Tips For Customer Service During The Christmas Rush
Customer service has never been more important in the customer buying cycle like it is today.
96% of customers will leave you for bad service. (Source – Forbes)
Address Your Schedule
Plan out and communicate any changes to workload or expectations from your team. Going the extra mile for your team that is scheduled to work will ensure that you always have enough employees available when you need them.
Know Your Channels
Know what channels pull in the most site visits, sales or phone calls. This is a great time to collaborate with your Digital Marketing team to help forecast figures. (Channels are, for example – Social Media, Email, Organic, Referrals from other sites etc..)
You might also see a change in the channel customers use to contact you. If email is more popular, you could think about turning off live chat on your website in order to decrease workload for team.
Set Customer Expectations
It’s better to underpromise and overdeliver.
Communication with customers is key to help avoid disappointment and negative reviews or feedback, or potentially loosing that customer altogether. (Remember, its easier and more cost effective to retain a customer then converting a new one, so keep your current customers happy)
Are there any changes in schedule or availability? Let your customers know as soon as possible. For FAQ’s around the Christmas period, for example:
- Opening times
- Returns policies
- Date for last orders in time for Christmas
- Average delivery time
Post all of this essential information on your website, on the Homepage or an easy to find link. This will also help your customer service team workload.
Update them now to give customers enough time to prepare.
Disaster Recovery
Set your Disaster Recovery Plan.
Setting your disaster recovery plan, and just as important, making sure your whole team knows the plan. Does your team know what to do and who to contact in the event of downtime or technical issues? Do they know what and how to communicate to customers in the event of a disaster?
Take Care of Your Team
Your Customer Service team are an essential part of your business, make sure they are happy. This is a great time to treat your team. Usually, they are dealing with higher volume and even more stressed customers so they could use the love!
