How to Ramp Up Customer Service for the Holidays

As the calendar counts down the days until the end of the year, businesses start thinking about what that means for the holiday season. Retail stores take advantage of holiday sales with the goal of reducing inventory. Other businesses focus on how the weather will bring new issues, such as in medical care. Whether you have a few sales associates, a dedicated call centre or a dispatcher, you need to think about how your customer service needs change for the season.

Train Early

For many companies, they must hire on temporary staff to get through the holidays or the winter months. It’s important to plan early and hire even before the need arises. This gives you more time to train them to deal with the busy time. Focus extra on helping them learn how to deal with upset customers or frustrated clients because the time of year may bring out the negative side to people.

Look at Your Processes

Whether you are a medical clinic that will see an increase in sick people or a retail store that will see more shoppers, look at your processes to find ways of speeding up the process. No one likes waiting in long lines to see a doctor or to make a purchase. While not every issue can be overcome, try to look for ways to improve in areas where it is possible.

Equip Your Staff

Consider giving your seasoned staff more authority during this season. If someone has been with the company for some time and knows the business, trust them to make more decisions without searching for manager’s approval. This step will help eliminate wait times and allow your staff to be more efficient. It also makes them feel good and have a positive attitude towards helping customers or clients.

Don’t Forget Marketing

It’s easy to focus on managing current business in the busy season and let your marketing efforts slack off. You’ll pay for this later on when you don’t have as much business. Take time to include marketing in your schedule. If you must slow down, cut back on marketing, but don’t cut it out completely.

Consider a New Model

If what you’ve been doing in the past hasn’t worked, you may want to consider changing your procedures for this year. For instance, you may want to outsource your customer service to a call centre agency. Outsourcing allows you to focus on core elements of your business without sacrificing your customer service. When you hire an outside agency, they are focused solely on serving your customers

which can bring your reputation up a notch.

No matter what industry you’re in, the company is likely to be affected by the changing seasons and coming holidays. Whether you’re dealing with an increase in business or employee time-off for the holidays, think about how this will impact your business and what you need to do. With careful planning, your business can not only survive this season but thrive.

Ashley Meszaros is the Owner/President of We An-Ser Communications in Calgary. We An-Ser Communications provides award winning call center services in Calgary, dispatching, medical answering services, man down services, lone worker support, wireless panic services and more. They service the North American market.

Ashley Meszaros is the Owner/President of We An-Ser Communications in Calgary. http://www.wean-ser.com/calgary-call-centre-services/