Volume Deflection
Business case of automatic customer response system implementation.
Context
An e-commerce company receives 1,550 customer emails / week. ~ 20% of the tickets volume - repetitive standard answers that don’t require human analysis and resolution.
Pain points
- € 42,000 annual cost of manual responses
- High risk of low SLA during seasonal peaks
- 7% customers churn during peak seasons
- Resolution time 10% above target
Success metrics
- Deflection rate: 18%+;
- Reopened automatic tickets rate: < 5%;
- First call resolution (FCR): 10%+ improvement;
- Resolution time: -8% reduction;
- Cost per customer interaction: 12% decrease;
- CSAT: maintain 3.8+ on auto-responses.
Solution
Overview
CRM-integrated email classification and auto-response system that instantly responds to common queries with standardized responses.
Features
- LLM-based classification and text-analysis;
- Pre-defined email response templates;
- Extended data (time-stamps) for tracking ticket performance.
Architecture
Implementation roadmap
Timeline: 16 weeks
Phase 1 - Foundation (week 1-3):
- Analyze and identify symptom codes for automation
- Design first batch of email templates (40-50%)
Phase 2 - Build (week 4-8):
- API development
- Zendesk setup
- LLM model training, prompts and context design
- Reporting dashboards (deflection rate / deflected tickets and interactions)
- Testing
Phase 3 - Pilot (week 9-11):
- Launch for a single market (10-15% of total service volume)
- Daily control over deflection vs tickets re-opening rate
- Design rest of email templates
- Launch internal support command center for operative reaction to issues.
Phase 4 - Scale (week 12-16):
- Deployment and testing for the rest of the markets
Phase 5 - Optimize (ongoing):
- CSAT review for the automated interactions
- FCR and deflection rate review
- Launch templates maintenance and improvement methodology
- Technical support documentation
Financials
Cost saving
Total annual cost saving:
€ 42,134 (18%)
Annual service budget
| Without automation | With automation | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly emails received | 6,200 | 6,200 |
| Emails handled manually | 6,200 | 5,084 |
| Deflection rate* | 0% | 18% |
| Emails automated | 0 | 1,116 |
| Workforce required (hours) | 843 | 691 |
| Workforce required (FTE) | 4.9 | 4 |
| Monthly payroll costs | € 17,703 | € 14,511 |
| Monthly overheads | € 1,770 | € 1,451 |
| Total annual costs | € 233,680 | € 191,545 |
*Deflection rate is evaluated as percentage of tickets automatically responded and not re-opened by the customer.
Investment
Total investment:
Implementation costs (one-time): € 28,829
Annual ongoing costs: € 9,800
Implementation costs (one-time)
| Category | Hours | Hourly rate | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| APIs development | 160 | € 60.00 | € 9,600 |
| Zendesk setup | 50 | € 50.00 | € 2,500 |
| LLM-classifier development | 220 | € 50.00 | € 11,000 |
| Emails templates | 68 | € 28.00 | € 1,904 |
| Analytical reporting | 30 | € 45.00 | € 1,350 |
| Project management | 45 | € 55.00 | € 2,475 |
| Total | € 28,829 |
Ongoing costs (annual)
| Category | Annual cost |
|---|---|
| Cloud infrastructure | € 800 |
| Support & maintenance | € 9,000 |
| Total | € 9,800 |
Business impact
Financial Summary
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Implementation Cost (Year 0): €28,829 │ │ Annual Ongoing Cost: €9,800 │ │ Current Annual Service Budget: €233,680 │ │ │ │ Annual Cost Savings: €42,134 (18%) │ │ │ │ │ │ Year 1 ROI: 84% │ │ Payback Period: 325 days │ │ 3-Year NPV: €117,643 │ └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Operational benefits
- Service model scalability: at least 20% of total business growth doesn’t require proportional growth of service budget;
- Speed of resolution improved by 8%;
- 60% of inquiries resolved with a single interaction (10% FCR improvement).