Peak of service: how to organize the company for these moments?
Learn how to plan efficiently and what to improve to handle peak service when the demand for support escalates.
Regardless of whether Christmas is still months away or we are far from Easter, Peak service is an inevitable occurrence in many companies.
No wonder, we see the runners fill up with eggs well before the official date and Christmas products are highlighted in stores and websites months before December arrives. After all, a pre-empted deal is worth two, isn't it?
In addition to Christmas and Easter, dates such as Mother's Day, Father's Day, Valentine's Day, Children's Day, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are other moments in the commercial calendar that intensify the retail movement, both online and offline.
These events require the temporary increase of Companies' service capacity so that they can respond to the increase in calls before, during, and also after the purchase period.
Is your business able to scale service when needed? Is there a service capacity plan with actions to deal with peaks throughout the year?
In this article, we have collected some valuable customer service tips to avoid being squeezed by the increase in demand. Check it out and enjoy reading!
5 tips for dealing with peak customer service
When there is a peak of service, the tendency is that the calls Take longer to be served, since the attendants are receiving multiple requests in a short period of time.
If the team is not prepared, it is possible to see the effect of this on the results of one of service indicators Called by First Response Time (FRT), which is the time the customer waits to receive the first service.
The main causes of frustration with customer service identified in a survey of Statista are: the lack of effectiveness (27%) and the lack of agility (12%). In addition, 80% Of the people expect a response within 10 minutes when the service is initiated on the chat or phone.
To avoid seeing this and other indicators affected by the consequences of peak service, here are some tips on what to do:
1. Have a service capacity plan
The purpose of having a service capacity plan is the company Being able to prevent yourself instead of having to cure when a peak of service occurs.
But how do you calculate service capacity? Add the average time spent per service with the total time the attendant is available and divide by the total number of hours worked per day (not including breaks) and multiply by 100 to get the percentage.
Example: if in a team, the calls last, on average, 15 minutes and the attendants are available for 6 hours (360 min) during the 7 hours (420 min) of the daily working day, the service capacity rate is 82.2%.
To make planning even more assertive, also analyze other indicators such as Number of tickets serviced per employee per day, because high capacity does not always indicate productivity.
It may also be a sign that it is necessary to better organize the team, add reinforcement and allow everyone to take regular breaks, go to the bathroom, etc.
Ter quantitative data makes decision-making much easier, especially when planning how many professionals will be added to the team to cover the dates that cause peak service.
2. Adopt omnichannel service
Another customer service tip is to adopt a strategy of omnichannel service, that is, to integrate the company's contact channels.
During a peak of service, staff need to be agile to respond to each call. If the company uses a single system which centralizes all channels, the distribution of tickets is faster, the consultation of data is also faster, and the resolution given is more assertive and less susceptible to errors.
Thus, customers can contact us through the channel they prefer and behind the scenes the company is ready to receive them.
Also read >>> Front App vs Zendesk vs Intercom: which is the best help desk?
3. Create a self-service area
Another tip to be able to keep support agile during peak service is create a self-service area.
For this option to work, first, it is important to know which are the most frequent topics in support and which of them can be obtained in another way.
Some companies create a Frequently Asked Questions section on the site (FAQ) or create ways to request a duplicate invoice, for example, with the help of automation.
What goes into the self-service area depends on each business. The objective is to allow the client to have autonomy to obtain information and for agents to deal with the most complex calls, especially during peak times.
4. Implement automation features
As we mentioned above, automation features are very useful for creating a self-service structure and can be included in other processes as well.
Os Chatbots are an example of automation that complements the service structure as part of the first-level service options.
When implemented to support the human team, they are very useful both to resolve doubts and to send notices indicating service time (via chat, e-mail, WhatsApp).
This reassures the customer so that they can see that they will be serviced, especially when the company is experiencing peak service. But remember to keep it up to date.
5. Hire a seasonal support team
When sales volume doubles or triples in a month because of an action or commemorative date relevant to the business, it is unlikely that the service team will be able to cover the demand for support that will be generated.
A good solution in this case is hire a seasonal support team for the months in which the planning foresees a higher than normal volume of calls.
The advantage is having a reliable partner with a team of service providers well trained and efficient ready to take action.
With good planning, it is possible to align the entire service by reviewing business processes and training new attendants so that the integration is effective.
One tip is to create a manual that includes everything important to facilitate communication and management together with the partner company, reducing errors in the process.
Read more >>> Customer service outsourcing: 5 benefits + challenges to consider.
Invest in your company's service capacity
A Cloud Humans It is a company specialized in service outsourcing and works together with clients to create service models fast and assertive for each partner.
Our team can help you plan peak service and reinforce team capacity with service providers aligned with yours knowledge base.
In addition, we manage the tickets, auditing the responses of human attendants and also of bots to maintain the quality of support.
Do you want to know more? Talk to our experts who are available to present our solution and show how much it can help you achieve your business objectives.