Capture
Give sales representatives a single internal landing page for collecting the information and photographs needed to assist an affected customer.
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Freezer Thaw
Freezer Thaw
Crisis Response
Designing a rapid-response intake system when a catastrophic event created more customer need than a single service point could realistically handle.
24 hoursMVP timeline
22 repsNew + Reorder sales intake
232 familiesNeeded redelivery
The Challenge
The business needed more response capacity immediately.
Hurricanes Milton and Helene created a sudden operational problem: multiple families needed assistance quickly after power failures caused freezer and food loss.
The existing process depended heavily on a single Customer Service Manager, with the office receptionist also involved. At crisis volume, that created a bottleneck exactly where speed and communication mattered most.
My Role
Build the first version in the time the crisis allowed.
I led the ideation, design, execution, and implementation of the intake solution, working with New Sales, Technology, Reorder Sales, and Customer Service.
The first MVP was built in 24 hours. The goal was not to engineer a perfect long-term platform on day one. It was to create enough structure to immediately distribute the intake workload and get the right information to Customer Service.
Approach
Turn one point of failure into a distributed intake process.
Distribute
Open the intake process to New Sales and Reorder representatives rather than routing every request through one Customer Service Manager.
Notify
Use the MVP to generate an email with the collected information so Customer Service could act on the request.
Scale
Evolve the MVP into a CRM- and NetSuite-connected workflow with status visibility for sales representatives.
Solution
A simple intake layer that became a connected workflow.
Internal Intake PageA dedicated landing page for sales representatives to enter the information needed to assist affected customers.
Photo CaptureAllowed representatives to include photographs as part of the intake information.
Distributed AccessCreated a single entry point that could be used by 22 New Sales and Reorder representatives.
Immediate NotificationThe MVP generated an email containing the submitted information for Customer Service follow-up.
Later System IntegrationThe final version automatically created a ticket in the proprietary CRM, synchronized it with NetSuite, and communicated status back to the sales team.
The Evolution
The 24-hour MVP became infrastructure for future response.
A year later, the final version had moved beyond the original email-based MVP.
A ticket could be created automatically inside the proprietary CRM and synchronized to NetSuite. Status information could also move back and forth between the systems, giving sales representatives visibility without requiring them to contact Customer Service for individual update requests.
Outcome
More people could help, without creating more chaos.
The solution significantly improved Customer Service response capacity and customer satisfaction during a high-volume crisis event by creating a distributed, structured intake process.
22New Sales + Reorder representatives using the single entry point
232Families impacted and needing redelivery of food supplies or food supplies and freezers
200+Additional families requiring monitoring
The source material describes the improvements in customer satisfaction and response time qualitatively. The documented volume figures above are the specific measurable scale of the event.
Key Takeaway
Good operational design matters most when the business doesn't have time to stop and design it.
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