Customer experience is known as the pillar of a company’s success. To ensure that the experience is at the top level each time, customer care centres are prepared for the usual surges in demand.
Customer Care Managers are the ones who have to maintain that the experience is always impeccable, since at least one-third of the customers would walk away from a brand they loved after just one bad experience. It goes without saying that the pressure is high – just one brand’s mishap is enough for customers to have their needs met by the competitors.
We are creatures of habit
Every year, the holiday season is known as the peak customer demand that lasts through January with surges in purchases, returns or exchanges and bargain hunting. To deal with the work overload, retail is typically recruiting extra staff from late summer, providing a two-month training and all systems are go until January when demand slowly decreases.
The tax submission routine is slightly different in terms of the period in the year but nonetheless – the same process is expected at the same time each year. With a predictable structure given in the previous examples, the team can easily plan and prepare for it.
Prepared for the unexpected?
Once in a while, something out of the ordinary happens. The surge in customer demand at an unexpected time calls for an urgent roadmap rewrite. No matter which sector your organization belongs to, you have to take care of each and every employee and each and every customer, otherwise, the results could be just as sudden as the cause.
The unprecedented situation that has hit the world prompted so many shifts in our day-to-day life. Employees had to work from home due to safety reasons simultaneously coping with rapid changes in consumer behaviour.
The frontline staff is under the most pressure – dealing with the unexpected in their customers’ lives as well as in their own. Technology plays a big part, especially for contact centre staff that has to process a huge amount of customer inquiries so equipping the customer care centre with the right tool can be critical for achieving customer satisfaction.
The human aspect is second to none
No matter how advanced technology is involved in the customer journey, the human aspect cannot be excluded. The experience humans provide is simply unmatched. In reality, technology is there to aid human interaction, not to replace it entirely.
Supporting customer care centre with the right tools can be of enormous benefit to the staff and can alleviate the pressure of customer demand. Adding Interactive Voice Response (IVR) recordings, chatbots, and auto-responses to your customer care centre adds vital resilience to your customer care centre. This way staff can resolve issues quickly and effectively, by prioritising interactions that require a full human approach.
Results are on the other side of the problem
Having to deal with the unprecedented surge in demand, the frontline staff suffers high levels of pressure. Besides supporting your staff with the right technology to help them solve problems faster, it is crucial to appreciate and recognize them, as their work is what keeps your organisation going.
The actions you take in situations like these are what makes or breaks your business. Your customers can remember you as a brand that went above and beyond or they can easily forget you if you didn’t put 101 percent effort when they needed it.
How do you plan for the unplanned?