Customer Request Desk
Your shared inbox, answered from your systems and approved by your people.
Customer Request Desk brings customer request management to your shared inbox, drafting replies to CoA, SDS, and order-status requests from your systems for a person to approve. Your customer service rep reviews each draft with the right document attached and sends it in a click.
What it does
The shared inbox fills with the same questions every day. A customer wants the CoA for lot 24-118, another needs the current SDS, and a distributor wants to know when the rest of the order will ship. Each one means opening the ERP, the QA folder, and the shipping system, finding the answer, attaching the right file, and writing a reply while the next ten arrive.
Customer Request Desk reads each message, classifies the request, and identifies the customer, order, and lot. It looks up the answer in your ERP, QA records, and shipping system, then drafts a reply in your team's tone with the document attached and a note on where each fact came from. Complaints and quality questions skip drafting and go straight to a person with the context gathered.
A customer service rep reviews each draft, edits it if needed, and sends it. Your team decides which reply types, if any, can go out without review, and that list can be as short as you want. The time your reps get back goes to the late shipment that needs a plan, the complaint, and the new account that needs a person.
What it handles
CoA requests
The Desk finds the released certificate for the exact lot the customer asked about. It checks that the lot matches what that customer actually received before attaching it. The rep sees the draft with the CoA in place and sends it after a quick read.
SDSs and spec sheets
Replies carry the current revision of the SDS or spec sheet. Where you keep translated versions, the Desk sends the language the customer asked for. If a document isn't in your library, the request goes to a person instead.
Order status and tracking
Questions about where an order is are answered from the ERP and the carrier. The draft shows what shipped, what's still open, and the tracking number, and backorders are called out plainly so the customer isn't surprised later.
Ship date questions
Promised dates and open quantities are pulled from the order and the production schedule. The reply matches what the plant expects. When a date has slipped, the draft goes to a rep to explain before anything is sent.
Everything else, routed
Complaints, quality concerns, pricing questions, and anything unusual go straight to the right person. The email and the account history arrive with it, so nobody starts from zero. A complaint hidden inside a status question is pulled out the moment it arrives instead of sitting under fifty routine emails.
A record of every reply
Every reply is logged with the sources it used and the document that went with it. When a customer comes back with a follow-up, you can see exactly what they were told. That history lets another rep pick up the thread when the usual one is out.
See it working
Who it's for
FAQ
Customer Request Desk questions
Is Customer Request Desk a shared inbox tool?
It works inside the shared inbox you already have, so it goes beyond shared inbox software rather than replacing it. It reads each request, looks up the answer in your ERP, QA records, and shipping system, and drafts the reply with the right document attached. A rep reviews the draft and sends it in a click.
Does anything go out without a person approving it?
Only reply types your team has approved in advance, such as a current published SDS, can go out without review. Everything else is reviewed and sent by a customer service rep. Complaints, quality questions, pricing, and anything the Desk isn't sure about always go to a person, and you can keep the list of pre-approved replies as short as you want.
How do you manage a shared inbox full of customer requests?
Sort it by request type, because most of the volume is the same few questions about CoAs, SDSs, order status, and ship dates. Customer Request Desk classifies each message, drafts the routine replies from your systems, and sends complaints, quality questions, and pricing to a person. Reps spend their time on the requests that need judgment.
What happens to complaints?
Complaints, quality questions, and pricing skip drafting and go straight to a person, with the customer, order, and lot already gathered. A complaint hidden inside a routine status question is pulled out and routed to the account owner the moment it arrives.
Do our customers have to use a new portal?
No, they don't. Customers keep emailing your shared inbox as they do today, so there's no B2B customer portal for them to learn. The Desk works behind the inbox, and every reply is logged with the sources it used, so when a customer follows up, you can see exactly what they were told.
What is a certificate of conformance?
A certificate of conformance (CoC) is a supplier's signed statement that the product shipped meets the order's requirements. Unlike a certificate of analysis, it usually doesn't list the lot's test results. Customers often ask for both. Where you keep CoCs on file, the Desk can find the right one and draft the reply for a rep to approve.
Can it handle the compliance documents customers ask you for?
It can draft the replies. SDSs, regulatory letters, and the compliance documents customers ask you for come from the current revisions in your library, and long supplier questionnaires can be drafted from the same sources. A person reviews every answer, and your quality and regulatory team still owns what those documents say.
How long does it take to set up?
We start by watching your team work the inbox, then prototype the drafts on a sample of real requests. Once you approve, we connect the Desk to your systems and agree which request types it drafts first. Drafts on live email typically start about six weeks after kickoff, depending on how many request types you want covered first. Monthly support starts at go-live.
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