Service on special dates: learn how to prepare

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Why is customer service so important on special dates?
Tips for maintaining quality customer service on special dates
Analyze data from previous years
Decide which support channels to focus on
Always have a plan B
Keep customers informed
Invest in self-service
Use technology to your advantage
Quality above all
Holidays such as Christmas, Black Friday , Mother's Day and Valentine's Day are excellent opportunities to boost sales and expand your business. However, it is not enough to simply think of ways to attract consumers. With the increase in demand, the number of customer service calls also increases. How does your company usually deal with this issue? It

is really not easy to guarantee quality service when there is line database demand. However, this cannot be an excuse for not offering a quality experience . Customers are increasingly demanding and poor service at this stage can lead not only to the loss of a sale but also to a reputational problem

for your brand, especially with the advent of social media. To have a good sales volume on special dates without neglecting customer service, we have selected some tips for you to organize and prepare your operation. Keep reading!

Why is customer service so important on special dates?
Holidays are critical times for businesses. To make the most of the opportunities offered during this period, you need to plan carefully in advance.

Within this, it is essential to ensure that customer service will run smoothly even with the increase in demand. What’s more, it is important to explore ways to take advantage of these events to offer an experience that delights customers.

To do this, you need to be prepared. During holidays, your team will likely have to deal with a much higher number of questions and support requests .

In addition, these can also be stressful times for consumers, who may become frustrated with the delay in service and logistical issues due to the increase in sales during this period. Therefore, it is essential to prepare your operation to meet this demand and guide your team.

Tips for maintaining quality customer service on special dates
If you’re wondering, “When should I start preparing for the holidays?”, the answer is: as soon as possible! Waiting to organize your operation at the last minute can have disastrous consequences.

When planning, you should consider:

Analyze data from previous years
The best way to start planning is to look back at previous years. This involves examining the volume and type of customer interactions you received on the same or similar dates. This will help you figure out what the most common pain points were and try to understand where your service may have fallen short.

Important questions to ask yourself include:

How many support requests do you receive during the holidays? How are they different from normal business hours?
What are the most common questions customers have?
How do most people get in touch during this period: email, phone, chat or some other means?
Having this information at hand will help you formulate a plan. Your strategy can also take into account whether your team can handle the demand on their own or whether they will need extra help. You can also consider extending your business hours.

This assessment will help you improve areas of difficulty and also provide information on frequently asked questions as a preventive measure. This approach will reduce the number of requests your team has to respond to.

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Decide which support channels to focus on
It’s essential that you know where to focus your customer service efforts during the holidays. At first glance, using all contact channels may seem like the best way to go, but this could be a mistake.

Imagine juggling phone lines, chat, email, and social media at the same time, in addition to handling orders. In this scenario, you’ll find that most, if not all, of these channels will suffer from a lack of quality.

To avoid this problem, you’ll need to assess which touchpoints you should focus your efforts on. The best way to start is by seeing which ones your customers use the most.

As mentioned in the previous tip, looking at support requests from previous periods will give you a good baseline to work from. However, you should also consider which channels are most popular during the rest of the year.

Always have a plan B
The truth is, no matter how well you plan, holidays are never completely predictable. This means you need a contingency plan in case you need to expand or reduce your support in a short amount of time.

For example, what if your call center experiences twice as many requests as expected? You’ll need to allocate more time and manpower to handle them while keeping your operations running. In this scenario, you’ll need to consider hiring seasonal remote workers

to help out. This is something many companies do to deal with the increased workload during the holidays.