STEP 5.3: A CASE STUDY
Builds His First System
Sam's app is growing, and so are the support emails. He's spending hours each day answering the same questions over and over. He's becoming a bottleneck.
The Challenge
How can Sam provide fast, helpful support to his users without it taking over his entire day? He needs a system to handle the repetitive work so he can focus on improving the product.
The Action
Sam decides to create his first-ever Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for "Customer Support."
1. Analyze the Repetitive Work
Sam goes through his support emails and realizes 80% of them are about the same three questions. This is "robot work" that can be systemized.
2. Choose Simple Tools
Sam signs up for a simple help desk tool that gives him a shared inbox. He then creates "canned responses" for his top 3 most common questions.
3. Document the Process
He writes a short checklist for how to handle a support ticket: "1. Check if a canned response applies. 2. If not, write a personal reply. 3. Tag the ticket with the feature requested."
The Outcome
By creating a simple system, Sam reduces the time he spends on support from 2 hours a day to 30 minutes. He has successfully built his first system, freeing up time and mental energy to focus on building new features.
New SOP: Customer Support
- Check support inbox twice a day (10 AM & 4 PM).
- For each ticket, first apply a canned response if available.
- For unique issues, write a personal, empathetic reply.
- Tag all tickets with relevant categories (e.g., 'bug', 'feature-request').