Support Cost Calculator
Find out how much you spend answering the same questions — and what AI changes.
The average small business spends $847/mo answering repetitive customer questions.
How the math works
Step 1 — Your current Q&A cost
We multiply your team size by hours per week on Q&A, times 4.33 weeks per month, times your all-in hourly wage. This gives your true monthly cost of answering customer questions — including salaries, benefits, and overhead.
Step 2 — 80% AI deflection model
Of your repetitive tickets, we apply an 80% deflection rate — a conservative figure backed by industry benchmarks (Intercom, Gartner, Zendesk). We convert deflected tickets to hours saved, then to dollars at your wage rate.
Step 3 — Net savings after Envoy cost
We subtract the $29/mo Envoy Starter plan cost from your projected AI savings. The result is your net monthly savings — real dollars that stay in your business instead of going toward repetitive Q&A labor.
Common questions
What counts as a 'repetitive question'?↓
Any question your team answers more than once. Common examples: business hours, pricing, shipping times, return policies, how to use a product or service, booking or appointment availability, service area coverage, and refund processes. In most small businesses these account for 50–70% of all incoming support requests.
Is 80% deflection realistic?↓
Yes — and it's conservative for well-structured chatbots. Studies from Intercom, Zendesk, and Gartner show AI chatbots deflect 60–90% of repetitive support tickets when trained on accurate business content. The 80% figure used here applies only to tickets already identified as repetitive, so overall deflection across all tickets depends on your repeatQuestionPct input.
What happens to tickets the AI can't handle?↓
Envoy hands off conversations it cannot confidently answer to your team via email or a live chat escalation — no ticket falls through the cracks. The AI handles the easy, repetitive volume so your team has more capacity and focus for the complex cases that genuinely need a human.
How quickly will I see savings?↓
Most businesses see deflection within the first week after training Envoy on their FAQ and support content. Setup takes about 5 minutes to embed on your site. You start recouping the $29/mo cost the moment the first repetitive ticket gets handled by the AI instead of a staff member.