All entries tagged with “representatives”

Holiday Checklist for Contact Centers

Posted by Yasmin Parsloe on Monday Nov 10, 2014 9:52 am


According to studies, sales increase by 40% over the holiday season, making it a prime time for customer service from website sales to customer support. Even though demand is high, customers still expect their calls to be answered and problems to be solved. Here is a simple checklist to help your call center prepare for the holiday stress.


  1. Plan for the best, expect the worse. It’s expected that over the holiday season, customers will come to you aggravated, whether it be over a delayed package of a defective product. Tensions are especially high during this season, and so to ensure customers remain happy, prepare your representatives with credits, discounts and free product to keep customers happy when necessary.
  2. Hire representatives who engage and connect. People connect with people, and sometimes the right candidate is worth waiting for. As Jim Collins says in his book Good to Great, get the right people on the bus, and then find the right seats for them. The best representatives have an interest in their products. Take the time to screen candidates well in order to create a team of representatives that will help solve a customer’s problem in the first interaction, leading to happier customers.
  3. Hire early and hire many. Call center strategists advice hiring in September for the holiday season. According to a study by Vcare, out of every 50 interviewees, 10 representatives will fit your culture. Additionally, they recommend hiring 30% more representatives than you need, recognizing that some may drop off.
  4. Stay in touch with past potential hires. Keep tabs of everyone who has shown interest in employment with your company. Having a pipeline of candidates allows you to hire speedily when volumes increase.
  5. Train Innovatively. During the holidays, you may need a face turn around for new hires. Consider creating a more engaging and innovative training program developed specifically for the holiday season. Use role play, replicate real-life problems, make policies and procedures visual opposed to a lecture-based training course.
  6. Monitor, monitor, monitor! With an increase of representatives, the strain on management is also increased. Be sure to monitor phone conversations, emails and chats with customers to ensure quality does not become diluted.

Use these tips as a guide to succeed this holiday season – and remember to incorporate joy and spirit in all of your interactions this season!

Categories

Archives

Tags

2015 2016 30 under 30 9/11 911 access control active shooter activities adding value air conditioning airports alcohol allen interactions apply appointment appointment based appointment based events appointment-based appointment-based event appointment-based events appointments apps april articles AT&T attend attendees Austin Baltimore behind the scenes benefits best way better big data blog boating Boston budget buildabike building business California call center call for speakers campus candles career center certification CEU change change management checklist chicago christmas cleanliness colleagues collectiveview comcast communication companies company policy complaints complimentary concierge condos conference confirmed connect connections conservation conserving construction consulting consumption contact contact center contact center & customer service summit contact center summit coping corporate correctional news CPP credit card customer customer engagement customer outreach customer service customer service week dads dallas dan schawbel dangers data death decorating delegate delegates development diet digital law diversity drink tickets drunk driving dryvit ecofriendly eCommerce education education & healthcare security Forum education and healthcare security education facilities management education facilities management forum education security emergency employee employee benefits Employee theft employees employer energy engagement enterprise entry event event recap events examples executive executives exercises expansion expenses experience experiment expert experts expo face time face-to-face facebook facebook messenger facebook study facilities facilities management facilities management summit facility facility manager fail fathers february feedback fire hazards flexibility fm ford forum Forum events forum experience Forum Team forums Franklin free frustration fun funny get togethers gift card network gifting goals good google government great event green green building news grieving guest guest blog guest speaker guide gun safety gun violence H2O hand sanitizer hanukkah happy hate HC&O News healthcare healthcare facilities management forum healthcare security healthcare.gov healthiest airports healthy higher pay hired hiring holiday holidays hospitality hospitality & facilities forum hospitals hosted-buyer hosted-buyer event hosted-buyer events hotel hotels hours House of Cards houston houston texas how to hr hr & employee benefits hr & employee benefits summit HR Strategy Summit human resources ideas ima incentive incontact india industries informal information instant internet introduce invitation ISA ISACA IT Security J.D. january jobs join us JP Morgan Julie (Jules) Carter Irvin¬-Rooney june Kathleen Peterson keeping employees motivated this holiday season keynote speaker kimberly-clark Langham leadership learn lecture LED legal lessons liability lights linkedin lisa reuth lisa rueth listen location LOL los angeles loss love loyalty magazine management manager manipulation manners marc miller march marketing marketing summit marriott media media partner media partnership meet people meetings meltdown messageme messages messenger Michelle Obama millennials misconduct mistakes modules money morale motivation nashville network networking networks new orleans new years new york times news newsletter november numbers NYT obstacles office office update omni open enrollment organizations outreach outsulation pacific palms resort Paid time off parties partnership party Pasadena patience patrick hayes PCRM peers performance perks peterson Philadelphia Phoenix Physical Security pictures planning policies policy policy dispute positions positive Powerhouse preparation presenters press release prevention privacy prizes productive productivity professionalism program progressive PTO qualifications raffle Randy Fox rants & raves rants and raves raptor raptor technologies recap recording recruitment register relax relaxed reorganization reports representatives resolution resort response rest restructuring retention retrofits reviews risk Ritz Ritz-Carlton ROI sadness safety safety forum sales San Diego Sarasota save saving scenes schedule schools schools facilities science scranton products season seconds security selection process seminar seminar program seminar topics seminars september service sexual assault sheppard partners shopping short smart phone sms social media software solution provider solution providers speaker speakers sponsor news Sprint stockings strategic strategy stress success summary summer summertime summit summits supply survey survivor sweet T-Mobile talent Talent Acquisition and Retention Summit talent management taxis team Team Building teams teamwork tech technology technology solutions terms of services testimonial Testimonials texas text message the front door time time off timeline tips title vii top performers topics total security total security summit trade show tradeshow tradeshows training training & development training & development summit training and development travel traveling trees twitter unemployment rate update updates upgrades upset vacation valentine's day valentines value vendor vendor press release vendors venue venues Verizon veterans veterans day viber virtual volume washing Washington DC water welcome westin whatsapp white paper wifi work workload workplace workshop workshops wrong young