Yay, it’s finally a holiday! It’s no surprise that holiday seasons call for more sales, more revenue, and more responsibility as well. With this responsibility, the chances of keeping up with stellar holiday customer service should not be shaken. A refreshing customer service experience paves the way for a new threshold. This in turn creates new hopes for company owners who compete for a client’s interest. So how do you ensure that your customers revert for some more? Fret no more, here is an impressionable list that tells you how to make this holiday season even more memorable.
- Organize the workflow ahead of time
- Train your employees to pacify tensed customers
- Loyalty Rewards – Discounts and Coupons
- A ‘Hello’ goes a long way
- Time for a Quick Survey
- Is your staff happy?
- Schedule prior to the D-Day
- Alert your customers about changes
- Check on the Content
- Envisage the escalations
Source: Pexels
1. Organize the workflow ahead of time
When you hear the Christmas bells already, start organizing and sorting things out. You know that during Christmas Eve, you will encounter plenty of shipping queries. So how about you start streamlining the process by getting to know the workflow tad better. Begin by using your help desk or automation team and pull in those resources who know the shipping and order management procedures by heart. Also, getting some extra help from other departments during rush hour is not a bad choice too.
2. Train your employees to pacify tensed customers
As holidays call for too much shopping, it is expected that a customer might break a sweat. In such a case, the employees must be trained well enough to pacify the over-stressed ones. Especially, the staff under customer service should be taught to use positive body language and choice of words. Or, any other relevant alternatives that would work in quickly de-escalating the situation would help too. In such cases, empathy can play a simple yet significant role. And an empathetic approach gives the customers to go the extra mileage.
3. Loyalty Rewards – Discounts and Coupons
Let’s face it – who doesn’t like a freebie every now and then? Offer customers a few of your loyalty rewards and see how they can’t stop reverting. You can render them some quick coupons or a nominal discount that may not cut a huge hole in your pocket. Also, you can share some of the promo codes that they can use when purchasing from you in an online mode.
4. A ‘Hello’ goes a long way
It is generally the other way around. In a service business, it is the company that picks up a client’s call and sorts their queries. However, make room for exceptions this time. Grab the phone and call some random loyal customers this time and just say, ‘Hello’. Do not see this as a new sales tactic. Just try and wish them on the eve, and see how they are utterly surprised by this little gesture.
5. Time for a Quick Survey
It could be possible that your clients may be on the lookout for a switch. Before they are thoroughly enticed to hop on to your competition, retain them just yet with a quick survey. Now, the survey needs to be assiduously planned. The questions should be framed in a manner that ascertains answers to almost all of their needs. Once the answers are in, carefully go for analysis and see what is missing out. Work out on those lacunas and delve into ways that bring out the best solutions that stop a customer from churning away.
6. Is your staff happy?
In this hustle and bustle of a holiday spree, do not overlook your staff members. Value them as much as your customers. A dissatisfied staff might not give their best performance while dealing with a client. See if there are any left who are long overdue for a raise or salary hike. Were you generous enough or did you leave some of them hanging? Always note that a satisfied staff will lead to a rather happy clientele base. Additionally, the less you see the turnover, the more the chances are to find more profitability.
7. Schedule prior to the D-Day
Basing on the last year’s volume, you should be having an approximate count on the numbers. On that note, chalk out a minimum coverage plan. The faster you sort this, the easier it makes for the team to be on the same page. It goes without saying, people do not wish the need to work during a holiday rush. And that is when it looks like a good plan to schedule prior to the time and ensure that there is enough staff available when you want them.
8. Alert your customers about changes
If there are some plausible changes in your schedule, and ones that your customer must know of, do alert them before it is too late. Not only that, just in case you are extending your return windows or a return blackout frame, post it out on the customer service page. Let your customers know that you are amending these changes before-hand. And on similar terms, they can contact you accordingly.
9. Check on the Content
In a rush hour like holidays, do check out your relevant content on your site. Further having pre-planned return and exchange policies will save you a ton of time, energy, and patience too. Also, you may give the generic marketing emails a backseat for now. Instead, where you can focus your attention is on the automated answers or auto-responders. Start updating the blogs, posts, and ads as fast as you can.
10. Envisage the escalations
Are you all prepped up if something goes wrong? Do your staff members know whom to call in case of an emergency? Foresee these escalations and ensure that clear and sorted communication is handed over to the team before it is too late. They must know whom to call and how to address that particular situation. It might cut a really sorry image from the customer’s point of view when they see that the staff is underprepared.
That’s a Wrap
In challenging times like holidays, customer service can be a big reason to worry. But with the right plans and strategies, you will have nothing to lose. Before you meet the D-Day, make sure that you have adequate resources, staff, and inventory to run through the rush hours. Follow the aforementioned tips and in no time you will find them coming back for some more.
An implementation engineer with six years of experience is a seasoned professional specialising in implementing and integrating complex systems and technologies for businesses. Possessing a diverse skill set that combines technical expertise, and project management capabilities.
Published December 04, 2020, Updated June 07, 2023
