5 Ways to Provide Extraordinary Customer Service During the Holidays

The holiday season is usually one of the most nerve-racking seasons, for both companies and consumers. If you’re a shopper looking for the perfect gift, or a business owner looking to boost your sales, there are numerous interactions that most go smoothly in order to ensure a festive outcome for everybody.

With more consumers comes more customer interactions, which can go one of two ways. The interaction could make a real positive impression on clients who receive an outstanding customer experience, or it could lead to an unsatisfied customer who might never return to your company again.

By taking a few simple steps, you company can increase the chances that your company’s holiday interactions sound a lot more like the first scenario, and a lot less like the second one.

Assign the proper employees to the right customer issues

The most consumer queries happen during the holidays. Even with meticulous planning and high quality standards, managing customer concerns and disgruntled customers will happen. The simplest way to handle these kinds of issues is through a systematic divide-and-conquer approach.

When a customer complaint comes in, assign it to the right workers who can best solve it immediately. Don’t allow the problem to fester and escalate due to a lack of organization.

Customers’ problems should be classified based on the degree of urgency and attention required for each particular case, and promptly sent to the individuals with the most expertise. Figure out ways to automate as much as possible within your system.

Make it easier for customers to help themselves

It’s a little known fact that customers prefer to help themselves as opposed dealing with a customer service representative. According to a survey by Forrester, 72 percent of customers would rather solve their own consumer product issues.

Develop a FAQ page explicitly for the holidays. Review all the questions often received during the season and confront each one thoroughly on that page.

Equip your representatives with the right tools and training

Enable your customer service employees by allowing them to deal with issues efficiently without having to contact a supervisor whenever possible. Empowering these staff members make them feel in control over the situation, and give them confidence to effectively communicate with clients.

Strive for speedy, hassle free resolution

Rapid response times are an essential asset during the holiday rush, as it assures clients that there are people working on their issues behind the scenes. Also, simply informing customers that support is available leads to a better experience and less to worry about.

Use a staffing solution

Since you know a holiday rush is coming, you should be able to easily address the influx of work by upping your temporary staff. If this is something you are considering, please contact us today to discuss a range of custom staffing solutions.