Handling Enquiries Without Adding People

Most enquiries are the same five questions

Where is my order, what is the delivery cost, does this fit, can I return it, and can I change my order. In most stores those five account for the large majority of contacts.

All five have documented answers, which means all five can be handled without a person for most customers.

Answer them before they are asked

1. Order status — proactive dispatch and delivery notifications with tracking
2. Delivery cost — on the product page, not only in a policy
3. Fit and compatibility — on the product page, in detail
4. Returns — clear policy and self-service requests
5. Order changes — a self-service window before dispatch

Proactive notification removes more support contacts than any help centre. Customers ask where their order is because nobody told them.

What must stay human

• Anything that has gone wrong — damaged, missing, faulty
• Complaints of any kind
• Anything about money owed in either direction
• Anything where a customer is upset
• Anything unusual enough that a wrong answer would compound it

Measure the right things

Contacts per hundred orders falling while orders rise is the number that shows the approach is working.

Fix causes, not just responses

A store answering the same sizing question forty times a month should change the product page, not get faster at answering. The response is a symptom; the page is the cause.

Reviewing contact reasons monthly and fixing the top one is what keeps support volume flat while the business grows.

Frequently asked questions