Just Ingredients — Customer Service Playbook

Overview and purpose

Just Ingredients is a mid-sized B2B and B2C ingredients supplier founded in 2011. The customer service function exists to protect order accuracy, manage perishable inventory expectations, and convert service interactions into repeat revenue. In 2024 the business served roughly 18,400 unique customers, with annual revenue of £9.2M and a dedicated service team of 28 full-time agents handling an average of 3,600 contacts per month.

This document explains the operational model, key performance targets, contact endpoints, escalation flows and the concrete metrics you should use to run the team. It is written for operations managers, customer service leads and senior leadership who need actionable rules, staffing formulas and sample scripts to implement immediately.

Operational model and order lifecycle

Orders pass through three operational checkpoints: order capture (web/phone/email), warehouse verification and last-mile delivery confirmation. Typical order sizes range from a £50 minimum (sample packs) to large wholesale pallets priced from £750 to £3,600 depending on SKU mix. For perishable categories (enzymes, cultures) the pick-to-ship window is 24–48 hours; non-perishables typically ship within 72 hours.

Operational responsibilities are split: customer service owns front-line communication and exceptions; warehouse controls inventory allocation and quality checks; logistics owns carrier SLA compliance. A standard operating cost allocation is 6% of gross revenue to customer service and 4% to logistics, which for our example business is approximately £552,000 and £368,000 annually respectively.

Contact channels, hours and SLAs

Multi-channel access is mandatory. Just Ingredients maintains: phone, email, live chat, a web portal for order status and a dedicated account manager program for customers with annual spend > £15,000. Public hours are 08:30–18:00 GMT Monday–Friday and 09:00–13:00 on Saturday. Emergency support for critical supply issues is available 24/7 for premium accounts via a direct on-call line.

Service level agreements are explicit: phone answer within 15 seconds for priority calls and within 120 seconds for general lines; live chat first response under 2 minutes; email response within 24 business hours (target 8 hours). Fulfilment updates must be posted to the portal within 30 minutes of status change, and the first-contact-resolution (FCR) target is 82% for routine order queries.

Essential contact endpoints

• Head Office: Just Ingredients Ltd., 123 Foodworks Lane, London, SW1A 2BB, UK — Phone: +44 20 7946 0123 — Email: [email protected] — Website: https://www.justingredients.co.uk
• Regional Warehouse (Birmingham): Unit 5, Midlands Food Park, Birmingham B33 8FA — Wholesale line: +44 121 555 9800 — Returns & Claims email: [email protected]
• Premium/On-call escalation: [email protected] — Emergency mobile: +44 7700 900900 (for verified premium accounts only)

Quality control, complaints and returns

Quality complaints are time-sensitive: claims for perishable goods must be filed within 24 hours of delivery, non-perishable claims within 72 hours. The returns process requires a microsite RMA request with photos, batch numbers and delivery note; approved RMAs have a standard 14-day return window and are processed with a 7-day credit/refund timeline. For damaged shipments the company absorbs carrier costs when liability is clear; otherwise costs are split per contractual terms.

Typical resolution distribution: 60% of complaints are resolved with a replacement shipment, 25% with partial credit (average credit £32.50), and 15% with full refund. In 2023 the overall complaint rate was 1.9% of orders; the target for 2025 is to reduce that to 1.2% through improved QA and better packaging (investment of ~£45,000 in revised packaging systems).

Staffing, training and costs

Staffing is calculated on workload: one full-time agent handles ~120 contacts/week including aftercare, which aligns with our team of 28 handling 3,600 contacts/month. Average agent compensation in 2024 was £32,500 per year including benefits. Training investment averages £1,200 per agent per year; initial onboarding is 10 working days with a competency sign-off covering SOPs, CRM use, product knowledge (20 SKUs minimum) and compliance with food safety labeling (BRC/IFS basics).

Shift design uses overlap windows from 08:00–19:00 to ensure morning order cut-offs and evening confirmations are covered; weekend staffing is reduced to a skeleton crew of 4 agents for order intake and urgent queries. Outsourcing is used for overflow: contractor tiers handle up to 15% of monthly contacts at an average blended cost of £9.50 per contact, compared to an in-house blended cost of £7.80 per contact.

KPIs, reporting and continuous improvement

Key performance indicators and targets are the operational backbone. Weekly dashboards should include AHT (average handling time), CSAT, NPS, FCR and backlog. Target benchmarks we use are: CSAT 4.6/5, NPS +45, AHT 7–9 minutes for phone and 4–7 minutes for chat, and backlog under 72 hours. Monthly executive reports include trend lines, root-cause categories and a 90-day action plan with owners.

Quarterly process reviews feed into a three-tiered improvement program: tactical (weekly fixes), operational (quarterly SOP revisions) and strategic (annual platform or supply-chain investment). Cost-to-serve dashboards should calculate margin erosion from returns, with a stated tolerance threshold of 1.5% gross margin impact — if exceeded a rapid-reduction plan is triggered.

Key performance indicators and targets

• Phone SLA: 90% answered < 15s; Live chat: 95% first response < 2 min; Email SLA: 95% responded < 24h.
• FCR target: 82%; CSAT target: ≥4.6/5; NPS target: ≥45; Complaint rate target: ≤1.2% by end of FY2025.
• AHT targets: Phone 7–9 min, Chat 4–7 min; Agent productivity: 120 contacts/week; Training days: 10 days onboarding + 2 days quarterly refresh.

Practical scripts, escalation and sample procedures

Effective scripts are short, permission-based and product-aware. Example opening: “Hello, this is [name] from Just Ingredients — I can see order #JI-2025-0423 for 25 kg glucose syrup. How can I help you today?” For inventory holds: “We currently hold 3 units on your order due to quality checks; we expect release by 16:00 today — would you prefer a partial dispatch or wait for full release?” This keeps the customer informed and offers a clear choice.

Escalation is three-tiered: Tier 1 handles order inquiries and basic troubleshooting; Tier 2 handles claims, credits and cross-functional coordination; Tier 3 involves senior ops and supply-chain (VP level) for strategic supply interruptions. Every escalation must include order ID, timestamps, photos where applicable, and a proposed remedy with cost and timeframe. Use the CRM tag “ESCALATE-72” for any issue not resolved within 72 hours to trigger a triage meeting.