Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Inquiry Manager

🎯 Role Definition

The Inquiry Manager oversees the intake, prioritization, routing, and resolution of inbound inquiries across email, phone, chat, social media and ticketing systems. This role blends people leadership, process design, data-driven performance management and hands-on escalation handling to ensure timely, accurate, and empathetic responses that improve customer satisfaction (CSAT), reduce response times and maintain SLA compliance. The Inquiry Manager acts as a liaison between customer support, product, compliance and operations teams to close feedback loops and drive continuous improvement.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Senior Customer Support Specialist / Team Lead
Customer Experience Analyst
Operations Coordinator

Advancement To:

Head of Customer Experience / Director of Support Operations
Senior Manager, Customer Care & Operations
VP of Customer Success or Customer Operations

Lateral Moves:

Quality Assurance Manager (Customer Service)
Process Improvement / Lean Operations Manager
Workforce Management Lead

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Lead the daily operations of the inquiry management team, ensuring all incoming customer, prospect and partner inquiries are triaged, prioritized and resolved within defined service level agreements (SLAs) while meeting First Contact Resolution (FCR) targets and key performance indicators (KPIs).
Own the escalation process for complex, high-impact or regulatory inquiries, coordinating cross-functional resources (product, legal, compliance, finance) to expedite resolution and provide executive-level updates.
Design, implement and maintain robust triage and routing rules in CRM/ticketing systems (e.g., Zendesk, Salesforce Service Cloud) to improve routing accuracy, reduce cycle time and minimize manual handoffs.
Monitor daily dashboards and weekly reports (including CSAT, NPS, average handle time, backlog, SLA adherence) and use data to recommend and execute targeted improvements that increase efficiency and customer satisfaction.
Coach, mentor and develop inquiry agents and team leads through one-on-ones, quality reviews and targeted training plans to raise service quality, increase productivity and reduce recurring errors.
Define, document and enforce standard operating procedures (SOPs), knowledge base articles and playbooks to ensure consistent, compliant and high-quality responses across channels.
Conduct root cause analysis and problem management for repeat inquiry types; lead cross-functional initiatives to fix underlying product, process or documentation issues that reduce inbound volume.
Implement quality assurance programs, sampling frameworks and scorecards to measure agent accuracy, tone, compliance and regulatory adherence, and work with HR and L&D on performance improvement plans.
Partner with workforce management to forecast demand, define staffing models, set shrinkage assumptions and optimize shift coverage for peak periods and SLAs.
Manage vendor and partner relationships (outsourced contact centers, BPOs), including onboarding, KPI contracts, SLA negotiations and ongoing performance management.
Lead continuous improvement programs using Lean, Six Sigma or Kaizen methodologies to streamline inquiry workflows, reduce cost-per-contact and accelerate throughput without sacrificing quality.
Serve as the subject-matter expert for company-wide initiatives that impact inbound inquiries (product launches, billing changes, promotions), developing go-to-market readiness checklists and temporary staffing plans.
Oversee privacy, security and regulatory requirements in inquiry handling (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA, PCI), ensuring team adherence to data protection policies and secure handling of sensitive information.
Build and maintain executive-ready reporting and dashboards that show trends, top inquiry drivers, VOC (voice of customer) themes and business impact of service improvements.
Run weekly/bi-weekly cross-functional inquiry review meetings to escalate blockers, align on fixes and ensure timely closure of action items with clear owners.
Drive knowledge management strategy: identify gaps, prioritize content creation, and maintain a single source of truth to reduce average handle time and improve answer accuracy.
Own continuous training curriculum design for omnichannel skills (written communication, chat etiquette, social customer care) and rollout of new tools or processes.
Manage budget for inquiry operations including headcount planning, tools and outsourcing spend; identify opportunities for automation and cost savings through self-service and bots.
Implement automation and AI-driven tools (chatbots, macro responses, routing automation) to reduce repetitive manual work while maintaining high-quality human handoffs for complex cases.
Design and execute complaint handling and remediation programs that convert negative experiences into retention opportunities, and track remediation outcomes to measure business impact.
Maintain and refine SLAs and escalation matrices; regularly audit SLA performance, investigate breaches and recommend preventive controls to senior leadership.
Facilitate customer feedback loops to product and engineering teams, prioritize product improvements based on frequency and severity of inquiry trends, and track resolution progress.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis.
Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap.
Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements.
Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team.
Assist in cross-training programs and temporary project work during peak cycle changes or product launches.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Proficiency with CRM and ticketing platforms such as Zendesk, Salesforce Service Cloud, Freshdesk or ServiceNow, including workflow/routing configuration and reporting.
Strong Excel skills (pivot tables, VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, advanced formulas) and experience building operational dashboards.
Experience with BI/analytics tools (Tableau, Power BI, Looker) to create and maintain performance dashboards and executive reports.
Hands-on knowledge of workforce management tools and forecasting methodologies.
Familiarity with automation and conversational AI platforms (chatbots, routing automation) and basic understanding of how to implement bots to support escalation paths.
Understanding of API-based integrations and the ability to liaise with engineering to troubleshoot data flows between systems.
Practical experience with quality assurance frameworks, QA scorecards and sample design.
Knowledge of compliance and privacy frameworks relevant to inquiry handling (GDPR, HIPAA, PCI) and secure data handling best practices.
Track record in process improvement methodologies (Lean, Six Sigma, Kaizen) and experience leading cross-functional process redesigns.
Ability to perform root cause analysis, formal incident reviews and write clear post-mortem and corrective action plans.
Experience managing outsourcing partners/BPOs and negotiating SLAs and performance contracts.

Soft Skills

Exceptional written and verbal communication skills with the ability to craft clear, empathetic customer responses and executive summaries.
Strong leadership and people management skills with a focus on coaching, performance development and retention.
High emotional intelligence and empathy to handle sensitive escalations and de-escalate frustrated customers.
Problem-solving mindset with analytical rigor and the ability to translate data into actionable recommendations.
Project management skills: ability to run cross-functional programs, track milestones and deliver on time.
Stakeholder management and negotiation skills to align product, legal, finance and operations on remediation and change initiatives.
Prioritization and time management skills to balance daily firefighting with strategic improvement projects.
Attention to detail and quality orientation to maintain compliance and accurate knowledge content.
Adaptability and resilience in high-volume, fast-paced environments with changing product and policy requirements.
Coaching and training aptitude to build agent capabilities and maintain service excellence.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

High school diploma or equivalent; relevant customer service certifications or technical training accepted.

Preferred Education:

Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Communications, Operations Management, Information Systems or a related field.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Business Administration
Communications / Public Relations
Information Systems / Computer Science
Operations Management
Customer Experience / Service Design

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

3–7 years in customer service, contact center operations or inquiry management roles, with at least 1–2 years of team leadership experience.

Preferred:

5+ years managing omnichannel inquiry operations, with demonstrable success improving SLAs, CSAT/FCR, and implementing automation or self-service solutions.