks to ensure smooth adoption and confidence in using the new system.

6. Testing & Go-Live  

After thorough testing of integrations, workflows, and automations, the system was deployed. Post-go-live monitoring and support were provided to ensure the EdTech client’s teams transitioned smoothly and any operational concerns were resolved promptly.

Result  

After implementing Zoho CRM and Zoho Desk, the client achieved substantial improvements in operational efficiency, lead management, and student support:

Streamlined Lead-to-Enrollment Journey  

With centralised CRM modules and automated workflows, the client now manages the entire student lifecycle—from lead capture to payment confirmation—in a single system. This significantly reduced manual data entry and improved data accuracy across teams.

Improved Lead Qualification & Higher Conversions  

Automated lead scoring, source tracking, and hot/warm/cold categorization enabled sales teams to prioritise high-intent students and follow up more strategically. As a result, conversion rates improved, and marketing efforts became more targeted and data-driven.

Enhanced Visibility Through Real-Time Reporting  

Dashboards and reports provided clear insights into lead performance, campaign effectiveness, telecaller productivity, and student engagement metrics such as session attendance. Leadership gained real-time visibility into key KPIs for better decision-making.

Faster and More Organized Support  

With Zoho Desk centralising all student queries, support teams were able to respond faster, track issues effectively, and maintain consistent communication. This significantly improved student satisfaction and reduced resolution times.

Stronger Student Engagement & Communication  

WhatsApp integration through Wati and automatic follow-up reminders ensured timely outreach, personalized responses, and improved interaction with prospective and active students.

Seamless Integrations Reduced Operational Overhead  

Payments from Graphy and attendance data from Zoom now flow directly into CRM without manual intervention. This saved time, minimised errors, and provided a holistic view of each student’s journey.

Customer Testimonial  

“We partnered with Dhruvsoft for Zoho CRM customization and Zoho Analytics implementation, and our experience has been very positive. Naveen and his team demonstrated strong expertise in Zoho CRM, delivering solutions tailored to our requirements. Their customer support has been excellent throughout the engagement, ensuring our questions and issues were addressed promptly. … The overall quality of work and commitment shown by the team were commendable. We worked with Dhruvsoft for nearly nine months, and the journey has been productive and supportive. We recommend their services to others looking for reliable Zoho CRM and Analytics implementation partners.”   

 Contact Us   

Interested in achieving similar results for your EdTech or training organization? Discover how our Zoho CRM and Zoho Desk implementation services can help you centralise student data, automate lead-to-enrollment workflows, improve support operations, and gain real-time business visibility.

Contact our Zoho experts todayto discuss your requirements and build a scalable, student-centric CRM ecosystem tailored to your growth goals.