Heal n Soothe — Customer Service Playbook (Expert Guidance)

Overview and strategic objectives

Heal n Soothe customer service should be positioned as a profit-protecting, trust-building function that directly influences retention, average order value (AOV) and brand reputation. Primary objectives for the first 12 months: achieve a Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) of 85%+, First Contact Resolution (FCR) of 70%+, Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 35+, and reduce chargebacks/returns by 25% versus baseline. These targets align with high-performing consumer health & wellness brands and set a measurable bar for performance reviews every quarter.

Operationally, the service team must balance compliance (order accuracy, labeling, regulated claims), rapid responsiveness (web chat and phone), and empathy-driven recovery for product or delivery issues. A 90-day implementation plan (detailed below) should prioritize phone and email stabilization in weeks 1–6, chat rollout by week 8, and a CRM integration and reporting cadence by week 12.

Contact channels, SLAs and accessibility

Offer omnichannel support: phone, email, web chat, an FAQ knowledge base, and an in-app messaging option if you have a mobile presence. Recommended business hours: 9:00–18:00 local time, Monday–Saturday, with a staffed emergency channel 10:00–14:00 Sunday for high-impact issues (recalls, shipping disasters). SLA targets to publish publicly: average response time for email ≤ 12 hours, web chat < 90 seconds, phone hold < 2 minutes, and 80% of routine inquiries resolved within 24 hours.

Accessibility and transparency are essential. Include an automated IVR route for order status, refunds, ingredients/claims inquiries, and technical issues. Ensure phone prompts offer language options if you serve multi-lingual markets. Maintain published refund and shipping windows (suggestions below) so customers and agents share the same expectations.

Key performance targets (operational checklist)

• Response time targets: Chat ≤ 90 seconds; Phone queue ≤ 120 seconds; Email ≤ 12 hours; Social media ≤ 2 hours during business hours.
• Quality & outcomes: CSAT ≥ 85%; FCR ≥ 70%; AHT (Average Handle Time) 6–10 minutes for phone; Escalation rate ≤ 8% of handled contacts.
• Service policies to publish: Refund window 30 days from delivery; Return shipping paid by Heal n Soothe for defective items; Processing refunds within 3–5 business days of receiving returned SKU.
• Availability: Core hours 9:00–18:00 Mon–Sat; Emergency Sunday 10:00–14:00. Peak staffing for high-volume days (first 3 business days after a marketing campaign).
• Security/compliance: PCI-DSS compliance for payments, record retention policy 24 months for disputed orders, and documented consent capture for subscription enrollments.

Operational playbook: staffing, tools and scripts

Staffing: start with 1 full-time agent per 500–700 monthly orders in the first phase; scale-to-demand with a 20% buffer for peak promotions. Typical hire profile: 2+ years e-commerce or supplement-category customer service, conflict resolution training, and familiarity with Zendesk/Front/Gorgias or comparable CRM platforms. Budget guidance: fully-loaded annual cost per agent (salary + benefits + tools) typically ranges between $40,000–$55,000 in the U.S.; adjust regionally for offshore or hybrid models.

Tools: a single-pane CRM that integrates orders, refunds, shipping tracking, and a knowledge base is mandatory. Implement canned responses for common workflows (order status, subscription pause, refund initiation), but require a humanized opening line to avoid robotic tone. Use CSAT surveys after ticket closure and tag all tickets with root-cause labels (shipping delay, SKU defect, ingredient questions) to enable monthly trend analysis.

Complaint handling, refunds and returns

Standardize a 3-step complaint-handling process: acknowledge (within SLA), investigate (24–72 hours depending on complexity), resolve (refund/replace/credit or escalation). For product concerns, require photo evidence for damaged/contaminated items, log batch/lot numbers and forward to quality assurance. For delivery issues, obtain tracking proof and coordinate with the courier before issuing automatic refunds to avoid fraud exposure.

Refund policy recommendations: full refunds within 30 days for unopened products; partial or discretionary refunds for opened items if safety/quality claims are involved; immediate replacement for verified shipping damage with no-restocking fee. Process refunds to the original payment method and communicate an expected timeline of 3–5 business days for posting. Keep a scripted escalation path: Tier 1 agent → Team Lead (within 12 hours) → Customer Experience Manager (within 48 hours) → Legal/Quality as needed.

Monitoring, reporting and continuous improvement

Create a weekly dashboard with the following metrics: volume by channel, CSAT by agent, FCR rate, average handle time, escalation rate, refunds issued (count and $), and top 5 root causes. Run a monthly quality audit sampling 5–10% of closed tickets for adherence to scripts, tone, and policy compliance. Use these audits to design targeted coaching: 30-minute coaching sessions for agents missing CSAT target two months in a row.

Continuous improvement: institute quarterly Voice of Customer projects (surveys, NPS deep dives, user interviews) and correlate product returns to manufacturing/packaging issues. Set a six-month roadmap for automation: automate order-status queries and subscription management to reduce manual load by at least 20% and free agents for higher-value recovery work.

Sample public contact info and agent opening scripts (examples)

• Public contact examples (recommended to publish): Phone: +1 (800) 555-0123 (Mon–Sat 9:00–18:00); Email: [email protected]; Website help center: https://www.example-healnsoothe.com/support; Return address (for labels): 123 Service Way, Suite 200, Anytown, ST 01234 (use your fulfillment center address).
• Agent opening script (phone): “Hello, thank you for contacting Heal n Soothe. My name is [AgentName]. Can I have your order number or the email on the order so I can look that up for you?” Chat script: “Hi — I’m [AgentName]. I see your order #_____. How can I help you with this today? If it’s about returns, I can start the process right away.” Email auto-reply: “Thanks for contacting Heal n Soothe. We received your message and will respond within 12 business hours. For order status quicker, please use our tracking link: [tracking URL].”