Inbox Triage Ownership Map (Onboarding)

Inbox Triage Ownership Map (Onboarding)

1. 01

   Inventory every channel where client members already talk

   List the community platform, WhatsApp Business numbers, Instagram DMs, and any legacy forum still receiving posts. Name the owner of each channel before promising a unified response time.

2. 02

   Define severity tiers with the client in writing

   Separate billing and access failures (respond within 2 hours) from how-to questions (same business day) and open-ended discussion prompts (48 hours). Tier definitions become the SLA language in the retainer.

3. 03

   Assign named responders per tier, not per tool

   A single moderator covering Discord, Circle, and a WhatsApp line will miss messages during peak hours. Map at least two people per tier so vacation coverage does not break the SLA.

4. 04

   Set the escalation path for product feedback

   Route recurring feature requests into a tagged backlog the client's product lead reviews weekly. This is the mechanism that turns moderation hours into a billable insight deliverable.

5. 05

   Configure auto-acknowledgement only where a human follows within the SLA window

   An instant bot reply with no human follow-up damages trust faster than silence. Pair every automated acknowledgement with a queue assignment.

6. 06

   Agree on the weekly reporting fields before the first shift

   Capture first-response time, resolution time, volume by tier, and top three recurring themes. Fields chosen after launch rarely match what the client asks for in month two.

7. 07

   Document the out-of-hours protocol

   State plainly who is on call, what qualifies as an emergency, and how members are told when no one is watching. Ambiguity here is the most common source of retainer disputes.