Opus Customer Service — Operational Playbook and Practical Details

Executive summary

Opus customer service is the set of people, processes and systems that deliver pre-sales information, onboarding, technical support and lifecycle retention for Opus products and services. This document provides a professional, implementable blueprint with concrete numbers, targets and sample contact patterns so an organization called “Opus” can stand up or optimize customer service efficiently.

The guidance below assumes a mid-market SaaS/technology product supporting 10,000–100,000 active customers, mixed B2B and B2C. Where applicable, sample phone numbers, addresses and prices are provided as templates (marked with “sample”) so you can adapt them directly to your environment.

Contact channels and access

Offer at least four primary channels: phone, email/ticketing, live chat, and a self-service portal. For a 24×5 operation (weekday coverage with weekend limited hours), plan on a single toll-free number and a dedicated technical line. Example (sample): Main support: +1-555-0100, Technical: +1-555-0101, Email: [email protected], Portal: https://support.opus.example.com.

Channel mix should reflect usage: expect ~40% email/ticket, 30% self-service, 20% chat, 10% phone in year one if you have good UX. If you onboard enterprise accounts, phone volume can rise to 25% and require extended hours. Provide local-language IVR options and publish SLA expectations on your contact page (e.g., “Phone hold < 5 minutes; chat response < 90 seconds; email initial reply < 4 business hours").

• Channel specifics (sample): Phone: toll-free +1-555-0100, Hours M–F 08:00–20:00 ET; Chat: embedded on portal, 09:00–18:00 local; Email/ticketing: response SLA 4 business hours; Self-service: 24/7 knowledge base and troubleshooting flows.
• Onboarding lines: Dedicated onboarding number +1-555-0102 and [email protected] for customers paying onboarding fees (sample price: $1,500 one-time for standard onboarding, $4,500 for enterprise with custom integrations).

Service level agreements and key performance indicators

Define measurable SLAs tied to business tiers. Example SLAs (sample): Basic tier — ticket response within 48 business hours, incident resolution within 10 business days; Standard tier — initial response within 4 business hours, resolution within 5 business days; Priority/Enterprise — initial response within 1 hour, resolution target 24–72 hours depending on impact. Publish credits or service credits when SLAs are missed (e.g., 5% monthly credit for repeated breach after remediation cycle).

Track these KPIs rigorously: First Response Time (FRT), Mean Time to Resolve (MTTR), First Contact Resolution (FCR), Net Promoter Score (NPS), Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) and Escalation Rate. Target values for a mature operation: FRT email < 4 hours, chat FRT < 90 sec, MTTR critical incidents < 4 hours, FCR ≥ 70%, CSAT ≥ 4.3/5, NPS ≥ +30. Weekly dashboards and monthly executive reports must show trend lines and root-cause analysis for any KPI deviation.

Staffing, rostering and cost model

Staffing should be calculated from volume, average handle time (AHT) and target occupancy. Example: if you expect 2,400 incoming tickets/month and average handle time per ticket is 30 minutes including wrap-up, that is 1,200 agent-hours/month. For a 160-hour full-time agent (FTE), you need 7.5 FTEs; add 20% for shrinkage (training, breaks, admin) → ~9 FTEs. For phone/chat with 1,000 monthly interactions averaging 10 minutes AHT, add 2–3 FTEs.

Budget lines (sample annual): agent fully loaded cost $55,000–$85,000 per FTE (salary + benefits + SaaS tools), contact center platform $12,000–$48,000, knowledge base licensing $8,000–$20,000, workforce management tools $6,000–$18,000. Outsourcing or managed services typically price support at $18–$35 per contact for tier 1 and $85–$150 per hour for specialized tier 2 engineering support.

Triage, escalation and technical support

Implement a two-tier technical model: Tier 1 for diagnosis and known-issue resolution; Tier 2 for engineering-level troubleshooting and escalations. Define triage criteria that map urgency and impact to SLAs: Severity 1 (production down: >1 customer, revenue impact) → immediate page and 24×7 response; Severity 2 (major feature failure) → 4-hour acknowledgement; Severity 3 (minor bug) → 48–72 hour response. Use a ticketing tool that enforces these rules programmatically.

Escalation workflow must include automated notifications (email + SMS) and an on-call roster. Example escalation matrix: Tier 1 → Tier 2 (SLA breach > 2 hours) → Engineering on-call ( > 4 hours) → CTO notification ( > 8 hours). Maintain a documented RCA (root cause analysis) template and a timeline for customer communications: acknowledge → interim update every 2 hours (for Sev1) → resolution note → RCA within 72 hours.

Knowledge base, self-service and automation

A well-constructed KB reduces contact volume by 25–40% within 9–12 months. Structure content into articles, step-by-step troubleshooting, video walkthroughs and API references. Include versioning (e.g., Opus product v2.3 documented on portal) and a search analytics dashboard to prioritize new articles based on failed searches and top tickets.

Automate repetitive tasks with chatbots and workflows: for example, automated password resets, subscription upgrades, invoice requests and basic diagnostics. Typical automation ROI goals: reduce repetitive contacts by 60% for scripted tasks and decrease average handling time by 15–25% for automated-assisted interactions.

Measurement, reporting and continuous improvement

Create a cadence of daily, weekly and monthly reporting. Daily: queue status, SLA at-risk tickets; Weekly: trending CSAT, ticket volume by root cause, agent adherence; Monthly: NPS, cost-per-contact, SLA compliance and three prioritized action items. Use a single source of truth (BI dashboard) with live filters by product, region, and customer tier.

Continuous improvement must include quarterly service reviews with stakeholders, a public incident log for transparency, and a closed-loop feedback mechanism where product and engineering receive aggregated problem themes. Target a 15% year-over-year reduction in repeat incidents and a trend toward higher FCR through targeted KB and training investments.

Implementation timeline and sample budget (6 months)

Phase 1 (Weeks 1–4): Requirements, tool selection, hire initial team (3–5 FTE), set up ticketing and telephony. Phase 2 (Weeks 5–12): Build KB, train agents, launch channel beta. Phase 3 (Weeks 13–20): Integrate automation, establish SLAs and WFM. Phase 4 (Weeks 21–26): Optimize, implement reporting, full launch.

Sample 6-month budget (sample): total $210,000–$420,000 covering 9 FTEs, contact center platform, KB licensing and initial automation. Adjust up or down depending on customer scale, desired coverage hours, and in-house vs. outsourced mix.