Della Customer Service — Expert Operational Playbook (Illustrative)

Overview and scope

This document is an expert-level playbook for building and running “Della” customer service operations. To avoid presenting fabricated facts about any real company, the contact details, metrics, prices and scenario figures below are explicitly illustrative and intended to show practical, implementable detail. Use them as templates to adapt to your actual business data.

Della in this playbook is conceived as a mid-market ecommerce brand that launched in 2016, handling between 5,000 and 50,000 orders per month. The guidance covers channel design (phone, email, chat, social), staffing, KPIs, tooling and budgets so an operations leader can map real data to the templates and SLAs described here.

Operational model and channels

Channels, SLAs and availability

Della offers omnichannel support: phone, email/ticketing, live chat, SMS, and two-way social DMs. Example SLAs: phone answer in ≤60 seconds (target), chat response within 30 seconds, email/ticket acknowledgment within 2 hours and resolution within 24–72 hours depending on complexity. For high-value customers implement a 24/7 escalation line; for others operate core hours (Mon–Fri, 8:00–20:00 local time) plus limited weekend coverage.

Channel mix recommendations based on typical mid-market traffic: 35% tickets (email/form), 25% phone, 25% chat, 10% social, 5% SMS. Shift resources dynamically: prioritize live channels during peak sales (product launches, holidays like Black Friday), and route lower-priority asks into self-service KB content and bots during peaks.

Technology stack and automation

Core tooling: a shared-ticket CRM (Zendesk/Freshdesk/HubSpot Service or equivalent), integrated telephony (VoIP with CRM CTI), knowledge base platform, chatbot framework (rules-based + small generative assist), and workforce management (WFM) for forecasting. Typical SaaS costs vary: budget $20–200 per agent/month for ticketing + $10–50 per agent/month telephony minutes; expect an initial integration/implementation spend of $5k–$30k depending on customization.

Automate repetitive tasks with macros, NLP triage (ticket routing to correct queue in <1 second), and return-label generation. Use chatbots to resolve 20–40% of low-complexity inquiries and to collect intake data that reduces live handle time by 20–35%.

KPIs, reporting and sample calculations

Primary KPIs and targets

Track a concise KPI set to drive behavior: Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) by interaction, Net Promoter Score (NPS) quarterly, First Contact Resolution (FCR), Average Handle Time (AHT), SLA compliance (answer/response times), and Cost per Contact. Example targets for a high-performing program: CSAT ≥4.6/5, FCR ≥75%, AHT 5–12 minutes (channel-dependent), SLA compliance ≥90% for defined targets.

Good dashboards combine daily operational views (queues, ASA — average speed of answer, backlog) with longer-term trend analysis (monthly CSAT, churn attributable to support quality). Segment KPIs by product line and customer tier to allocate service levels effectively.

• Key measurable KPIs (benchmarks): CSAT ≥4.5/5; NPS +20 to +50; FCR 70–85%; SLA compliance ≥90%; Cost per Contact $2–$15 depending on channel and geography.
• Reporting cadence: real-time queue dashboards, daily shift summaries, weekly aggregated trend reports, monthly executive scorecards with root-cause analysis and action items.

Staffing, training and costs

Staff model and workforce planning

Staff using a tiered model: Tier 1 handles 70–80% of common inquiries (orders, tracking, returns), Tier 2 handles technical or product issues, Tier 3 handles legal/finance escalations. Typical staffing rule of thumb: for ecommerce, expect ~1 full-time agent per 300–800 orders per month depending on product complexity and self-service maturity.

Example scenario: Della processes 20,000 orders/month. At a 4% contact rate (800 contacts/month) and average occupancy/handle time assumptions, 6–10 full-time agents would typically handle Tier 1 load, plus 1–2 specialists for escalations and a supervisor. Factor in shrinkage (training, breaks, vacations) of ~30% when computing headcount needs.

Training, QA and continuous improvement

Onboarding: 2–4 weeks of mixed training (product, systems, soft skills), with certification before independent queue assignment. Continuous QA: sample 5–10% of interactions weekly, scoring against a 10–15 point rubric covering accuracy, empathy, policy compliance and closure. Incorporate coaching sessions twice monthly for underperforming agents.

Invest 3–6% of your support budget in training and quality programs in year 1; this typically reduces repeat contacts and raises CSAT within 6–9 months. Maintain an internal knowledge base with version control, update cadence tied to product releases (release notes integration) and a single source of truth for policy exceptions and pricing.

Escalations, compliance and customer feedback

Escalation paths and governance

Define clear escalation matrices with response SLAs at each level (e.g., Tier 2 within 4 business hours, Tier 3 within 24 hours). Maintain an executive-origin ticket queue for VIPs and high-severity incidents (delivery failures impacting >100 customers). Use post-incident reviews with cross-functional stakeholders for any incident that triggers >$10k in refunds or >500 affected orders.

Ensure legal and privacy compliance: store PII behind role-based access, implement a 90-day retention policy for full interaction transcripts unless regulatory requirements (tax, warranty) demand longer retention. Keep a published privacy/contact page and a DMARC/SPF configuration for transactional email to reduce fraud-related support load.

Feedback loops and continuous improvement

Use structured feedback: CSAT surveys after 100% of resolved tickets, quarterly NPS surveys weighted by customer value. Close the loop: assign product/ops owners to review top 10 complaint categories monthly and commit to fixes with deadlines. Track cost of poor service (refunds, expedited shipping, churn) and present ROI for service improvements in quarterly reviews.

Example public-facing contact (illustrative only): Customer Support — Della (Example HQ), 123 Della Way, Austin, TX 78701; Phone: +1 (555) 555-0123; Email: [email protected]; Portal: https://support.della.example.com. Replace these with your real corporate addresses and numbers when deploying.

• Implementation checklist (practical next steps): map channels → define per-channel SLA → select CRM/telephony vendor → run a 6–8 week pilot with KPIs → scale staffing based on measured contact volumes → implement QA and a public KB with analytics.