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Keeping Customers Happy During The Hectic Holiday Season

by Michael Mills, Senior Vice President of Global Contact Center Sales and Solutions, CGS - February 1, 2016

Keeping Customers Happy During the Hectic Holiday Season

By Michael Mills, Senior Vice President of Global Contact Center Sales and Solutions, CGS

 

Changing leaves and cooler temperatures means one thing for consumers and businesses alike – the holiday season is fast approaching and it is time to start preparing. After decorating or deciding who’s hosting dinner, customers will likely be focused on their shopping lists. And, as consumers gear up for their holiday shopping, retailers are prepping for increased sales in store, online and even through mobile apps.

 

According to eMarketer, retail sales for November and December this year will be up 5.7 percent from 2014, reaching $885.70 billion, with mobile playing a part in eCommerce growth. Increased sales mean more buyers, more products and more calls and emails to retailers and manufacturers ranging from frequently asked questions and inquires about placing orders to customer and technical support. The influx in consumer support needed puts added pressure on retailers and brands to offer outstanding customer service across a multitude of platforms.

 

Providing consistent and exceptional customer service that creates positive experiences is the key to success anytime of year. So, how can retailers and brands ensure customer satisfaction doesn’t fall by the wayside during one of the busiest times? By leveraging highly skilled and knowledgeable customer support specialists. Contact centers are on the front lines of successful customer experience strategies – they’re where consumers resolve problems, learn about products and ultimately are made to feel valued by the business. In order to make the most of the customer support services call center specialists provide, retailers need to first set a strong foundation.

 

Setting the groundwork for a successful season

 

The way consumers shop and interact with businesses is changing. According to a multi-channel shopping survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers, 80 percent of consumers research a product online before making a purchasing decision. Today, customers are more informed, tech-savvy, leave little room for error and demand to be recognized as individuals or they’ll go elsewhere. As a result, retailers must deliver exceptional experiences when and where customers want them, regardless of how complex the interaction and how busy the time of year.

One key first step to meeting growing consumer demand and preparing for an influx of requests during the holiday season is by implementing and promoting self-help services. Whether on the web or through the use of apps, self-help materials provide a way for customers to get answers to simple questions and minimize the amount of contact center or help desk support needed. While self-help services are useful tools, they do not take away the need for call center support. Consumers actually prefer assistance via phone or online chat with a live agent. Self-help services, rather, help answer frequently asked questions or simple consumer inquiries, freeing up front line support specialists to perform more valuable, strategic roles.

With the multitude of purchasing platforms available, retailers and consumer brands also need to look beyond traditional ways of providing assistance. They must give today’s digitally savvy consumers multiple communication channels to turn to when looking for answers, including telephone reps, live chat sessions, responsive email exchanges, web forums and social-networking support. According to Forrester’s latest Top Trends for Customer Support report, in addition to continuing to demand for effortless interactions over web and mobile self-service channels, customers will also start looking for new communication channels such as video chat with screen sharing and annotation. And, as customer support platforms continue to evolve, it’s essential for retailers to have trained, knowledgeable agents to support them.

Support specialists are the key

With a strong foundation in place, call center managers can focus on the strategic support role their specialists play for consumers – especially with the influx of inquiries during the holiday season. Whether providing customer care or technical support, it’s imperative that call center agents are proactive problem solvers, provide fast response times and deliver high satisfaction rates. To prepare, call center managers need to focus on the right metrics and up-to-date training for support agents.

 

As with any business interaction, there are specific metrics call centers need to measure to ensure they are maintaining a consistent level of productivity, efficiency and quality delivery to its clients and end users. When supporting retail or consumer product brands, the key is to focus on first call resolution. Why is the first interaction so crucial? It takes 12 positive customer experiences to make up for one negative experience. To achieve the quality consumers expect, the metrics call centers evaluate need to be strategic. Rather then focusing on the quantity of calls answered, agents need to focus on the quality, making sure every customer experience is positive and that any issues are solved or inquiries answered. And, rather than rewarding agents for the speed of their calls and the number they can facilitate in a certain timeframe, call center managers should emphasize the importance of the total number of resolved requests, ensuring a satisfied customer.

 

One of the keys to guaranteeing high quality calls, resolved requests and consistent performance is for employees to participate in training – both when they are hired and throughout their employment. Continual training enables agents to keep up-to-date on new products and be aligned with technology upgrades, ensuring they are familiar with anything new throughout the brand. Training programs should also coach call center agents for performance by conducting mock scenario training – presenting them with possible scenarios and questions they may encounter with a customer once the holiday season is in full swing.

 

In anticipating the major increase in volume of customer inquiries, retail call centers need to ensure they staff the appropriate amount of temporary employees to handle the overflow. But, this should not affect the quality of customer service provided. Call centers should not treat these extra employees as temporary, but rather arm them with the same training and skills as mentioned above to ensure customer satisfaction.

 

When it comes down to it, the level of call center performance is only as good as its agents. The smallest detail of a customer’s interaction with a brand representative over the phone or via an online chat may be the reason they decide to purchase from the retailer or consumer brand in the future, or not. Rather than read from a script, agents need to be flexible and develop interpersonal skills that enable them to handle business needs while making each interaction personalized and enjoyable. And, training is key to all of these skills.

 

Retailer and consumer product brands’ success is dependent upon positive customer experiences. Often times, call center agents represent the voice of a company’s support system, and must show professionalism, competence and efficiency when handling any consumer request. Providing the same consistent and exceptional customer service during the high demand and pressure-filled holiday season is key to ensuring a return customer in the future. A lack of preparation and foresight for the influx of customer service and technical support during the upcoming holiday season could affect customer service – ultimately driving down sales and revenue. To prepare your customer and technical support call center agents, lay down the right foundation for support and invest in agent training to develop proactive problem solvers, knowledgeable brand ambassadors and customer experience experts.

 

 
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