How Siena helps Terra Kaffe expand CX capacity, improve CX metrics, save over $3,000 per month

1. ^94% Automation rate
2. ^$3,000 Saved per month
3. ^86.31% Faster response time

Problem

Keeping up with product demand and maintaining a high bar for CX

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The rapid growth of Terra Kaffe’s customer base led to an overwhelming surge in customer inquiries via email . Demand for Terra Kaffe’s premium, super automatic espresso machines quickly outpaced the CX team’s capacity, making it challenging to maintain the high bar for customer service they’re known for. As Cate Marques, CXO at Terra Kaffe, puts it…

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“It’s crucial for us to provide a white glove customer experience, but over time as the installed base grew, we found ourselves constantly playing catch up and trying to answer people as quickly as possible.” –Cate Marques, CXO, Terra Kaffe

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It’s critical to Terra Kaffe’s brand promise that customers who had invested in the company’s high ticket, aspirational coffee machines receive fast, informative, and personalized responses. The customer experience at Terra Kaffe impacts not only brand equity but also revenue. When customers receive high quality support, they leave positive reviews and tell others, which has a direct effect on sales.

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Cate needed a solution that could quickly add CX capacity. She knew short-term strategies like extending working hours or outsourcing would either cost too much or fall short of Terra Kaffe’s CX expectations.

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Solution

Siena aligns with Terra Kaffe’s values and long-term goals

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In their quest to address the mounting customer support challenges, Cate explored various alternatives. Hiring additional staff was not a viable option due to resource constraints and budget limitations, a common hurdle faced by many startups. Outsourcing to business process outsourcing (BPO) providers was also considered but ultimately dismissed, as the company valued maintaining a close proximity to their customers and the ability to gather insights directly from customer interactions.

After thorough evaluation of several AI-powered customer service solutions, including Forethought, Ada, Klaus, and Loris, the company chose Siena AI as their preferred solution.

“We were floored by the level of support, and the massive increase in personalization and education over Forethought in particular.” –Cate Marques, CXO, Terra Kaffe

Cate and her CX team haven’t looked back since choosing Siena, and several factors affirmed their decision:

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1. World class implementation

Siena AI stood out for its commitment to providing support and guidance throughout the implementation process. The Siena team offered dedicated coaching, mentoring, and hand-holding to help the company harness the power of AI effectively and continue leveling up their knowledge and capabilities. Siena’s support team went beyond ensuring Terra Kaffe’s AI agent was up and running as fast as possible. They also worked closely with Terra Kaffe’s support team to educate them on how to use AI to the fullest.

“Every single person we spoke to at Siena was informed, interested in knowledge sharing, and felt deeply invested in our successful partnership. This has continued throughout our partnership in one of the most impressive examples I’ve encountered in the SaaS space.” –Cate Marques, CXO, Terra Kaffe

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2. Creating a cost-effective, personalized CX

Siena AI presented a cost-effective solution compared to other alternatives, such as hiring additional staff or outsourcing to BPOs, while offering the scalability needed to address the growing customer support demands. Additionally, Siena AI's emphasis on empathy and the ability to tailor the AI's persona, tone, response length, and even emoji usage allowed the company to maintain a consistent brand experience and meet customers where they are, without making it obvious that they were interacting with an AI.

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“Brand voice and tone is everything to us; it’s an area we cannot and do not compromise. Siena allows us to shape the way it communicates with customers, ensuring consistency with the rest of our human team, not a distant extension of it.” –Cate Marques, CXO, Terra Kaffe

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3. An AI that explains it’s reasoning

Siena AI's transparency and ability to explain its reasoning and decision-making process were highly valued by Terra Kaffe. This feature enabled the team to understand why certain responses were generated and how to fix or improve them, fostering a continuous learning process. Siena AI's commitment to teaching and empowering the company's team to solve problems independently was a standout feature, as they took the time to explain the reasoning behind their solutions and guide the team through the process, enabling them to apply the learnings to other automations, processes, and challenges.

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“Siena explains the inputs and sources it used to form a response. So if I need to fix anything, I can take care of it in a few minutes because I know exactly which instructions I need to edit or add. If anybody asks me which AI to go with, I say Siena because of that feature alone.” –Jacob Hall, Customer Experience Associate, Terra Kaffe

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4. A constant stream of product updates

Siena’s AI platform continues to evolve based on customer feedback. Cate appreciates how the team is constantly looking for new ways to automate the most complex tasks for CX teams. Siena’s product development team pays close attention to how CX teams use the platform. They develop features in partnership with customers, listening to their suggestions and keeping an open mind to novel solutions.

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“In the five months we’ve been with Siena, the tool has grown impressively, adding new features that move the needle (Thinking Time, AI Assist, ability to connect websites as knowledge sources - hard to believe these are all new additions with how valuable they are for us). In addition, Siena is incredibly responsive and engaging with feature requests.” –Cate Marques, CXO, Terra Kaffe

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Results

Tangible improvements CX metrics and more time for strategic initiatives

Cate and Jacob have driven remarkable improvements in the company's customer experience metrics using Siena while reducing the cost 

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• Significant Reduction in First Response Time: Prior to working with Siena, the average first response time was 16.8 hours. However, after integrating Siena, the average first response time has been reduced to an impressive 2.3 hours as of April. This drastic improvement ensures that customers receive timely assistance, enhancing their overall experience.
• Impressive Automation Rate: Siena successfully automates 94% of support tickets after moderation, meaning that it handles nearly 94% of selected customer inquiries independently. This high automation rate not only reduces the workload on human support agents but also ensures consistent and efficient service delivery.
• Cost Savings: Siena AI has proven to be a cost-effective solution, saving the company a minimum of $3,000 per month. This figure is based on a comparison of the average number of tickets handled by Siena AI versus human team members, factoring in the cost of replacing Siena AI with human resources and deducting Siena AI's actual expense.
• Improved Customer Insights and Brand Experience: By freeing up time and resources previously dedicated to reactive customer support, the company can now focus on proactively analyzing customer insights and feedback. This allows them to identify areas for improvement, such as reorganizing their help desk or introducing new product offerings based on customer demand, further enhancing the overall brand experience.
• Elevated Customer Confidence: The timely, effective, and brand-consistent assistance provided by Siena AI has instilled greater confidence in customers, reinforcing their decision to choose the company over competitors. Customers now have faith that they will receive an elevated experience, regardless of whether they interact with a human or an AI assistant.

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The results achieved demonstrate Siena’s commitment to delivering exceptional customer experiences while driving operational efficiency and cost savings. By leveraging AI technology and embracing a customer-centric approach, the Terra Kaffe has positioned itself for continued success in a competitive market.

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