Arcadia Travels & CRM Email Sharing Permissions

When Arcadia Travels, a leading travel agency in Mauritius, adopted Zoho CRM, they faced a challenge that many growing businesses can relate to: too much visibility into email communications. Their CRM was set up so that every user could see every email exchanged with clients, regardless of their role or need to know. While this might sound convenient, it quickly became a privacy and security concern, especially when sensitive customer information or strategic deals were involved.

The Problem

Arcadia’s sales agents, accounting personnel, and management teams were all working within the same CRM. Emails between key executives and high-value clients, such as those discussing pricing, contracts, or confidential itineraries, were visible to all users. This not only risks data leaks but also confuseswhen team members reply to emails they weren’t meant to handle.

Discovering the Solution: CRM Email Sharing

To solve this, Arcadia needed a way to control who sees what.
This is where Zoho CRM’s Email Sharing feature came into play.
Email Sharing lets administrators decide how emails sent or received through the CRM are shared across the organisation.

The key settings we explored were:

1. Private – Emails are only visible to the sender/recipient.
2. Custom – Admins can create rules based on roles or hierarchy (e.g., only managers see certain emails).
3. Public – All emails are visible to everyone (the default setting Arcadia initially had).

Testing & Recommendations

As part of the implementation, I tested each configuration extensively to understand how it would impact Arcadia’s workflow.

• With Private sharing, emails were entirely restricted, but this limited collaboration too much.
• With Public sharing, the original issue of overexposure remained.
• Custom sharing emerged as the perfect middle ground.

Under Custom sharing, Arcadia’s CRM administrator set rules so that:

• Sales consultants can only view emails related to their own deals.
• Executives retain complete visibility for strategic decision-making.
  This hierarchy-based access ensures that everyone has just the right level of visibility to do their job.

Why This Matters for Your Business
Email Sharing is more than just a privacy feature; it’s about efficiency and trust.

• Data Security: Protect sensitive conversations from unnecessary exposure.
• Clear Responsibilities: Team members only act on emails relevant to them.
• Compliance: Aligns with privacy regulations by limiting access to personal customer data. Whether you’re a small business or a large enterprise, setting proper email visibility rules is critical to maintaining both transparency and confidentiality.

 Key Takeaway

Arcadia Travels’ experience shows that with Zoho CRM’s Custom Email Sharing, companies can strike the perfect balance between collaboration and control. If your organisation is still using the default Public sharing, now is the time to review your settings and ensure that emails are only shared with the right people.

Tip for Zoho CRM Users:
To configure this feature, go to Setup → Channels → Email → Email Sharing and choose the mode that fits your team structure.