MailChimp is a marketing automation platform that has over 700 employees across three locations and 16 million customers around the world—with 14,000 more signing up every single day. The growth is even more impressive when you learn that MailChimp is 100% bootstrapped and founder-owned.

Growth always comes with challenges and in their Atlanta-based headquarters the traditional sign-in sheet just wasn’t cutting it—but the alternatives at the time were pretty slim. “We actually built a visitor registration app in-house, but couldn’t commit the resources needed to maintain or update it,” said Sharon Teng, MailChimp’s Operations Admin Manager. “Eventually, we decided we needed a solution that would reliably meet our needs. That’s when we found Envoy—and we’ve been happy ever since.”

 Eventually, we decided we needed a solution that would reliably meet our needs. That’s when we found Envoy—and we’ve been happy ever since.

Smart integrations made setup simple

When MailChimp did their research into visitor management options, Sharon says Envoy stood out because of its integrations with services they already used: Google Apps and Hipchat.

Envoy automatically notifies employees when their guests check in. “We use HipChat to stay in touch internally, so to get visitor notifications through the same channel keeps communication simple,” Sharon said. “We love that Envoy integrates with some of our favorite tools, making it easy for us to incorporate it into the systems we already rely on every day.”

High emphasis on security makes registration crucial

Don’t let their quirky brand fool you—MailChimp is serious about security. They’ve invested heavily in protecting their data centers, preventing data loss and corruption, and privacy. That security extends to their offices, where Envoy’s SOC 2 certificate and registration feature is part of their protective layer.

“MailChimp is appointment only—no walk-ins allowed,” Sharon explained. “We cannot just let anyone come in. That’s why the registration feature is such an essential piece for us. We ask all employees to register their guests in Envoy.”

Prior to Envoy, employees would email the office management team and say, “I’m expecting these guests,” but there was no way to track and prepare for visitors. “Every morning, we print Envoy’s list of registered visitors for the day,” said Sharon. “It helps us know when the busiest times will be and when our front desk person (aka “Smile Developer”) should be there to greet people.”

As a marketing company, brand is their business and the self-proclaimed bunch of ‘misfits” insists that culture is key to their success. The Envoy app lets them show a warm welcome to every guest despite the tight security measures. When employees register guests in Envoy, it automatically triggers an email with helpful information like directions and parking details. “It’s a good balance between the high level of security we need and the open personality we’ve worked hard to create,” said Sharon.