KRISHNA REVANTH
All work

01.26 – 03.26

MailChimp on Sales Agent Channel

Helping Intuit sales agents sell MailChimp from the same dashboard they use for QuickBooks.

Overview

A purchase flow for MailChimp inside Intuit's sales dashboard.

What is MailChimp

A marketing platform for small businesses

Owned by Intuit. Businesses buy Email Marketing, then add SMS or Transactional Email.

The requirement

Sell MailChimp through Intuit's sales agents

Customers bought MailChimp online or through a separate sales tool. Intuit wanted its agents to sell it on a live call, from the dashboard they already use.

The solution

A five-step flow, with a clear rule for SMS

I designed the flow for all three products. SMS is charged only after approval, so it gets its own section in the cart.

Success measures

How Intuit will judge the new channel.

  • Channel shareAgent sales made through Intuit's dashboard
  • Revenue gainNew revenue from agent-led sales
  • Time savedHours saved per sale
  • Agent adoptionHow many agents use it, and what they say
01 — The challenge

One cart, two billing timelines.

An order can include three products. Two are paid at checkout. SMS can't be: a business needs an approved application before it can send texts.

  1. Order placed The card is saved and the email products are paid.
  2. SMS application Intuit reviews the application.
  3. Approved SMS is charged on the next bill.
    Not approved SMS is never charged.
Key design challenge

How should SMS sit in the cart when it isn't charged at checkout?

Project in numbers
  • 1sales dashboard

    MailChimp and QuickBooks, sold from one tool.

  • 3products

    Email Marketing, Transactional Email and SMS.

  • 5purchase steps

    From offer to confirmation.

  • 30+cart explorations

    To settle how SMS shows before approval.

02 — Context

Intuit's agents already talk to small businesses every day.

Customers buy Intuit products in three ways.

  • Product website

    Self-serve, online.

    • New customers: available
    • Existing customers: available
  • This project

    Intuit sales agent

    An agent buys on the customer's behalf.

    • New customers: available
    • Existing customers: available

  • In-product

    Bills and Subscriptions in Intuit Enterprise Suite.

    • New customers: not available
    • Existing customers: available
Before

Separate tools and pricing

QuickBooks and MailChimp were sold in different tools, with prices kept in different places.

Goal

One sales dashboard

Agents sell MailChimp from Intuit's sales tool, with prices from one source.

Primary user

Intuit sales agent

Builds the order for the customer on a live call.

User needs
  • Set up plans and add-ons quickly
  • Explain prices, discounts and when each charge lands
  • Avoid orders that fail after they're sent
03 — Requirements

Every pricing rule had to carry over to the sales flow.

I mapped how businesses buy MailChimp today, then listed with product, finance and legal everything an order must capture.

MailChimp pricing page showing four plans: Premium, Standard, Essentials and Free.
PlansFour plans, each with different features and support.
MailChimp pricing page with the contacts dropdown open, showing tiers from 0–500 up to 200,000+ contacts.
ContactsPricing scales with the number of contacts, from 500 to over 200,000.
Transactional Email pricing: estimated monthly sends are converted into blocks of 25,000 emails.
TransactionalSold in blocks of 25,000 emails.
Email and SMS pricing page: SMS is added to a paid plan through SMS credits and is not available on the Free plan.
SMSAn add-on sold as credits. Charged only after approval.
1 / 4 Source: mailchimp.com, early 2026
Base plan

Email Marketing

Plan
Essentials, Standard, Premium and higher tiers
Billing
Monthly or annual
Contacts
The tier sets the price and monthly email volume
Discount
A standard percentage for a fixed period
Add-on

Transactional Email

Quantity
Blocks of 25,000 emails
Pricing
All blocks priced within the same range
Billing
Monthly
Requires
An Email Marketing plan in the cart
Add-on · approval required

SMS

Quantity
A monthly range of SMS credits
Requires
An Email Marketing plan in the cart
Billing
Charged only after the SMS application is approved
Display
Never shown as $0; it isn't free
Order

Checkout rules

Customer
New to both Intuit and MailChimp in phase one
Region
United States, in USD
Tax
Calculated from the customer's address
Consent
Billing consent script read to the customer before submission
04 — Design

From early explorations to the final flow.

  1. MoqupsWireframes and early ideas
  2. FigmaHigh-fidelity flows, refined across reviews
  3. ClaudeCoded high-fidelity prototypes
  4. HandoffPrototypes and Figma files to engineering

This was early in Intuit's AI adoption, so we shaped the Claude workflow as we went.

Early explorations

Two options for adding and configuring products.

Option 1

All products on a single page

Every product on one page, with options beside a running cart.

Wireframe: Select offer table with MailChimp products and an empty shopping cart.
Select offerAll products in one offer table.
Wireframe: Modify step with marketing plans, an SMS credits selector with options, and the cart showing Marketing Premium and an SMS add-on.
ModifyContacts and SMS credits, set beside the cart.
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Option 2

A dedicated step for adding and modifying products

Add-ons grouped under the base plan, with a rate table on demand.

