How OpenPhone uses Zapier to scale and reinvest in customers

There are more ways to communicate with customers than ever before, but nothing beats talking to a human. Still, adding a phone system to your business can be complicated and costly, and it might not even integrate with your existing systems. 

OpenPhone is on a mission to build a sleek, powerful business phone system that’s simple (and delightful) for anyone to use. And over the years, OpenPhone has stuck to that mandate by continuing to scale support of its Zapier integration.

“Working with Zapier gives us insight into what integrations and workflows people care about the most,” says Juraj Pal, Head of Partnerships at OpenPhone. 

OpenPhone’s commitment to customer delight has paid off. Since 2022, the number of active users of its Zapier integration has increased by 17% quarter over quarter.

How OpenPhone scaled its Zapier integration to delight customers

OpenPhone has grown over the years, and its Zapier integration has scaled with it. 

Today, customers can create automated workflows that connect contacts and conversations to their favorite apps—without ever leaving OpenPhone. 

OpenPhone turned to Zapier’s suite of partner tools to bring the automation experience into the product while staying true to the user experience. 

Thanks to the team’s ongoing commitment to customer success, their users want even more. OpenPhone generates 70% higher revenue on an annual basis from their customers who use Zapier. 

Jump ahead:

Customers asked, OpenPhone delivered

It all started in early 2021 when OpenPhone’s efficiency-loving customers kept asking for a Zapier integration. 

The co-founder and CEO built their integration in six weeks using Zapier Platform. 

“Zapier helped us extend the OpenPhone platform and functionality at a time when we didn’t have the resources as a startup to build all the integrations our customers were requesting natively,” says Juraj.   

Since then, the team has grown, and now they have a dedicated product team. With the additional engineering resources, they used Zapier’s Partner API to embed their Zapier integration into the platform.

With the Partner API, the OpenPhone team customized the in-app automation experience, so customers can seamlessly connect OpenPhone to their tech stacks. 

Support the top use cases with content

OpenPhone’s Zapier integration allows them to support hundreds of customer use cases and workflows, helping their users get more value from OpenPhone. 

The team used these new insights to create additional content to help users succeed. For example, OpenPhone’s Zapier integration is introduced early in user onboarding emails. 

OpenPhone also embeds pre-built Zap templates into help docs and blog posts using the Workflow Element. When users click on a template, they can start creating Zaps right away. 

Partner with the Zapier Experts

The most popular use case that customers were automating with OpenPhone and Zapier? Connecting to their customer relationship management (CRM) platforms.

CRMs can be an automation challenge period, because many businesses have custom setups tailored to their business needs, such as custom objects and properties. That’s why OpenPhone partnered with a few Zapier Experts—certified workflow automation consultants—to help customers set up Zapier and integrate OpenPhone into their tech stacks. 

For example, when customers book a free discovery call with Andrés Berte of Connex, a workflow automation agency, they receive a discount on their OpenPhone account. It’s a win-win for everyone: Zapier Experts get leads, customers find more success with their automated setups, and OpenPhone scoops up even more user insights.

In fact, customers who use OpenPhone’s Zapier integration have a 70% higher annual contract value than non-Zapier users. 

Keep it simple (and delightful) with automation

By helping customers connect OpenPhone to business-critical tools, OpenPhone has scaled its product, driving business growth, and continues to reinvest in delighting customers.