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About Whitestone
Whitestone is a creative agency that specializes in sustainable and modern merchandise. It helps brands bring their vision to life through responsible sourcing, transparent suppliers, and eco-friendly practices. The company creates merchandise designed to be used and valued for years.
As Director of Strategic Operations, Tejal Makuck leads Whitestone’s e-commerce, technology, logistics, and customer support functions, ensuring seamless cross-team coordination and operational excellence. She also serves as co-chair of Whitestone’s CSR Committee, championing the company’s ongoing commitment to sustainability and social responsibility.
The challenge: Streamlining communication to match the pace of growth
Before adopting Hiver, Whitestone managed communication through a patchwork of individual email inboxes, Slack threads, and phone calls. While functional, this setup created friction in both client interactions and internal collaboration.
1. Limited central visibility
Each department worked from its own inbox, making it difficult to see the full history of client conversations. Important context was often missed, slowing response times or creating duplicate outreach.
2. Manual, time-heavy coordination
When a conversation needed another team’s input, it was forwarded manually or discussed in a Slack thread. Important details were buried in email threads, and follow-ups depended on someone remembering to chase them.
3. Duplicate responses and mismatched information
Requests requiring cross-team input had to be forwarded manually or discussed in Slack. Key details were buried in threads, and follow-ups relied on memory.
4. No consistent way to track resolution progress
There was no standard process to track resolution times. While teams diligently followed up, they lacked a structured view of open conversations, making it harder to measure performance over time.
5. Scaling with manual processes
As Whitestone’s client list grew, so did the number of incoming requests. Without automation, teams spent extra hours on manual sorting, forwarding, and coordination—time that could otherwise be used for more strategic or creative work.
These operational realities clarified that a more unified, efficient, and scalable communication system would help teams work faster, reduce repetition, and deliver an even smoother client experience.
“Before Hiver, email overload and siloed inboxes made visibility difficult. Communication felt fragmented and tracking client conversations across teams was a constant challenge.” says Tejal Makuck, Director of strategic operations
The solution: A centralized, automated workflow with Hiver
When Tejal joined Whitestone, she brought prior experience with Hiver and recognized it as the right solution to centralize workflows, reduce duplication, and improve visibility. As the Admin, she oversaw a phased rollout that began with specific shared inboxes and expanded as teams saw measurable benefits.
Today, five departments—including e-commerce, logistics, finance, production and customer service—use Hiver as their central communication hub.
● Shared Inboxes for Transparent Ownership and Fewer Duplicates
With Hiver, teams were able to replace fragmented inboxes with centralized shared Inboxes. Now, the team works from one unified view of client requests. Each email can be assigned in real time to the right person, with status tracking to show what’s in progress and what’s complete.
As part of this rollout, Whitestone’s customer service team consolidated two shared Inboxes into one, eliminating duplicate replies and misrouted emails. Tags now segment requests within that inbox, so it is easier to organize without losing visibility.
● Automation and tagging for clarity and speed
Automations instantly tag incoming emails by client name or request type, streamlining prioritization and grouping conversations. Tags act as folder substitutes, helping teams stay organized without juggling multiple inboxes.
● Templates for faster, consistent replies
Tejal imported the company’s existing response templates into Hiver, giving teams quick access to pre-approved language. The finance team uses these heavily, while customer service has built a library of over 15 templates. Templates help the team handle routine questions quickly, while still leaving room to personalize responses for more complex client needs.
● Asana and Toggl for task and time management
Whitestone integrated Hiver with Asana to turn certain emails into tasks. The customer service team pushes emails requiring follow-up into Asana, where tasks are tracked and linked with Toggl for time logging. This ensures visibility into workload and accurate billing for enterprise clients.
“We’ve launched the integration of Hiver with Asana Time Tracking, allowing our team to seamlessly turn emails into tasks and track time in real time. This enhancement is already improving billing precision for enterprise clients, and we’re excited to expand that functionality further.”
Tejal Makuck
Director of Strategic Operations
The benefits: Measurable gains in speed, accuracy, and efficiency
Since implementing Hiver, Whitestone has realized measurable improvements across speed, accuracy, and efficiency.
Time savings and efficiency
● 6–8 hours saved weekly and 160+ hours saved in total by reducing manual forwarding, repetitive follow-ups, and fragmented workflows
● 2,000+ automations triggered to streamline assignments and reduce repetitive tasks
Faster, more accurate client communication
● 40% faster response times driven by Shared Inboxes, real-time assignments, and improved visibility
● 50% fewer duplicate emails after consolidating two customer service inboxes into one, supported by structured tagging
● 135 email templates created helping teams respond faster while keeping communication accurate and consistent.
Better organization and collaboration
● 1,412 tags applied each month, saving 24 hours — By replacing folders and keeping communication structured, tags help the team prioritize high-volume client conversations while freeing up nearly a full workday each month.
● 2,010 tasks automated with Hiver automations, saving 67 hours per month — Automating repetitive assignments has reduced manual workload, giving teams back more than a week’s worth of productive time every month.
● Shared visibility and ownership — With clear assignment of every email, teams avoid back-and-forth and improve cross-functional alignment.
Improved client experience
● Faster responses, fewer duplicate replies, and smoother coordination have contributed directly to stronger client satisfaction
“We’ve seen faster response times, reduced duplication, improved client satisfaction, and smoother internal coordination,” says Tejal Makuck, Director of strategic operations.
Next steps: Expanding Hiver’s role across the organization
With Hiver now embedded in day-to-day operations, Whitestone focuses on building its framework further before expanding usage.
Tejal and her team are currently:
- Finalizing the Asana integration for seamless customer service workflows
- Completing inbox consolidation with refined tagging for efficient triage
- Setting up SLAs and timers to monitor response performance
- Exploring Hiver’s AI features (AI Tagging, AI Summarizer, AI Response Suggestions)
- Onboarding the sales team to unify communication across the client lifecycle
- Evaluating HubSpot integration to align sales and operations more closely
“We’ve been intentional about building a strong foundation first, so we can scale confidently into AI, SLAs, and deeper integrations,” says Tejal.
Conclusion
By replacing fragmented, manual processes with Hiver’s centralized, automated workflows, Whitestone has unlocked faster resolution times, improved team alignment, and significant time savings.
With 2,000+ automations triggered, over 160 hours saved, and a clear path to AI and advanced integrations, Whitestone is scaling smarter—and delivering a stronger client experience as a result.
“Hiver saves us hours every week by eliminating the back-and-forth of forwarding emails and chasing replies. It has streamlined communication into a system that scales with our growth,” says Tejal Makuck.