Wireframe: Modify product step for MailChimp Marketing Premium with contacts, Transactional Email and Marketing plus SMS add-ons, and the shopping cart.
Modify productAdd-ons under the base plan, with the cart alongside.
Wireframe: rate table pop-up showing Transactional Email price per block across volume ranges.
Rate tablePrice tiers on demand, without leaving the step.
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Decision 1

A familiar flow over a simpler new one

Chose
The existing sales flow, with dialogs to add and adjust each product.
Over
The early explorations, which were simpler on their own.
Why
Agents already know it. A one-off flow would need new training and feel out of place. It also fit the timeline and scales to other products.
Final designs

Five steps, from offer to confirmation.

  1. 01Select offerChoose products, tiers and discounts.
  2. 02Customer infoCapture business and contact details.
  3. 03PaymentEnter the card and confirm today's total.
  4. 04Review orderCheck details and record customer consent.
  5. 05ConfirmationOrder placed; SMS awaits approval.
Offer selection

A familiar catalog, with the cart always in view.

Offers show price ranges, discounts and billing, as in the existing flow. The cart stays in view.

Select offer step for MailChimp Email Marketing: a table of offers with price ranges, discount terms, offer type and frequency, and the shopping cart with one plan added.
Configuration and pricing

Every price can be explained to the customer.

Tier, discount and price ranges sit in one dialog with a live total. In the cart, “How is this calculated?” shows the maths.

Add to cart dialog for Ultimate Monthly 10X: marketing contacts selector, multiplier, marketing emails, discount selector, all price ranges and the estimated total.
Add to cartTier, discount and price ranges, with a live total.
'How is this calculated?' dialog listing monthly prices for each range of marketing contacts and the estimated total.
Cart“How is this calculated?” breaks each price down by contact range.
1 / 2
Cart explorations

Separating today's charges from charges after approval.

Scroll to see how the cart evolved.

  1. Cart exploration: SMS listed with an Approval Pending tag inside the main cart.
    Exploration 1 of 3

    Inline status

    One list, but it was unclear whether SMS counted toward the subtotal.

  2. Cart exploration: SMS shown as $0 due today with a future price of $200 per month.
    Exploration 2 of 3

    $0 due today

    Clear about today, but it made SMS look free.

  3. Cart exploration: two separate cards, Ready for checkout and Pending for approval, each with a subtotal.
    Exploration 3 of 3

    Separate carts

    Clear, but two subtotals for one order, and not feasible in time.

  4. Final cart: Email Marketing and Transactional Email, then SMS under an Upon Application Approval label with its full price and discount, and the subtotal. You'll be charged for Mailchimp SMS after your application is approved.
    Final direction

    A dedicated approval section

    SMS keeps its price under “Upon Application Approval”, outside today's subtotal.

    HoverTap the icon to see its guidance.

Decision 2

One cart with an approval section, over separate carts

Chose
A dedicated “Upon Application Approval” section inside one cart.
Over
Separate carts, which product managers preferred.
Why
Engineering couldn't build split carts in time. One section keeps SMS apart with a single subtotal, and fits future products that need approval.
Guardrails

Preventing invalid orders before submission.

Add-ons need a base plan, and phase one is for new customers only. Each message says what's wrong and what to do.

Dialog over the Select offer step: Can't add SMS. SMS can't be purchased on its own. To buy SMS, first add a MailChimp Email Marketing plan to the shopping cart.
Select offerAdding SMS without a base plan.
Dialog over the Customer info step: Account already exists. The email address belongs to an existing account, with guidance on where existing customers are handled.
Customer infoAn existing customer is detected from the email address.
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Payment and review

Today's charges stay separate through checkout.

SMS keeps its approval label through to confirmation. Before placing the order, the agent confirms the customer heard the billing consent.

Payment step: credit card form, and the cart with SMS under Upon Application Approval followed by Today's Subtotal, Tax and Total Due Today.
PaymentSMS stays visible but outside the total due today.
Review order step: customer and payment information, the cart, and a consent checkbox confirming the script was read, before Place Order.
Review orderThe order can only be placed once consent is confirmed.
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05 — Reflection

Team, and what I learned.

Team
  • My contributionResearch, wireframes, cart explorations, final flows, coded prototypes and handoff
  • UX lead and staff product designerDirection and reviews
  • Product managerRequirements, scope and business goals
  • EngineeringFeasibility across order and billing systems
  • LegalBilling consent requirements
  • FinanceDiscount rules
What I learned

  • Alignment is part of the design

    A design moves only when product, engineering, legal and finance agree. I share options early and explain why.

  • Copy is a product decision

    One cart label shapes billing, compliance and trust on every sale. Plain words prevent costly mistakes.

  • Design for the system, not the screen

    The approval section worked because it can hold future products. I now ask early how a decision will scale.

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