03 Nov
Around the holiday season most companies experience waves of sales and receive inquiries from new prospects. We want to help ensure that those new prospects become loyal customers. Since we are quickly approaching the holiday season, it is the perfect time to ramp up your holiday customer service skills, so you can make that happen!
Using a good software, like a power dialer, is key to handling the holiday rush. But it isn’t the only thing you should be implementing into your business before the holidays. Ring in the season with these helpful tips.
Holiday Shopping Insights
Although your ideal customer likely hasn’t changed, the market and method of attracting them surely has. There have been a few big shifts in shopping behavior since 2020. Before 2020, consumers cared very little about a company’s purpose, ethics, or contribution to society. Today, however, 46% of consumers say they deliberately try to shop at businesses that align with their values.
Due to the difficulties businesses and consumers went through in 2020, people have been advocating for the support of local businesses, which brings us to the next insight. You will likely receive more first-time digital buyers than you have in the past. Surveys show that 50% of shoppers tried a new online service for the first time. Take the time to amp up your website and social media pages, so consumers know what you stand for, and do it now!
The last insight we have for you involves Cyber Monday. News flash, it is no longer just one day of sales. Consumers now expect the month of November to ‘Cyber Monday’. 27% of shoppers have already started their shopping in August, so the best time is now to adjust your holiday plans and start attracting those customers!
Six Holiday Customer Service Tips
For most businesses, the holiday season is the busiest and most stressful season. It can be easy for the holiday customer support to be put on the backburner. However, we have some simple and practical ways for you to manage your business better so your customer service doesn’t lack.
Check Out Last Year’s Volume
Priority number one, is always, and I repeat, always check last year’s volume if possible. If it’s a new business and you don’t have any data to reference, then make an educated guess and be prepared for a higher number. It’s always best to be prepared with more than enough than not enough. Customers are far less likely to return in the future if you were sold out when they wanted to purchase last time. For example, my family and I went to a barbeque restaurant looking forward to ribs and beans. However, all they had left was brisket and mac n’ cheese. Imagine our disappointment when we realized they didn’t have what we wanted even though the menu clearly stated ribs and beans were available. The point is to expect the rush, so when it comes, you don’t have to sweat it.
Pro Tip: Use formulas like Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) to help determine the volume you need: EOQ = √ (2 × D × S / H)
Q= EOQ units
D= Demand in units (usually on an annual basis)
S= Order cost (per purchase order)
H= Holding costs (per unit, per year)
Automate Your Processes
It’s much easier to focus your attention and time on servicing the customer when you actually have some time. Freeing up your time with automation is going to be a game changer this season. Here are a few ways you can implement automation to get rid of those timely daily tasks:
- Sales emails and follow ups
- Voicemail drop
- Lead status campaigns
- Emails (sales emails, follow ups, scheduling meeting, product promotion, etc)
- Reports/Data
Most automation can be done easily through a power dialer. Having a solution that can implement many different forms of automation will be very beneficial in this upcoming season and for many seasons to come.
Create a Concrete Plan
You’ve got a plan A? Great, now what’s plan B?
You can’t plan for every scenario and circumstance, but it’s better to overplan than not plan enough when it comes to business. Start planning employee schedules, inventory checks, sales goals, market trends and plan for bad weather! Also, take the time to inform your team of the plans. Plans work best when everyone is on board.
Pro Tip: Know and express the purpose of the plan, which should be to provide direction and align the team you are leading.
Update Your Assets
Your assets can be anything from the computers to the building you work out of and everything in between. Updating your assets is an indirect way of updating your customer service. Even though it might not directly impact the customer it can make a profound difference in the quality of customer service they receive.
If your business has a brick and mortar store that has in-store shopping, then updating the building, features, etc. periodically will improve the customer’s experience and their perspective of the business. Also, a very simple, yet effective, asset you can update is your outgoing voicemails. Create festive holiday voicemail greetings and find other inexpensive ways to bring in the holiday cheer.
Many businesses sell strictly online. In this case, updating assets like computers, chairs, hardware, etc. will be for the betterment of the employees and the ability to provide customer service. According to Forbes, “One study found that happy employees are up to 20% more productive than unhappy employees. When it comes to salespeople, happiness has an even greater impact, raising sales by 37%. But the benefits don’t end there” (Preston).
Pro Tip: Raises aren’t always necessary for happy employees. Things like extra time off, a new title, or simply giving recognition for hard work, are all things to improve your employees’ happiness and satisfaction in the workplace.
Appreciate Your Team
Your team will be working hard for the business this season and that deserves some appreciation. Before you head into the holiday season, see what each department or agent needs from you. Ask how you can best help them in being successful. This will go a long way. It also doesn’t hurt to:
- Throw a holiday party
- Give gifts
- Provide extra breaks
- Give discounts on the products/services the company offers
- Provide team building days
- Offer casual dress days
- Provide lunch/coffee
- Express gratitude via meeting, social media
- Conduct surveys
- Have an open door policy
Pro Tip: Ask your employees what methods they prefer the business to show appreciation. Not all employees will appreciate the same methods.
Keep Up the Good Work
For this holiday season you will be prepared and equipped to take on whatever comes, so just keep up the good work. Continue doing what you do best and the sales will follow.
Pro Tip: For the last but not least pro tip, show appreciation to your customers through email, social media, discount, and any other way you see fit.
Even when the holidays are over, it is important to create a good work environment for your team. See how you can build a call center culture for effective results!
Works Cited
Luther, David. “Your Guide To Retail Store Inventory”. Oracle Netsuite, 2021, https://www.netsuite.com/portal/resource/articles/inventory-management/retail-inventory-management.shtml.
Preston, Camille. “Council Post: Promoting Employee Happiness Benefits Everyone”. Forbes, 2021, https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2017/12/13/promoting-employee-happiness-benefits-everyone/?sh=74b5f068581a.
Johnson, Simone. Businessnewsdaily.Com, 2021, https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/6084-employee-happiness-without-raise.html.
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