UniUni Customer Service — Expert Operational Guide

This document describes a complete, operational approach to UniUni customer service, written from the perspective of an experienced customer operations manager. It converts industry best practices into concrete targets, tools, staffing and process steps you can implement immediately. The guidance covers omnichannel contact strategy, metrics and SLAs, staffing and budgeting, technology stack choices, escalation and refunds, and QA/training programs.

Throughout the plan I use explicit numeric targets and example contact details so UniUni leaders can benchmark performance, build schedules, cost headcount and present a clear SLA to customers. Replace any “example” contact info and financial figures with your company’s actual values when you move to implementation.

Channels, contact points and SLA commitments

UniUni should operate a true omnichannel stack: phone, email, web chat, social DMs (Twitter/Instagram/Facebook), and a public Knowledge Base for self-service. Recommended public contact points (examples): phone +1-800-555-0123 (US toll free), email [email protected], and support site https://www.uniuni.com/support. A physical returns address for logistics and refunds: UniUni Returns, 123 Uni Street, Suite 400, Austin, TX 78701 (example). Hours: 7:00–23:00 local time for chat/phone; 24×7 email intake with defined SLA.

Concrete SLA targets to publish and to measure internally: initial acknowledgment for email/ticket within 4 business hours, full email resolution within 24–48 business hours; web chat response under 60 seconds and average chat handle time (AHT) 6–12 minutes; phone average speed to answer <90 seconds and abandonment rate <5%; social DM acknowledge within 2 hours and resolve within 24 hours. Self-service resolution rate target (Knowledge Base & chatbot) should be 30–50% of incoming contacts within 12 months of launch.

Channels and SLA details (packed list)

• Phone: target ASA (average speed of answer) <90s, AHT 6–10 min, First Call Resolution (FCR) target 70–80%.
• Chat: response <60s, concurrent chats per agent 2–3, AHT 8–15 min, FCR 60–75% (higher if co-browsing/agent-assisted).
• Email/Ticket: acknowledge ≤4 hours, resolve ≤48 hours, tickets per agent per day 20–40 depending on complexity.
• Social/DME: acknowledge ≤2 hours, resolve ≤24 hours; escalate brand-sensitive posts within 30 minutes to PR/designated senior agent.
• Self-service: Knowledge Base articles <800 words, 2–4 step troubleshoot flows, chatbot handoff <10% to live agent for known issues.

Key performance indicators and reporting

Adopt a balanced scorecard: Customer metrics (CSAT, NPS, FCR), Operational metrics (AHT, SLA compliance, occupancy, abandonment) and Financial (cost per contact, cost to serve, revenue retention). Target operational benchmarks for UniUni in year one: CSAT 82–88%, NPS +20 to +35, FCR 70–80%, AHT 6–10 min for phone and 8–12 min for chat. Monthly SLA compliance target should be ≥95% for published SLAs.

Track costs to the penny. Example cost-per-contact ranges (industry averages): email $3–$8/contact, chat $4–$12/contact, phone $8–$18/contact (voice heavy operations cost more). Monthly volume example: 25,000 inbound contacts across channels -> approximate monthly cost $75k–$250k depending on channel mix and automation adoption. Report weekly: contacts by channel, response time percentiles (P50, P90), FCR and CSAT by issue type.

KPI definitions and targets (compact list)

• CSAT: post-contact survey (1–5) target ≥4.2/5 (≈84%).
• NPS: transactional survey for support interactions target ≥+20.
• FCR: percentage resolved without follow-up target 70–80%.
• AHT: average handle time target 6–10 minutes voice, 8–12 minutes chat.
• Occupancy & shrinkage: target agent occupancy 75–85%, shrinkage planning 30–35% for holidays/training/meetings.

Organization, staffing and budgeting

Build staffing using Erlang-C for voice and simple concurrency math for chat. Practical headcount rules: each full-time agent (40 hours/wk) handles ~1,200–1,800 phone contacts/month or ~800–1,400 chats/month (depending on concurrency). Example: 10,000 monthly phone calls with target occupancy 80% → ~18–22 FTEs after shrinkage (30%). For 10,000 chats at 2 concurrent chats average → ~12–16 FTEs. Use 12–16 weeks runway for hiring and training ramp.

Cost assumptions: annual salary range for Tier 1 US agents $35,000–$55,000; benefits/taxes add ~25–35% overhead. Outsourcing/nearshore rates vary $8–$25/hour. Budget line items: salaries, workforce management tool, CRM subscription, telephony (SIP/Twilio), chatbot/licensing, QA & coaching. One-time staffing ramp (hiring + 40 hours onboarding) per agent ≈ $1,500–$4,000 inclusive of recruiter fees and training materials.

Tools, integrations and technology stack

Choose an integrated stack for ticketing, telephony and analytics. Recommended vendor types and examples: ticketing (Zendesk, Freshdesk, Salesforce Service Cloud), telephony/IVR (Twilio, Amazon Connect), knowledge base (Help Scout, Confluence), chatbots (Rasa, Dialogflow, Intercom), workforce management (NICE, Teleopti). Price examples: ticketing starts ~$20–$150/user/month depending on features; Twilio telephony often incurs usage charges ($0.005–$0.02/min depending on country) plus platform fees. Vendor websites: https://www.zendesk.com, https://www.salesforce.com, https://www.twilio.com.

Integration priorities: single customer view (ticket + order history + returns status), real-time order and inventory API access for agents, automated ticket routing by intent (NLP), and closed-loop feedback: every resolved ticket feeds knowledge base suggestions and updates. Plan for data retention and privacy: store PII encrypted at rest, 90–180 day logs for support sessions (longer for billing disputes). Compliance: PCI scope reduction by tokenizing payment details and avoiding phone collection of full card numbers when possible.

Escalations, refunds and dispute resolution

Define a three-tier escalation matrix: Tier 1 (general agents) resolves routine issues within 24–48 hours; Tier 2 (specialists) for technical/fulfillment escalations with response within 4 work hours and resolution within 72 hours; Tier 3 (managers/legal) for chargebacks, regulatory complaints and complex contractual cases, initial response within 2 work hours. Maintain clear ownership and SLAs at each level and require manager sign-off for refunds above defined thresholds (example: auto-approve refunds <$100; manager approval $100–$500; CFO approval >$500).

Refund and chargeback processes: issue refunds to the original payment method within 3–7 business days after approval; document reasons using standardized codes to permit downstream analytics (codes: wrong_item, damaged, late_delivery, quality_issue). For chargebacks, assemble a case packet within 24 hours: order number, tracking, agent notes, signed delivery confirmation and customer correspondence. Track monthly chargeback rate target <0.5% of transactions.

Training, quality assurance and continuous improvement

Implement an initial onboarding curriculum (40–80 hours) covering product, systems, policies, empathy training and escalation drills. Ongoing learning: weekly 90-minute product updates, monthly calibration sessions and scenario-based refreshers quarterly. QA sampling: 30–50 interactions per agent per month across channels, scored on a 0–100 rubric with a pass threshold ≥85. Use root-cause analysis monthly to identify three top recurring issues to fix in product, fulfillment or documentation.

Close the loop with data-driven improvements: tie CSAT/NPS to ticket categories and individual coaching, publish a monthly “support KPIs & issues” dashboard to senior leadership, and set a continuous improvement roadmap with 6–12 week sprints (example backlog items: reduce AHT by 10% via knowledge base rewrites, implement chatbot handoff that reduces routine ticket volume by 20%). Small, measurable improvements (2–5% month-over-month) compound into major cost and satisfaction gains over 12 months.