Jenna Owens on Support that fixes itself
Speaker: Jenna Owens, Vice President, Selling Partner Support
Who this is for: Owners and operators who want less time in support queues and more issues resolved automatically
What Jenna put in motion
Jenna’s north star was clear. “We are laser focused on a singular goal. Giving you back your most precious resources, time and money.” The best support is not another case. It is a defect that never happens. Last year Amazon promised to eliminate 12 million reasons sellers needed support and “actually eliminated 17 million.” This year the target increases to 25 million. The update is not only a number. It is a series of concrete fixes that remove rework, speed reimbursements, and route complex problems to people who can just fix them.
Goodbye to unhelpful loops
Many brands hit the 8-5-4-1 wall trying to edit titles or identity attributes, then got the standard “delete and relist.” Jenna acknowledged the pain and the cause. Titles were frozen to protect customers, but the restriction went too far. In a pilot, select brand owners could update titles on newly listed ASINs. “Later this year, all brand owners will have this capability.” Amazon is also expanding eligible attributes beyond titles so new listings launch correctly. The commitment is explicit. “We are scrubbing all of our processes to eliminate delete and relist where it doesn’t work.” Where policy truly blocks a change, the system will give useful guidance instead of a dead end.
Faster money back
Proactive reimbursements for lost and damaged items are live and cut tickets already. This summer, Amazon streamlined missing-from-inbound for high value claims, reducing end-to-end resolution time by half. A portion of eligible claims will now be automatically reimbursed within one day, which gets cash back into the business without a chase.
Receiving you can schedule with confidence
Inbound bottlenecks do not only waste time. They create stockouts. By the end of this month, Amazon is launching a new experience that shows network receiving capacity, delivery window options, cost and timing comparisons, and lets you reserve capacity so your appointment is prioritized and units are processed on time. Later this year, Seller Central will show expected timelines for check-in and stow and will proactively notify you about unexpected delays. That means fewer blind spots and fewer spreadsheets guessing when inventory will be live.
Resolution inside Seller Assistant
Generative AI is being used to tailor responses and resolve issues directly in chat. By the end of this year, you will be able to resolve issues immediately through Seller Assistant, or ask for a support associate to join you live in the same chat. The idea is simple. One place to describe the problem, automatic resolution when possible, and a human pulled in only when needed.
The Specialist lane, with seller voices
For issues that must be owned end to end, Connect with a Specialist routes you straight to the expert. The pilot focused on listing management and is now scaled in the US and EU, with an average rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars. Sellers on stage called it “the biggest game changer in the last five or 10 years,” praised the speed during launches and events, and the fact that the specialist “really digs in” as if part of the team. Every in-person attendee at Accelerate received access to the program. Over the next year, Amazon will expand Connect with a Specialist beyond listings so more complex cases land with owners who can resolve them quickly.
Operator plays to run now
- Retire delete and relist from your SOPs. For new ASINs, plan title and identity attribute edits inside the pilot flow now and prepare to scale when access widens later this year. Keep a short glossary of identity attributes per category so edits stay policy safe.
- Tighten claim evidence once, then automate. For missing-from-inbound, capture standardized photos, BOL and ASN references at pack and handoff. The cleaner the evidence set, the more claims can flow into the one-day auto reimbursement bucket.
- Book receiving like a schedule, not a hope. Use the new capacity view to pick delivery windows that match your launch or promo plan. Align FC bookings with ad and price calendars to avoid going live with empty shelves.
- Consolidate support to one doorway. Route routine issues through Seller Assistant first. Document which case types resolve instantly and which still need a specialist so your team wastes less time in generic queues.
- Escalate with intent. For complex catalog issues, go straight to Connect with a Specialist. Prepare a one-page brief that states the objective, the blocked attribute, evidence, expected customer impact, and the date you need a fix.
Controls that keep improvements durable
- Edit governance for identity attributes. Require a two person review for titles and key descriptors for the first cycles after the edit capability rolls out to all brands.
- Receiving SLAs and alerts. Track promised check-in and stow timelines against actuals. Set internal alerts when shipments miss the window so you can adjust campaigns before customers feel it.
- Case hygiene. Enforce single issue cases with complete evidence. The fastest path to resolution is a clean request.
- Postmortems on stuck cases. If a case takes more than seven days, record what blocked it and whether a Specialist route could have prevented the delay.
Numbers to watch
- Reasons-to-contact count month over month. Aim down and to the right.
- Average time to reimbursement and share of claims auto paid within one day.
- Days from FC delivery to check-in, and check-in to stow, against the new forecasts.
- First contact resolution rate inside Seller Assistant.
- Connect with a Specialist satisfaction score and time to fix for complex issues.
Where ZonHack fits if you want backup
We can map your common failure modes to the new flows, retire delete and relist from your playbooks, and build a receiving calendar that aligns FC capacity with your launch dates. For teams buried in claims, we standardize evidence capture so the one-day auto reimbursement path triggers more often. When complex catalog issues block revenue, we package Specialist-ready briefs that move faster through resolution.
The thread across sessions
Mary Beth lifted PDP quality. Jay made creative a learning system. Chris put an operator on your desk with Seller Assistant. Claire turned compliance into guardrails that prevent lost days. Keri gave you analytics that turn data into decisions. Nadya removed commingling costs and simplified inventory. Beryl unified and reduced returns. Jenna closed the loop by removing the reasons to file cases and by making the remaining ones resolve faster. The pattern is steady. Fewer blockers, clearer timelines, and more work finished where you already are.
Coming up next….
Dave Nadel
Core Selling Partner Experience and Seller Central improvements, navigation and task flows that reduce friction.
