The busy season is fast approaching, which means that your customer service lines are about to light up. Whether you’re a non-profit staring down giving season or a company selling giftable products and services, here’s how to set your customer service team up for success when the calls start coming.
Define Responsibilities and Success Metrics
It’s impossible to do your job well if you don’t know the specifics of your job. Ensure that each member of your customer experience team has a clearly defined set of responsibilities, as well as their success metrics. Integrate technology to measure metrics such as sentiment scores, customer satisfaction scores, and first contact resolution rate to see how your team is performing and to flag areas for improvement.
Train Your Team, and Keep Training
Don’t just throw your CX team in the deep end and hope that they’ll figure out how to swim. Ensure each team member is informed about both your products and services, as well as customer service best practices. Use tools like role playing, handbooks, and mentorship to help hone skills such as de-escalation or transfers. And make sure that training is ongoing, with staff well versed in new company updates, technology, and the approaches and scripts that have been proven to work with your customers. Additionally, don’t forget to recognize success. A happy team is a dedicated team!
Use Technology to Create a Buffer
If you’re part of a small business, it’s easy to treat every customer relationship as a deeply personal one. But personally handling every call or interaction can create uneven expectations regarding access and VIP treatment. Technology can help you draw boundaries, provide additional spaces for customer feedback, and take a load off your staff. Leverage tech such as virtual agents and phone trees to shift some inbound calls towards self-service options. Feedback forms are also a great way to help remove the pressure on staff if callers are getting in touch to “vent”. Automation is your friend.
Embrace Outsourcing to Scale
Even the most high-achieving team can only handle so much volume. Be prepared for spikes in call volume – for example, during the holiday period or after a product launch – and have processes in place that take the pressure off your team. Having an outsourced team available to take calls during times of high volume is vital for supporting your staff, and can also help you manage increased volume as you grow. Consider other options, such as call-back options, AI agents, or self-service options to handle traffic without passing it along to your team in real-time.
Talk to ACD Direct About CX Success
At ACD Direct, we’ve seen it all. For decades, we’ve worked with companies, small and large, across just about every vertical, so we know what works and how to incorporate it into your daily practice. Our two-pronged approach brings together a tailorable, end-to-end CS SaaS platform with a talented pool of trained, on-demand agents – so that when the busy season hits, you can deliver the customer experience your customers deserve, all while empowering your team to achieve at their best. Get in touch today!
