Although Black Friday and Cyber Monday are now behind us, there is still plenty of the holiday shopping season left before Christmas comes. In fact, with December starting tomorrow, business owners all across North America should anticipate things picking up.
Needless to say, it’s a very busy time for retailers of all kinds. Preparing your team to provide the best customer service possible will mean the difference between huge success and ultimate failure.
Keep your team in a festive mood.
It all starts with your employees. There’s simply no way to provide excellent customer service if your team members aren’t in excellent moods. It’s the holiday season! Yes, you’re bound to be a lot busier, but that’s no reason to not take the time to ensure your employees are all having good times at work. Have motivational morning meetings, bring in tasty treats to share, play holiday music – whatever it takes to ensure your team is happy and functioning at its best.
“If you keep your team motivated and happy, then you will, in turn, make sure that they keep your shoppers happy,” insists Laduram Vishnoi on Acquire.io, “At the end of the day, your shoppers have to line up in front of your support team to portray their feelings. So, it is vital and essential that you must keep your agents and executives happy first, as the whole show will depend on them and their performance.”
Be clear about your support schedule.
Most of your customers are well aware you don’t operate a 24/7 business. As a result, there will be times when your customer service staff is simply unavailable to provide assistance. As long as you’ve made totally clear what your holiday business hours are, you shouldn’t run the risk of putting many people in bad moods. Be sure to clarify your hours on your website and on your outgoing voice greetings.
“To avoid the backlash from missed expectations, businesses should be proactive in letting their customers know what the support schedule will be during the holidays, and how to get questions answered,” says Peggy Emch on Olark.com, “Doing so will eliminate confusion and lessen frustration, which in turn will also make the job of your Customer Service team easier (fewer angry customers is the best gift you can give them!)”
Know that empathy is everything.
The holidays can be a holly, jolly time. However, they can also be very stress-inducing. Keep in mind that many of your customers may be in rushes, agitated, confused or even depressed during the holidays. Focus on their emotions by showing empathy and genuine concern. It will go a long way in earning your brand a stellar reputation for its customer service.
“If you put your focus towards the customer— and upon the problem, they are facing— then you are giving emphasis to a very humanistic approach to solving issues,” writes Vishnoi, “Remember, emotions will run high during the holiday season as people would like to get/resolve things in a very short span of time. Hence, a little empathy and some sympathy here and there will not hurt.”
For a dose of MeloTel’s holiday customer service style, please don’t hesitate to contact us at 1-888-MELOTEL or use the Live Chat feature on our website!
