Complex Workflows, Fully Automated: How Poplin Reached 55%+ Support Automation
Nachshon Fertel is the co-founder of Poplin, an on-demand laundry service operating across 500+ cities and all 48 contiguous U.S. states. Built as a two-sided marketplace, Poplin connects customers with background-checked laundry pros (LPs) who handle pickup, wash-dry-fold, and drop-off. Poplin is currently the largest laundry service provider in the US, and plans to expand to Canada this quarter.
Champ AI sits behind the scenes as Poplin's Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) and workflow automation layer for Customer and Laundry Pro support. We help the team resolve a majority of their tickets instantly with a natural, high-touch experience while continuously improving policies and workflows as they scale.
A Complex Operational Process
Laundry is inherently a personal service. When a customer uses Poplin, they aren't just outsourcing a chore, they're entrusting a Laundry Pro (LP) with hoodies or shirts that carry emotional attachment. In moments where something is missing, late, or mishandled, support can't just feel like a generic help desk. Every detail matters: tone, wording, and how you explain the next step can be just as important as the outcome.
"Our SOPs can be quite complex, where even our agents struggle to fully follow all the procedures correctly"
Poplin's support operation sits at the center of a two sided marketplace, coordinating between customers and LPs when anything goes wrong. Every ticket can involve a different mix of parties, sometimes it's a straightforward issue between one customer and one LP, but other times it requires threading together multiple LPs and customers, and relaying previous context to get to the resolution. Navigating the intersection of high emotional stakes and logistical friction is a high-pressure task where precision is non-negotiable.
Poplin's AI bar: Customization, Speed, Cost
Customer support is one of Poplin's biggest expenses, an especially painful reality for a low-margin business where "every penny counts", as Nachson put it. The goal was to use AI to scale support capacity without scaling cost at the same time.
Poplin had tried other AI vendors before, yet only managed to automate roughly 20% of volume after months of effort. Part of the problem was the "now what?" moment, where once the contract was signed, they felt like they were "handed the keys" and left to figure out AI on their own. Coming out of that, Poplin had 3 non-negotiables:
- Handle Poplin's most complex, multi-step operational workflows
- Deliver value fast (weeks, not months)
- Drive clear ROI on every resolution
Example Workflow: Late Delivery Alerts
One of Poplin's more complex workflows is their late delivery alert process: A high stakes, non-linear response system that pivots in real time based on live inputs. The first step is a diagnosis, the system pulls the full order record and validates signals that determine whether action is even required: delivery status, evidence of receipt, and payment state.
Once the workflow confirms the order is late, the resolution begins. The system audits customer-laundry pro messaging to understand context, then checks Zendesk history on both sides to see whether the LP already notified concierge, or the customer has opened a separate case. If an active customer ticket exists, the alert is closed with an internal note pointing to the live Zendesk thread. If the delay was clearly customer-driven (missed windows or a requested reschedule), the system records the rationale and resolves without outreach.
From there, Champ's agent orchestrates a two sided response: a secure side conversation to the Laundry Pro, and an update to the Customer. Each message is tailored to the late delivery scenario, combined with context from any previous Zendesk threads.
By acting on these alerts instantaneously, Champ is enabling Poplin to provide superior proactive customer experience.
Building with Champ
Like many other companies navigating the AI landscape, Poplin found that having the tools was only half the battle. They had already invested significant time and internal effort into making AI work, but without specialized expertise, they didn't get the results they were expecting.
The partnership with Champ changed that trajectory immediately. We bypassed the learning curve and went straight into solving high-stakes problems.
"Our first proof of concept was a complex case, and I was very impressed and surprised by how much it was able to do."
We hit the ground running with the pilot, and never slowed down. What set this collaboration apart was that everyone on the Champ team brought a deep product intuition to the project. Champ team functioned as embedded product experts who knew exactly how to set the AI agents up for success. Our team also took the time to understand Poplin's specific workflows, allowing us to proactively identify pain points and ship improvements in real-time.
This efficiency was sustained by a shared sense of urgency and rigorous operational rhythm:
- Bi-weekly meetings to reset priorities and ensure we were always talking the highest-value problems
- Slack Channel for zero-friction communication, ensuring our day to day momentum never stalled
- Proactive Problem Solving by constant collaboration rather than waiting for Poplin to reach out
"I always felt that you had an aligned sense of urgency to make progress."
That urgency, combined with a team that truly understood the "why" behind the product, is what bridged the gap between a "shiny" AI demo and a system that works, even for an operational system as complex as Poplin's. We didn't just hand over the keys, we worked side-by-side with Poplin to deliver much more meaningful results in a fraction of the time.
The Outcome
Today, Champ automates over 55% of Poplin's support volume, providing both customers and LPs with immediate yet accurate solutions. For Poplin, the success of champ didn't just come from handling volume, it was the fact that this automation didn't come at the expense of the brand experience and growth.
"Most of our customers don't even realize it is an AI because of how helpful and natural Champ is"
Throughout the rollout, Poplin tracked CSAT closely and found that the AI's performance stayed perfectly aligned with that of their human agents, This was a big surprise for the Poplin team, as Nachshon mentioned "most of the time you would expect a small decrease in CSAT when a bot's handling it"
The success of implementing Champ has fundamentally shifted Poplin's operational strategy. With a large portion of support now handled instantly and reliably, the company can scale with a new level of operational peace of mind. They no longer worry about support being a bottleneck; instead, they know that once a workflow is improved with Champ, it stays improved. As Poplin expands into new regions: new languages, local context, and currencies can be introduced, without the need for rebuilding an entire system.
AI as the Feedback Loop
As Champ's presence grew, Poplin's mindset around AI shifted from a tool that just answers tickets, to practically an operating system for support. In the past, QA cycles were spent checking how effectively agents were following policies. Now with Champ, it's more about what opportunities are there to improve those policies, and writing new ones for a more comprehensive support experience.
With the confidence that workflow improvements will stick forever, Champ also became a mirror for policy quality. When something went wrong, it often pointed back to a gap or ambiguity in the policy that needed to be clarified. In Nachson's words AI has effectively become their QA by surfacing where a policy wasn't clear enough.
Looking ahead, Poplin is aiming higher. They'd love to keep pushing the ceiling on automation to 70-80%, by continuing to add new workflows and sharpen the ones already in place. The goal isn't just automation, it's the freedom to scale globally without customer support becoming the bottleneck.
"Seeing what Champ can do, I have no doubt that's possible"
Final Remarks
Through taking advantage of Champ's relentless, expert-driven momentum, Poplin has automated over half of their support volume but also built the operational foundation for their global expansion. Our partnership proved to them, that AI, when implemented with deep product intuition and a shared sense of urgency, is no longer just a 'shiny toy', but a definitive competitive advantage
"Work with Champ, you won't be disappointed"
If you're curious what this could look like for your support or ops team, drop your email below. We'll reach out to run a quick cluster analysis on your tickets, and share the top areas to automate first.