As we all know, you'll be hearing more from your "people" as the holidays approach. Customer inquiries and customer-initiated contacts will spike during this time of year. It's always good to hear from customers, but here are a few hints so you can keep your customers happy and still find the time to run your business.
1) Identify Previous Peeves and Pain Points. Review holiday seasons past. Were there too many inbound calls to answer effectively? Were you overloaded with email? Did you have endless shipping inquiries? How did you handle returns? Find the weak spots. Imagine yourself as your customer and identify where you came up short? As for your business, identify areas which took too much time, distracted you or kept you from maintaining your website.
2) Solve the Problems. Nail down a process for your top customer service questions/issues. Designate a specific time to approach email. Iron out a process to quickly answer your top 10 email inquiries. Plan ahead and train your people how to handle typical customer service issues. Set aside some time to teach them how to up-sell and cross-sell complimentary items.
3) Bite the Bullet. You cannot lose revenue because you didn't answer your phones in a timely fashion. Hire more people, either part-time or full-time. The average full-time employee should be able to handle a minimum of 90 inbound calls per day (this typically includes two 15 minute breaks and an unpaid lunch). Set firm schedules for your new hires to minimize dead time. There are always things to do, so during periods when call volume is low, create a weekly task list. Keep the standards for customer service high from the beginning and enforce a reprimand policy (this will raise the quality of customer support). Remember, you're the boss. Make sure everyone knows you are protecting your business and by extension, their jobs. Check everyone's work, but be positive whenever possible. Always start with the good news (a compliment) and then go into what needs improvement.
4) Put all Policies into Procedures. Have the process for your returns, shipping inquires, escalations and order inquires ironed out. This helps your Customer Service Specialists with time management and minimizes mistakes. By putting a F.A.Q, Shipping, Returns and Tips sections on every page of your website (I suggest toward the bottom of your side navigation), you'll cut down on calls. Make sure your phone number is in a prominent position on your website, this way if someone wants to call, they can!
Your customers are important and planning a holiday strategy is the least you can do to take care of them. Taking care of your customers now will drive more business to your site through referrals and repeat orders. Remember, the happier they are, the more successful, and less stressful, your holidays will be!

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