The Challenge

Before Zenatta, Peak operated with fragmented systems that caused syncing issues, compatibility headaches, and tech fatigue for brokers who had to jump between tools to process a single deal. They needed a centralized operating system that could reliably manage property data, route inquiries to the right broker, and automate key milestones in their leasing workflows.

“Prior to Zenatta, we had very fragmented systems, utilizing several different software products to power our business operations. The fragmentation caused lots of issues including data syncing issues, compatibility, and overall tech fatigue for our sales teams who needed to log into several systems in order to process a single deal.” – Ari Weil, Director of Strategic Growth, Peak Realty Chicago

Why It Mattered

With a hybrid workforce of internal staff and independent brokers, Peak needed dependable automation and clean visibility to keep deals moving. Therefore, unreliable syncing and manual handoffs created risk and slowed response times. Additionally, Peak wanted to reduce costs from overlapping tools while improving the broker experience and increasing operational consistency.

The Zenatta Solution

Zenatta focused on stabilizing Peak’s data flows into Zoho CRM, automating lead intake and routing, and creating an end-to-end application management portal in Zoho Creator. The result was a more connected system that reduced manual work across leasing operations and improved broker visibility.

• Zoho CRM – Property data integration improvements: Revamped their CRM integration so it reliably pulled market availability, rent details, and other property data. With coordination from Peak’s web team, APIs were connected directly to CRM so the property database could update in real time.
• Lead capture and broker routing automation: Implemented new lead capture methods using email parsers and API feeds from property websites. When an inquiry arrived, CRM routed it to the correct broker based on the property, supported by custom workflows and assignment rules.
• Lease signed automation via email parsing: Automated the progression of deals from “requested signature” to “signed.” When a lease-signed email arrived, it was parsed, linked to the correct deal, and the signed lease attached automatically—providing visibility even when the lease was not executed through Zoho Sign.
• Zoho Creator – Application screening portal: Built a custom Creator portal that centralized rental applications and tracked them through the full process. Internal staff and contracted brokers collaborated in one system, and approved applications could trigger downstream deal activity inside CRM.
• CRM process refinement and notifications: Expanded deal-stage logic, added and refined blueprint stages, and implemented targeted email notifications and error checking to reduce missed handoffs and improve reliability for brokers and operations.

“Launching a customized application screening portal with Zoho Creator. This portal allows us to communicate with our sister company (property management) about applications we receive, and the portal is fully integrated with out CRM, allowing our brokers to visualize all/any of their applications and where they are in their pipeline, and when applications are fully approved and sign they create deals automatically in CRM for our brokers to submit for payments. This has significantly reduced tech fatigue for our sales agents.” – Ari Weil, Director of Strategic Growth, Peak Realty Chicago

Results

With Zenatta’s Zoho improvements in place, Peak Realty Chicago reduced system fragmentation and improved broker productivity. As a result, the team gained more reliable property data, faster routing, and a centralized portal to manage applications without relying on third-party systems.

• Reduced tech fatigue by consolidating operations into Zoho CRM and Zoho Creator.
• Improved lead response and accountability through automated inquiry routing and notifications.
• Eliminated the need for tools like Monday.com, saving about $12K per year.

“Zenatta has helped us in many ways-

Launching a customized application screening portal with Zoho Creator. This portal allows us to communicate with our sister company (property management) about applications we receive, and the portal is fully integrated with out CRM, allowing our brokers to visualize all/any of their applications and where they are in their pipeline, and when applications are fully approved and sign they create deals automatically in CRM for our brokers to submit for payments. This has significantly reduced tech fatigue for our sales agents.

Creating a sales deal blueprint in CRM. The blueprint has tremendously streamlined the process to create and close sales deals in the CRM. Our sales deals follow a long timeline including many steps, involved people, attachments, and data points. The blueprints allow brokers to move their deals along and only need to input the minimally appropriate information at each step along the way. Making it much easier and more fun to input deals and move them along.

Countless automations. At this point we’ve lost count of the exact number, but Zenatta has helped us input many automations that significantly reduce mundane administrative tasks. We manage our property inventory in the accounts module, and these automations make all sorts of changes for us based on various criteria including the availability status of a unit, it being listed on the MLS, to communicating with our team members important and timely emails when statuses change, new units become available, and when a broker becomes assigned a listing. This is just the tip of the iceberg!

The team is extremely competent on Zoho’s products to a level that they seem to know how to take those products to a level of use beyond even that which Zoho had intended.

It is such a large ecosystem of applications and products, and Zenatta has really been our guide on which make the most sense for our business.”

– Ari Weil, Director of Strategic Growth, Peak Realty Chicago