Solo Customer Service: a practical, expert playbook

What “solo” really means and how to scope the role

Solo customer service means you are the primary point of contact for all customer-facing requests — email, chat, phone, social, and refunds — often for companies with 1–25 employees or a single-founder business. In practice that means handling triage, resolution, escalation, knowledge base maintenance, and basic reporting. Expect a typical solo workload to range from 20 to 120 interactions per week depending on product complexity; for a SaaS product at $20–$99/month you’ll often sit near 40–80 tickets weekly.

Set a clear scope from day one: list channels you will own, hours of coverage, maximum allowable backlog, and escalation paths. A concise scope document (one page) should state hours (for example: Mon–Fri 09:00–18:00 PST), guaranteed first response SLA (see below), and what you will escalate to founders or engineering. Put this on the public support page and in your internal SOPs so expectations align with reality.

Tools and tech stack (recommended)

• Helpdesk: Zendesk Support (from $49/agent/mo) or Front (from $29/user/mo) — choose one inbox to avoid context switching. Useful sites: https://www.zendesk.com, https://frontapp.com
• Live chat: Intercom (from ~$74/mo) or Crisp (from $25/mo) for proactive chat; use chat only if you can keep first-response <5 minutes. See https://www.intercom.com
• Knowledge base: HelpDocs (from $39/mo) or Readme for developer docs — quick search reduces tickets by 20–35%. https://www.helpdocs.io
• Phone: Aircall (from $30/user/mo) if you need call routing; assign a single number like +1-415-555-0123 and document business hours and voicemail script. https://aircall.io
• Automation & macros: Use canned responses, 10–20 macros for top issues, and a small Zapier plan ($19.99/mo) to automate ticket creation and CRM sync. https://zapier.com

Invest 2–8 hours setting up routing rules, SLAs, and 10 initial macros. Expect a one-time onboarding cost of $100–$500 plus monthly software fees; many tools have free trials for 14–30 days which you should use to validate workflows before committing.

Day-to-day workflow and SLA targets

Design a three-tier triage: 1) urgent (payments, security, outages) — respond within 1 hour and escalate immediately; 2) high (billing errors, failed deliveries) — respond within 4–8 hours; 3) standard (feature questions, onboarding) — respond within 24 hours. These targets are realistic for solo operators and match customer expectations: industry practice aims for 1 hour on chat, 4–8 hours on email, and 24–48 hours on social.

Maintain a daily routine: morning 30–60 minutes to clear the backlog and prioritize escalations, mid-day 60–90 minutes for proactive outreach and tickets requiring deep work, and a late-afternoon 30 minutes to close requests and update the knowledge base. Log time in 15–30 minute blocks — aim for 60–80% of time on direct support and 20–40% on process improvement and content creation.

Metrics, reporting, and targets

Track a compact set of KPIs weekly: First Response Time (target <4 hours for email), Resolution Time (median <48 hours), First Contact Resolution (FCR target ≥65%), Customer Satisfaction (CSAT target ≥85% on a 1–5 scale), and backlog size (ideally <48 unresolved tickets). Use weekly snapshots and a monthly trend chart to spot recurring issues.

Set simple SLAs in your helpdesk and automate alerts for breaches. For example, create a Zendesk SLA that marks “urgent” tickets if First Response exceeds 60 minutes and automatically notifies the founder (email + Slack). Report monthly to leadership with exact numbers: tickets handled, CSAT %, FCR %, average response time in minutes, and top 5 issues with ticket counts.

Scaling: when to hire, outsource, or automate

Hire a second person when you consistently exceed 80–100 tickets/week, backlog exceeds 72 hours, CSAT drops below 80% for two consecutive months, or your time on support prevents product growth tasks. A junior support hire in the U.S. will cost $40k–$55k/year base (2024 range); outsourced offshore support can start at $8–$15/hour with trade-offs in product knowledge.

Short-term alternatives: outsource overflow to a vetted partner (e.g., Helpware, SupportYourApp) for $15–$30/hour, or use part-time contractors at $25–$45/hour for evenings/weekends. Invest the savings from outsourcing into onboarding docs and shared Slack channels; expect a 2–3 week ramp for basic competency and 8–12 weeks to full product fluency.

Templates, scripts, and practical snippets

• Onboarding reply (email): “Hi [Name], welcome — we’ve created your account: [link]. Start here: https://yourcompany.help/docs/start. If you want a quick walkthrough, tell me 3 goals and I’ll recommend steps. Typical reply time: 2–8 hours.”
• Payment failure script: “We saw a failed payment for invoice #[1234]. Please update at https://billing.yourcompany.com or reply and I can process manually. Card updates within 24 hours avoid service interruption.”
• Escalation template (to CTO/founder): one-line summary, ticket id(s), customer impact (number affected), steps attempted, and required action. Example subject: ‘ESCALATE: Payments outage — 17 customers, severity P1’.

Keep a living SOP document stored at a central URL (for example: https://confluence.yourcompany.com/support-sop) and include exact escalation phone numbers (e.g., +1-415-555-0199 for founder on-call) and physical office address for legal or returns: 123 Main St, Suite 400, San Francisco, CA 94105.

Final practical checklist

On day one: configure one inbox, set 3 SLAs, create 10 macros, publish a short public support hours page, and run a 30-minute orientation with founders covering escalation and refund authority limits. Monitor metrics weekly and iterate documentation monthly. With these practical controls, a solo customer service professional can run reliable support, maintain high CSAT, and scale cleanly as the company grows.

Does SoLo Funds have a phone number?

SoLo Funds contact info: Phone number: (646) 420-2435 Website: www.solofunds.com What does SoLo Funds do?

What is the phone number for App One customer service?

877.277.6631
Fill out the form below or contact AppOne Support at 877.277. 6631. Want top tips and trends from experts in the industry? Subscribe to our blog.

How do I contact SoLo App customer service?

Email, at [email protected].

What’s going on with SoLo loans?

In 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) sued the company over its lending model, citing misleading advertising that SoLo offered no-interest loans. The case was later dismissed in 2025.

How do I contact SoLo Stove customer service?

For delays on paid expedited orders or any shipping delays well outside the timeline chosen at checkout, please contact us at 817-900-2664 and our Community Support team will be happy to assist.

How do I contact sole bike customer service?

If you find that your battery does not hold a sufficient charge, please call customer service at 1-844-336-SOLÉ.