What To Do When Sh!t Hits The Fan

Hi Team,

This newsletter comes to you from a small corner of a small hotel room at Hotel Arlo in Soho. It’s a cold, early morning, and we’re wrapping up a really solid offsite planning session for 2025.

(Quick note: If you’re interested in sponsoring the newsletter to get in front of 15k CX and Retention folks, feel free to reply or shoot me a DM. I’ve got a few upcoming open slots!)

I just recently marked a full year at Yotpo, and it’s been nothing I could have expected after spending a decade on the brand side. 

Aside from learning way too many acronyms and diving into exponentially more fun campaigns (like this one) than I ever thought possible in SaaS, my day-to-day has completely evolved. It’s been the most challenging—and invigorating—time of my career to date.

Next week will (hopefully) be the busiest of the year for DTC brands, and I know exactly what the following days and weeks might look like. 🥴 

Over the last two weeks, we’ve talked about prepping for BFCM and forecasting chaos like this in the future.

This week, though, I want to get a bit more pessimistic—and brutally authentic.

With all the planning in the world, CX functions can still go to complete sh!t, leaving teams drowning in tickets with no end in sight.

So, here’s what I would do if (when?) sh!t hits the fan.

This will be my most honest and practical newsletter yet.

Buckle up.

This week’s newsie is brought to you by Create CX. 

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When Sh!t Hits the Fan: Your CX Survival Guide

When CX goes sideways—tickets piling up, team panicking, inbox on fire—it’s tempting to throw your hands up and just react. 

But reacting without a plan is how you turn chaos into anarchy. Instead, take a deep breath and channel your inner crisis manager.

Here’s how to turn the tide when sh!t hits the fan:

1. Avoid the Absolute Anarchy: Focus on Root Causes

The first instinct is often to run headfirst into the inbox, grinding through tickets like a crazy person. Stop. Before you waste precious hours replying to the same question 300 times, figure out why this is happening in the first place.

Here’s how:

• Rally the Team: Jump on Slack and ask agents to share what they see in real-time. What are the most common issues? What patterns are emerging? Pair this with tags and ticket data to triangulate the root cause.

• Fix the Source of the Problem: Once you know what’s driving the flood, address it directly.

Examples:

1. Hundreds of tickets about product dimensions for your limited-edition BFCM handbag:

   • Add the dimensions to the product page. This will cut the tickets off at the source.

   • Create a macro for easy, consistent responses in the meantime.

   • If you have automation capabilities, set up a bot to detect and respond to these tickets at scale.

2. Hundreds of tickets about a product being out of stock at checkout:

   • Check where the traffic is coming from—if it’s a Meta ad driving demand, pause the ad while you investigate.

   • Use auto-tagging to monitor these tickets and track the issue’s scale.

   • Export a list of impacted customers and send them a plain-text email explaining the situation. It’s faster (and better) than handling individual tickets one by one (this tip alone has saved me hundreds of hours.)

2. Simplify the Queue to Reduce Noise

Sometimes, the inbox isn’t just overwhelming—it’s cluttered and chaotic. Clean up the ticket queue before tackling the real issues to make it more manageable.

How to simplify:

• Close Non-Critical Tickets: Duplicate inquiries or non-actionable requests? Automate a friendly response and close them.

• Pause Live Chat: If your team is overwhelmed, temporarily disable live chat and redirect inquiries to email, which gives your team more breathing room.

• Consolidate Threads: Merge duplicate tickets from the same customer into one thread to streamline communication and resolution.

Cleaning up the noise creates clarity and lets your team focus on what matters.

3. Leverage Social Media to Keep Customers Informed

When customers can’t get through your inbox, they’ll head to social—and things can escalate quickly. A little proactive management can go a long way in avoiding a full-blown pile-on. 😵‍💫

Here’s what to do:

• Monitor Mentions: Use tools like Sprout Social or just plain old X/FB notifications to track complaints, even if you’re not tagged directly.

• Pin Important Updates: Got a widespread issue? Pin a post on your social channels with the latest info. For example: “We’re experiencing shipping delays. Here’s what to expect and how we’re fixing it.”

• Empower Your Social Team: Make sure social media agents have macros, escalation paths, and the ability to solve common problems without extra hoops.

Social media is where frustration snowballs if left unchecked—get ahead of it.

