Labrada Distributors

Professional

1972

For over 50 years, Labrada Distributors has been selling and distributing goods to the restaurant and hospitality industry — specifically Pizzerias. What started as a small family business in Puerto Rico eventually grew to hundreds of employees and a worldwide distribution operation. However, at the heart of everything they do are the core family values they started with — treat everyone like family, and success will follow.

Customers are family — that’s the core of their customer service strategy. With every communication and interaction, Labrada employees provide warmth and reassurance that keeps small businesses returning to fulfill their orders year after year. But it was clear some technological issues were getting in the way of providing best-in-class service.

We spoke with Elizabeth Morales, the Sales Manager at Labrada Distributors, to dive deeper into what treating customers like family means to the business as a whole. And how important it was for them to find a communications partner that was reliable, technology-forward, and available anywhere.

Favourite Features: Call Monitoring, Nextiva Analytics, Call Recording


Lost Calls & Missed Opportunities

One of the most significant issues the Labrada team faced was dropped calls. The team was consistently missing calls or losing customers mid-conversation. Not only did this make for angry customers, but it took time and effort to figure out why the calls were being dropped.

A key feature for Morales, as she was looking at partnering with Nextiva, was the consistency and reliability of the platform. Once they transitioned, she no longer had to worry about those dropped calls.

In fact, even if the customer didn’t leave a message, her team was notified, and they called back as soon as possible. When the customer got that callback, they were impressed with the team’s initiative.

“Customer service has been paramount to Labrada from the beginning,” Morales says of the changes. “Now, the customer is covered whenever they want to call and place their order.”


It’s All for the Customers

Most companies fear making changes that could improve their business because of the complicated transition process. Morales felt some of that fear as well. She didn’t know if everything would port over correctly or if bringing their communication system into the cloud would suit them.

Luckily, Nextiva was there every step of the way, keeping her in the loop on changes and progress.

“I was skeptical at first,” she continues. “But then I saw all the benefits we get for our customers.”

One of those benefits was the opportunity to improve her sales team by giving them the tools they needed most to serve and impress customers.


Feature Rich, Customer-Forward

The Nextiva platform is known for being feature rich. From call monitoring to expert analytics, customer service teams get insight into their operation. That insight alone can improve how a sales and customer service team operates.

Call Monitoring

For Morales, one of the features that helped her the most was call monitoring. Previously, there was a lot of frustration from the customer service agents (CSAs) dealing with difficult customer situations. Morales couldn’t understand why customers were upset or why the CSAs couldn’t solve an issue. The burden often fell back on the CSA team.

With Call Monitoring, she can listen to a live call or call recording and better understand what her CSAs are dealing with. By understanding the situation, she could provide detailed feedback for them moving forward and be on their side when things get complicated.

Not only is it a tool to help customers, but it’s also made it easier to provide training and feedback to her CSA team. When she decided to work with Nextiva, she had no idea she’d get a built-in training tool.


Call Analytics

The option to review call analytics and determine what team members are producing, selling, and picking up calls was another huge game changer for the team. Morales now has more insight into how her team operates and can pivot goals and messaging when needed.

“Now I have a metric of how many calls are being generated against a list of customers,” she says of the analytics. “I can see how many the team is making each day.”

With the right data, she can incentivize and encourage her team to continue working toward their daily call metrics.

Remote Work Opportunities

Before switching to Nextiva, many of Labrada’s employees were tied to their desks. They had to be in the office to pick up calls and interface with customers. Since moving to the NextOS platform, team members can work from home when needed.

Calls are forwarded to their cell phones, and messages are emailed to their inbox — so they never miss a customer service inquiry. These features finally allowed Labrada to give their employees more freedom and flexibility without sacrificing customer service.

These features become even more critical if Puerto Rico experiences a natural disaster, such as a hurricane, and employees can’t make it to the office. Previously, that meant customer service was at a standstill. Now Labrada can ensure employees are safely home without missing out on income.


Nextiva is Reliability

“Nextiva provided me with precisely the feature that I need so I could maintain group metrics and see where we can improve, make adjustments, and provide better sales service to our customers,” says Morales of making the switch.

For an international company, being available anywhere and anytime contributes to the success of the Customer Service team at Labrada — finally bringing their customers into the family fold.

“Based on my experience, I recommend Nextiva. It’s a product that is reliable.”


Serving the Community

Since switching to Nextiva, customer feedback has substantially improved, and employees enjoy working with the NextOS platform.

“Nextiva has won the trust of Labrada because it’s a product that exceeds our expectations,” says Morales of the team’s overall outlook. Meeting customer needs is imperative to Labrada Distributors and the entire restaurant and hospitality industry they serve. And as a Puerto Rican company, getting their products to local shops serves the community as a whole.

“Puerto Rico is an island. 90% of what we consume is imported here. It’s an expensive country,” Morales expands. “Pizza is still the product that can feed at least four people for the lowest price.”

Whether managing missing orders or being available during a natural disaster, Labrada customers depend on them to generate income and keep food on the table for their families. By working from anywhere and picking up calls on the go, they finally have the technology to be there when it’s most important.