Customer support for a small SaaS: scale it without burnout

Oscar

120 shops, and I spend about 15 hours a week answering them. Calls, Viber, sometimes at 10 at night. Sales is what suffers.

Alex Tutor

Before changing anything, sort one week of questions. Write each one down in a line and mark whether you've heard it before.

Oscar

Done. About 60% are repeats: how to enter mileage, how to change a reminder's text, where to find the invoice, a forgotten password.

Alex Tutor

And note when they arrive. Most come between eight and ten in the morning, when cars are handed in and administrators are busiest.

You

So most of those hours go to questions he's already answered.

Alex Tutor

Question 1

Oscar spends 15 hours a week on support, and about 60% of the questions are repeats. Assuming time is spread evenly, how many hours a week go to repeated questions?

Your answer

Units: hours

Alex Tutor

Every repeated question has three possible answers, from best to worst. Change the product so nobody needs to ask. Write an article once and send the link. Or keep typing it by hand.

Nina

The reminder text one is on me. The setting is hidden three screens deep. I'll put an “Edit text” button right on the reminder.

Alex Tutor

And for what the product can't fix, build a help center: short articles with screenshots. Write one the second time a question comes in, while the answer is fresh.

Oscar

And saved replies in Viber: two lines and a link, instead of a five-minute voice message.

Alex Tutor

Question 2

Match each repeated question with the best response.

Pick an answer for each row. Choosing an answer that is already used moves it to this row.

“How do I change a reminder's text?” The setting is hidden three screens deep
Choose an answer
“How do I enter mileage at hand-over?” Asked by every new administrator
Choose an answer
“Where is my invoice for last month?”
Choose an answer
“Reminders didn't go out this morning”
Choose an answer

You

Won't shops be annoyed getting a link instead of Oscar?

Alex Tutor

Most people want the problem solved, not a conversation. An administrator at reception with a car waiting prefers two screenshots to a callback in an hour.

But match the urgency. Routine questions: an article or saved reply, answered within the working day. Anything that stops reminders: a call, now. Owners need to know which is which.

You

And the messages at ten at night?

Alex Tutor

Unless reminders are broken, they can wait until morning. Say so openly, so owners know what to expect and Oscar can put the phone down.

Nina

I'll add one line to every article: “Reminders not going out? Call this number.”

Alex Tutor

Question 3

Which of these support requests should a person handle immediately instead of sending an article?

Choose one answerAn administrator asks how to add a second phone number for a clientAn owner says none of today's reminders were deliveredAn owner asks where to download last month's invoiceA new shop asks how to import a spreadsheet of clients

Oscar

The articles helped, but we'll have 200 shops by summer. The questions grow with every new shop.

Alex Tutor

Then look at what those hours buy: does “where's my invoice” need Oscar at all? When support is predictable and takes time from work only you can do, it becomes someone's job. Part time is fine.

Nina

Martha. Greg's administrator. She's used GarageDesk every day since the first launch and speaks shop language better than we do.

You

Isn't it awkward to hire a customer's employee?

Oscar

We asked Greg first. He said she's earned it. From April: 20 hours a week, 16,000 UAH a month.

Alex Tutor

Question 4

Martha costs 16,000 UAH a month. How many new shops at 750 UAH a month does GarageDesk need to cover her pay? Whole shops only.

Your answer

Units: shops

Alex Tutor

Martha shouldn't start from scratch. Give her the articles, the saved replies and a rule: what she solves alone, what goes to Nina at once, what goes to Oscar.

Nina

And every Friday she sends me the three most common questions of the week. Those are my product fixes.

Alex Tutor

That's the loop: support finds the questions, the product removes them, the help center answers the rest.

Oscar

And my fifteen hours go back to sales. Khmelnytskyi has about 150 shops that fit, and I've barely started there.

Alex Tutor

Question 5

What should Martha get on her first day so support doesn't depend on Oscar? Choose all that apply.

Choose all that applyThe help center articles and saved repliesA written rule for what she handles alone and what she passes on at once, and to whomAccess to see each shop's account and payment statusOscar's personal phone, so she can ask him about every questionA weekly slot to pass the most common questions to Nina

You

Can I write Martha's rule?

Alex Tutor

Please. Keep it short enough to pin above her screen.

Oscar

And say how fast each kind of question gets an answer.

Alex Tutor

Question 6Short answer · AI-checked task

Write Martha's support rule in 3–5 sentences: what she handles on her own, what she passes to Nina at once, what she passes to Oscar, and how fast each kind of request is answered.

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Alex Tutor

Next time, the module case: shops keep asking why they should pay for GarageDesk when a notebook is free.

Alex Tutor

That’s the lesson. You answered every task — nicely done.

Next lesson: Why you and not a notebook?