4. Get Ahead of the Inevitable Tickets

Leadership often has a “don’t wake the sleeping bear” approach to CX chaos. They assume If you don’t tell customers there’s an issue, maybe they won’t notice. 

Spoiler: they always notice, and when they do, it’s often a lot noisier.

Let’s say your BFCM orders are 10x what you expected, but your warehouse can’t keep up with fulfillment. Instead of waiting for the angry emails to roll in, be proactive.

Here’s how to cut 90% of your ticket volume before it even starts:

• Update Expectations: Adjust post-purchase emails or add a banner to the shopping cart. A simple “We’re experiencing delays—orders may take up to 5 days longer to ship” does wonders.

• Send a Thoughtful Email: Be honest. Let customers know where you fell short and give them a realistic timeline. Transparency builds trust—even when the news isn’t ideal.

I’ve seen this work countless times. Customers hate being left in the dark more than they hate delays. Radio silence is what turns a mild frustration into an all-out rage fest.

5. Use Real-Time Data for Smart Decisions

In a crisis, guesswork won’t cut it. Use real-time data to make decisions that actually move the needle.

How to leverage data:

• Monitor Ticket Trends: Look for spikes in specific tags or issues—those are your priority areas.

• Adjust Staffing in Real-Time: If ticket volume surges during specific hours, reallocate resources to cover those peaks.

• Focus on Quick Wins: If one issue drives 60% of tickets, dedicate resources to solving it fast.

Data helps you act, not react.

6. Offer Small Gestures to Calm Frustrated Customers

When customers are upset, small gestures can go a long way in defusing tension and rebuilding goodwill.

Ideas to soothe some frustration:

• Offer Discounts or Credits: A $10 discount or free shipping code shows you care, even if the problem isn’t fully resolved yet.

• Prioritize VIPs: Assign a dedicated agent to handle inquiries from high-value customers with extra care and urgency.

• Fast-Track Refunds: If the resolution will take too long, strategically issue refunds quickly to avoid escalation.

7. If You Say “We’re All a Team,” Prove It 🤷 

Here’s where I might get a little angsty. When sh!t hits the fan, CX teams are usually the first to feel the heat—and often the least supported.

The inbox is drowning, yet somehow, the folks who preached “teamwork makes the dream work” are conveniently on a pleasant December vacation.

If you’re not in CX but believe it’s “not rocket science,” then roll up your sleeves. Jump in the inbox and knock out some tickets.

Seriously. If your company prides itself on being customer-obsessed, there’s no excuse for never actually talking to customers.

Some companies require every department to spend a few days in the inbox each year. I love this. It keeps everyone connected to the customer experience and builds empathy for the day-to-day work team.

When the inbox is on fire, I expect folks from across the company to help. After all, frustrated customers don’t just hurt CX—they hurt the entire damn business.

8. Be the Leader Your Team Needs

If you’re leading a CX team, you set the tone. Panic is contagious, but so is calm. In a crisis, your energy determines whether the team feels like “we’ve got this” or “we’re completely screwed.”

Your job as a leader:

• Keep things organized: Set clear priorities, rally the team, and communicate frequently. Again, COMMUNICATE FREQUENTLY. 

• Recognize their hard work: Celebrate small wins, even during the chaos. A quick shoutout on Slack or a Doordash gift card for lunch can go a long way.

• Debrief after the storm: Once things settle, review what happened. What worked? What didn’t? Use this to make sure the next crisis feels less like a crisis.

Leadership isn’t about having all the answers—it’s about guiding your team through the mess with clarity and confidence.

9. Build a Stronger Playbook After the Chaos

Once the crisis is over, don’t just breathe a sigh of relief and move on. Use it as a learning opportunity to strengthen your CX strategy for the next chaotic event.

Here’s how to improve for next time:

• Conduct a Post-Mortem: Gather your team to analyze the crisis. What caused it? What worked? What didn’t?

• Invest in Tools That Scale: If ticket volume overwhelms your systems, consider automation, better routing, or scalable platforms.

• Refine Training Resources: Update your onboarding materials with lessons learned to equip new hires for future challenges better.

Crises are inevitable, but how you prepare for the next one is entirely up to you.

HAPPY BFCM, and ping me if you need me.

That’s it for this week!

Cheers, 

Eli 💛

P.S. Looking for inspo on your next email/sms campaign?

I know you will love this.