Hotel Lobby Candle: Scaling Support Without Scaling Headcount

The LTVplus Approach: AI handles the routine. A human loop keeps it sharp.

LTVplus is a global leader in outsourced customer experience for eCommerce brands. As a certified Gorgias partner, LTVplus deployed and now actively manages a Gorgias AI Agent for Hotel Lobby Candle, built on three connected layers that keep the system reliable, on-brand, and continuously improving.

1. AI Agent

• The AI agent was set up primarily to resolve order-status checks, returns, and cancellation requests.
• It also handles tracking lookups and answering basic product questions.
• This enables Hotel Lobby Candle to have an instant, on-brand, and round-the-clock agent.

2. Guidance Library

• A living policy document that gives specific directions to the AI agent on how to handle every scenario.
• This includes scenarios from discount eligibility to when a human must step in.

3. Human QA Loop

• This process keeps the "managed AI" in check. LTVplus provides a dedicated team that treats the AI as a live system to be maintained, not a tool to be switched on and left alone.
• Real tickets are audited monthly and every Skill is tested before it goes live. Gaps are traced to root causes and each finding becomes a new guidance entry or Skill update.

The Results

As a result of working with LTVplus, Hotel Lobby Candle now has more coverage and the ability to provide faster answers. Specific results include:

• 62% increase in conversations closed by AI agent in a month with zero human involvement (92 in June 2026 and 149 in July 2026)
• ≈12-20 estimated agent hours freed per month
• 92% cut in average resolution time (from 3h 29m to 15m 38s)
• 49% increase in revenue directly influenced by AI agent

Additionally, when Gorgias shipped a platform-wide rebuild of its AI agent in July 2026, the LTVplus team's monthly monitoring process was able to flag the impact within days:

• A conversion dip in the shopping assistant was traced to the platform's new recommendation engine still stabilizing, and not declining customer interest.
• There was a payment failure ticket spike in the final days of the month, which was isolated as a discrete incident and flagged directly to payments and ops.
• Configuration changes, monitoring checkpoints, and follow-ups were already in motion before end of the month.

Where do the hours go?

• Damage and defect claims. Agents spend their time reviewing the photos and making the right judgement calls for damage and defect claims, not typing tracking numbers.
• VIP and client retention focus. Agents have more time to focus on VIP and high-value accounts where empathy and human touch matter most.
• Corporate and wholesale accounts. Complex, multi-unit and B2B pricing conversations get the agent's full attention from the first touchpoint.
• Brand-safe judgement calls. The AI protects the brand positioning on sensitive requests (e.g., exclusivity claims) and routes nuances to a human agent.

The numbers are strong. But the real outcome is simpler: a support operation that grows with the brand, not behind it. Hotel Lobby Candle's investment in customer support has set the foundation for a globally competitive brand.

"Partnering with LTVplus gave us the best of both worlds: lightning-fast AI resolutions for everyday tickets and dedicated human oversight to ensure our brand standards never drop.

LTV Plus was able to help me fill a need within my customer service department quickly and effectively. Their onboarding process was quick, and the attention to detail from their team was proficient from beginning to end. The support goes beyond the customer service agent to include the supervisory team that oversees the agents' work. This is super helpful to maintain quality and continuity within the position. I will always think of LTV+ when looking to add additional headcount."

Matthew Stevens — Co-founder, Hotel Lobby Candle