ThriveBot: From Concept to Execution
Length of Project: 2 years, 2023-2025
The Challenge
ThriveCart’s support team was struggling with an overwhelming volume of repetitive inquiries, leading to delayed response times, lower customer satisfaction scores (CSAT), and increased operational costs. Customers needed faster resolutions, and the support team needed a way to handle high-impact issues without being bogged down by common, low-complexity questions.
My goal was to design, build, and launch an automated solution that would reduce support ticket volume while maintaining a high-quality user experience.
My Role & Strategy
As the Product Manager and sole owner of this initiative, I led the end-to-end product development cycle, from ideation to execution to ongoing optimization. This included:
✅ Product Vision & Strategy: Conducted data analysis on ticket volume trends, identifying key areas where automation could drive the most impact. Built a product roadmap to guide development.
✅ Agile Product Management: Leveraged a Scrum framework, breaking development into sprints with clear priorities. Managed the product backlog and collaborated closely with engineers to iterate based on performance data.
✅ Cross-fuctional Leadership: Led collaboration between engineering, support, and product teams to design and implement the chatbot.
✅ User Experience & Iteration: Designed the chatbot’s decision tree to ensure an intuitive self-service experience while enabling seamless escalation for complex cases.
✅ Stakeholder Management & Buy-In: Engaged leadership by presenting data-backed projections on cost savings and efficiency improvements. Ensured alignment across departments through regular updates and feedback loops.
🚀 Product Design & Development
Developed an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) by mapping out frequently asked questions and workflows, prioritizing high-impact automation opportunities.
Created a structured decision tree and knowledge base integration to ensure logical flow and minimal customer frustration.
Partnered with engineers to integrate ThriveBot with our support ticketing system (Zendesk), payment gateway documentation, and knowledge base, ensuring a seamless experience.
📊 Data-Driven Iteration
Defined Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) such as deflection rate, CSAT, and resolution time to measure success.
Leveraged customer feedback, interaction analytics, and escalation patterns to refine the bot’s responses.
Implemented A/B testing on different conversational flows to maximize deflection rate without sacrificing customer satisfaction.
Maintained a continuous improvement cycle, ensuring ThriveBot evolved alongside changing user needs and company priorities.
🔍 Stakeholder Collaboration & Delegation
Acted as the bridge between engineering, support, and leadership, ensuring that all teams were aligned on project goals.
Delegated technical implementation tasks to Certainly’s development team while working closely with them to ensure ThriveBot met our requirements.
Trained the support team on bot handoff best practices, ensuring a smooth transition from bot to human when needed.
The Results & Business Impact
📉 42% Reduction in Ticket Volume: ThriveBot successfully deflected a significant portion of repetitive inquiries.
📈 36% Faster Response Times: With fewer redundant tickets, the support team resolved complex cases more efficiently.
💰 Cost Savings in Support Operations: Reduced reliance on Tier 1 agents for common inquiries, reallocating resources to higher-value interactions.
⭐ Improved CSAT: Customer satisfaction increased due to faster resolutions and reduced friction.
Key Takeaways
✅ End-to-End Product Ownership: Led this initiative from concept through execution and post-launch iteration, ensuring long-term success.
✅ Agile Execution & Continuous Improvement: Applied Scrum principles and maintained an iterative approach, incorporating feedback and performance insights.
✅ Data-Driven Decision Making: Used analytics, user insights, and performance metrics to inform every phase of development.
✅ Cross-Functional Leadership: Aligned engineering, product, and support teams around a shared vision and delivered measurable business impact.
People I lead during this project:
David Johnson // Certainly Technical team (Contact available upon request)
See ThriveBot live in action