How to cut first response time without hiring

Customers forgive a slow fix. They don't forgive silence. First response time is the number they feel most, and the easiest to improve.

1. Find your top twenty questions

Export a month of tickets and group them. Twenty questions usually make up more than half the volume.

2. Give each one a short answer page

One question, one page, answer in the first sentence. This is the single biggest lever.

3. Let Relay take the first reply

Turn Relay on for those twenty topics. Everything else gets an instant acknowledgement and goes to your team.

4. Watch the handoffs

• Read every handoff for the first week

• Fix the doc behind each repeat handoff

• Add new topics once accuracy holds

Teams that follow these steps typically go from hours to under a minute in the first two weeks.