Incubation post link: http://forum.shapeshift.com/thread/incubation-scp-tbd-renew-customer-support-workstream-jan-1st-april-30th-2023-41390
Summary: The Customer Support workstream would like to offer 7 days a Week Customer Support Services for 4 Months. During these 4 months we want to focus primarily on using the Discord ticketing system to assist our users.
Abstract:
For years ShapeShift has been known to have some of the best customer service in the crypto space. One year after transitioning to a DAO, this fact remains. Our compact support team is full of experienced and vetted agents who our users can trust to help them out when something inevitably goes wrong within our new experience, as well as some legacy products that still exist. In an industry full of scammers/bad actors; having reliable customer support members, who can be trusted with the most sensitive of user information, is priceless. We’d love to continue offering our services in delighting users when they need a hand. Below you will see how we’ve adjusted our budget to better meet the needs of the DAO during these bearish times, while also focusing on a more Discord-centric support style.
Motivation:
ShapeShift DAO has accomplished a LOT in the past year. As our talented team continues to build out awesome interfaces for our users, occasionally things go wrong. Having a designated customer support team full of experienced team members who can assist our wonderful users in time of need is one of the key aspects of being an overall great crypto platform. It is important to remember who we are building for, our users. These days, there are many options when it comes to which crypto platform to use. Having a trustworthy and knowledgeable customer support team will help us stand out above our competition.
2023 Objectives:
- Transition to a Discord-first support team by the end of January.
- Bag 10 reviews total each month (Trust Pilot and mobile app reviews)
- Maintain a helpdesk to educate community members and users on our products and services.
- Continue to delight and effectively assist users with all of their crypto needs.
Transition to a Discord-first support team by the end of January.
We want to use Discord for customer support more than we use Zendesk. This means directing users who need help to go to the #contact-support channel where one of our support agents can assist them in a live chat fashion. Offering support right in Discord where the majority of our community resides will help make the ShapeShift DAO Discord a one stop shop for our users. Ticket transcripts are readily available via the Tickets Bot. Over the past month 1/2 we have noticed an uptick in Discord tickets, we want this trend to continue. Being able to interact with our users and troubleshoot with them in real time is a great option. We will continue to have 4 Zendesk licenses until the end of January ($500/month). Starting in February we will cut down to 2 licenses for just Mogie and Donna ($125/month and when Donna returns from leave, $250/month). Depending on ticket count and how effective Discord seems to be, we will consider ending our Zendesk account completely. While Discord is the DeFi community norm, there are still many users out there who are loyal to ShapeShift and do not have a Discord account, so for now Zendesk is a great tool. Zendesk also provides privacy and organizational tools that assist in providing great support.
Bag 10 reviews total each month (Trust Pilot and mobile app reviews).
We want to continue our campaign of increasing our Trust Pilot and mobile app reviews. Our goal will be 10 total each month pursued through Discord and Zendesk. We’ve seen a ton of success with this over the past year. Our current Trust Pilot score stands at 4.0! ShapeShift Reviews | Read Customer Service Reviews of shapeshift.com
Helpdesk to educate community members and users on our products and services.
I have started and will continue to migrate help desk articles over to Gitbook. This is in preparation for the potential event of quitting Zendesk completely. Any suggestions for articles can be directed to @mogie. I also have a Twitter account (@DAO_Shift) used to post articles, retweet ShapeShift (and other community members), and direct users to get in contact with our support team when applicable.
Continue to delight and effectively assist users with all of their crypto needs.
Our team consists of members who have been handling crypto related customer support issues for several years. We are dedicated to helping our users and it still bums us out if we cannot find a solution for someone. Helping our users find a solution to their problem(s) and giving them the best experience possible truly makes us happy.
Misc. notes:
- No more 24/7 support, instead Mon-Fri 9am -1am (EST) with Carmina working 5pm-1am on Sat/Sun.
- No more LVAs - this means paying workstream members directly with USDC. No more needing Colony payouts by the 12th every month.
- With Mogie being the only US workstream member, he will be the main point of contact during ‘standard’ US hours.
- Donna will be away from work for her maternity leave from Nov 24-March ~1st. She is a vital part of our team and we want to ensure she has enough time to recover before returning to work.
- We are asking for a 4 month contract vs 6 month. Given the DAO’s current runway and decline in ticket volume, we think this is a fair request and will allow us to revisit staffing/budget/overall workstream necessity after 4 months.
Staffing:
Workstream Leader/Helpdesk Manager - Mogie
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The helpdesk manager creates and oversees the creation, editing and auditing process of our helpdesk content.
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As a workstream leader, Mogie will handle all US-timezone product meetings that require support representation (i.e Go/No Gos, governance calls, etc). He will handle payroll, training consultation, proposal management, cross-team communication, and other high-level needs.
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Completing customer requests with the utmost accuracy and efficiency.
Support Staff Manager - Donna
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Manager’s main role is to ensure quality support and training are provided to all support agents, responsible for staff scheduling, Zendesk management, hosting weekly meeting/huddle with support staff.
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Completing customer requests with the utmost accuracy and efficiency.
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Informal QA for Miguel and Carmina.
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Scheduling
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Build trainings
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Create ticket flow systems for “bug incidences” to ensure proper customer communication.
Support Agent (part time) - Carmina
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Completing customer requests with the utmost accuracy and efficiency.
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Managing Trust Pilot/Mobile App reviews (reporting spam, responding, sending invites). Communicate with @0xean any negative reviews. (Once Donna returns this will be her responsibility since she will be full time).
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Creating triage threads/reporting issues to Ops.
Support Agent (part time) - Miguel
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Completing customer requests with the utmost accuracy and efficiency.
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Weekly Ops Sprint (until Donna returns).
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Creating triage threads/reporting issues to Ops.
Some changes to highlight:
- Megan will be stepping down from her role.
- Carmina and Miguel will be moving to part time hours.
- Donna will be on maternity leave until March.
Why 4 Team Members?
We want to make sure we have the most possible Support coverage as possible, even on the weekends. @mogie will be checking in on the weekends and Carmina will cover 3pm-11pm MST on Sat/Sun. Mon-Fri there will be coverage from 7am-11pm (Tuesday being the exception of official coverage ending at 7pm since that will be the half day for Carmina and Miguel). Donna will be out for the majority of this proposal period (she returns in March) so depending on workload we can revisit the staffing needs come May. We have found that having at least two team members working at the same time allows us to bounce questions off each other and find the most accurate/timely solutions for our users.
Schedule
Monthly Budget (USDC):
Carmina: 1000
Miguel: 800
Mogie: 5500
Donna: 4500
11,800 in salaries
+500 for Zendesk
12,300 TOTAL/month
(57% decrease from current workstream budget: 28,500)
4 month proposal (Jan 1- April 30) grand total = 49,200 USDC from the DAO.
Benefits:
- Ensure our users get timely support from a trusted team.
- Coverage on weekends.
Drawbacks:
- 49,200 USDC spend from Jan 1-April 30, 2023.
Vote:
“For/Yes with no amendments/changes” = Hiring and funding 4 months of Customer Support services.
“For/Yes with amendments/changes”
“Against” = Do not hire and fund the Customer Support workstream for the aforementioned time period.