I looked at my calendar today and was appalled to see that Thanksgiving is a week away. And that means Christmas is right around the corner. It seems like just last week I was sporting shorts and sunglasses. (Actually, it was just last week because I live in Texas.) The point is, it’s officially holiday crunch time, and businesses everywhere are feeling the heat.
The holidays typically signal two things for consumer-facing businesses: 1) a startling spike in customer inquiries and requests; and 2) the end of one year and the start of a new one. At this point in the year, many companies have already made preparations for the high-volume holidays, paying particular attention to the customer support and help desk. But there are a few last-minute prep items you can do to ensure your company is ready for the spike.
This is the first of a two-part holiday series. For part one, I will outline four quick fixes that will get your help desk and support center holiday ready. But be sure to check in next Monday for our part two, where I reveal how you can use the holidays as a “stress test” to better prepare for the coming year. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves – on to the tips!
Quick Solutions for an Even Happier Holiday Season
A week from Friday, the #1 retail day of the year will hit – Black Friday. Despite the ominous tone, Black Friday is a huge revenue boost for many companies, particularly retailers. It is also a stressful time for customer support. Smart businesses have already taken care of the essentials – hiring seasonal support agents, verifying server capacity, etc. But there are some quick checklist items that, if done, can prevent potential chaos and better prepare your agents to handle the spike. This translates to happier customers during the holidays, who will turn into repeat customers once the wrapping paper has settled.
I made a short list (and, of course, checked it twice) of some quick to-do’s that will better prepare your support center for the traffic spike during the holidays.
Create a holiday-specific FAQ list. The types of questions your business receives during the holiday will likely vary from the day-to-day inquiries you’re accustomed to. To prepare, hold a brainstorming session with your staff to identify what questions will likely come up. For example, many customers will want help with shipping times and getting items on or before Christmas. Others will want to know about gift wrap options. Come up with an FAQ list. Post the simpler questions up on your site to avoid spending time on those calls. Then, educate your staff on the more complicated ones. These FAQ’s should serve as the foundation of your holiday help desk training because they will enable agents to resolve a majority of issues on the first call. They will also prevent your team from scrambling around two days before Christmas trying to figure out if the sparkly gift wrap is extra.
Cross-train your staff. Many companies will hire seasonal employees to handle the increased calls and requests during the holidays. According to Matt Trifiro, Senior VP of Marketing at Assistly, another option to reduce the need for seasonal hiring is to cross-train all employees. Much like athletes cross-train to improve the whole body, companies can train every employee – from receptionists to accountants – to be a support agent, improving support across the entire organization. “Cross training provides more touch points and really allows your system to be more resilient to the stress you’re going to have over the holiday,” Trifiro explains. First, you should equip all employees to answer basic questions customers may have. Then set up an escalation procedure for common situations that require additional steps or expertise. This tactic is particularly useful on the highest volume days like Black Friday and the day after Christmas when it’s all hands on deck and everyone has to play a service agent role.
Communicate unavailability ahead of time. Businesses need a holiday, too. Your customers know that, and they will be understanding of that fact as long you clearly communicate when you will be unavailable. Alert customers on every possible medium (website, Facebook, blog, Twitter, voicemail) of your seasonal hours and availability. Communicating this clearly will help avoid confusion and, more importantly, dissatisfaction.
Develop a plan of agent support. Help desk and support center employees will be very busy and likely very stressed during the holidays. Savvy companies will invest a lot of energy into supporting their agents via rewards, bonuses, in-office R&R, etc. This is a great perk organizations can offer to let employees know they are valued. “These people are your front line customer service agents,” Trifiro says. “So just recognizing the stress they’re going to be under and doing things to relieve that stress can make a huge difference in overall performance.”
Each of these to-do’s should take up to a few hours time at the most, but that’s a small investment when you consider the greater benefits in store. The work doesn’t stop here, of course. Once the holidays hit, it’s time to start monitoring and measuring performance, but we’ll discuss that in the next post.
Do you have any other quick holiday help desk or customer support prep suggestions for us? Please share them in the comment section below.
Thumbnail image created by Paparutzi.
