Four Tips To Handling A Spike In Customer Enquiries During Peak Traffic
Delivering an exceptional customer service experience is vital to long-term revenue and profit success. Your company’s ability to efficiently assist customers during peak traffic times can differentiate you from your competition, positively or negatively.
Therefore, investing in customer service improvements designed to mitigate peak traffic wait times and other issues that arise from high demand on your resources is paramount.
This article will look at four ways to significantly improve your peak traffic customer service efficiency.
What’s the Big Deal?
At Awesome CX, we know that customer service can make successful companies fail and struggling companies excel. A thriving company can lose large shares of its respective market due to a lack of quality customer service.
DirecTV, AT&T, SiriusXM, US Airways, and Blockbuster are examples of companies that were at the top of their game and experienced significant losses and even bankruptcies, partly because of the quality of their customer service.
To say it’s a big deal would be an understatement, and to believe you’re too big to fail would be a dangerous miscalculation. Blockbuster and US Airways went bankrupt and were acquired by other companies — too big to fail is a myth.
While former executives of Blockbuster like to blame new streaming services like Netflix and video vending machine giant Redbox for their failure, the truth is they failed because their business model was built around profits obtained through customer penalizations.
Late fees were where their profits derived from, and customers weren’t happy about it.
Customers can be in love with your brand and product for many years. Still, they will take their business elsewhere if they start receiving poor customer service and feel alienated and unappreciated.
The good news is the opposite is also true. Providing exceptional customer service experiences can build brand loyalty exponentially. Brand loyalty directly influences revenue growth and increased profits.
Investing in your customer service apparatus is an investment you cannot afford to ignore. While it’s true that product and service innovation is equally necessary, without high-quality customer service, your business will struggle to stay above board.
Four Tips To Increase Peak Traffic Efficiency
Now that you know why customer service is such a big deal, let’s look at some creative and innovative ways you can increase your customer service peak traffic efficiency.
Outsourcing
It’s probably a good idea to start with the number one tip for increasing peak traffic efficiency — outsourcing. Contrary to what some may say or believe, outsourcing is not a dirty word, at least not when done correctly and strategically.
We concede that there can be a certain stigma behind the word outsourcing. Some companies have chosen to take a path in their outsourcing strategy that resulted in a loss of service quality, which is a path you should never take.
Outsourcing correctly, which we call Smartsourcing, ensures that your company experiences all of the benefits of outsourcing without the negatives.
Cutting costs is one of the biggest reasons most companies choose to outsource, but if that is your only motivation, you will likely make strategic decisions that harm your long-term customer service goals.
For example, if you are only seeking the cost-saving benefits of outsourcing, you are likely to go with the lowest bidder without much regard for the quality of service they provide. This will lead to customer service experience failures and frustrated customers.
However, when you choose an intelligent approach to outsourcing that requires strategic strengths and weaknesses analysis, you are better positioned to choose an outsourcing partner that cuts costs and provides exceptional service.
You can read more about smartsourcing here, but to summarize it, smartsourcing requires your company to take an honest and sometimes painful inward look at your strengths and weaknesses from outside the box.
Once you identify those strengths and weaknesses, you begin your search for an outsourcing partner that provides the services you need without compromising quality or your company culture.
When done correctly, outsourcing can provide your company with high-end customer service experiences at a fraction of the cost of in-house development.
That’s why Awesome CX exists — to provide your customers with exceptional customer service without compromising your company culture.
You can also leverage outsourcing to respond to times of high-demand peak traffic, such as during the holidays, Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales week, and other times you expect higher than regular demand.
Alternative Points Of Contact
The number one complaint regarding customer service amongst consumers is long wait times and multiple contact transfers before resolution, two issues that the global pandemic has exacerbated.
Implement alternative points of contact to alleviate demands on your call center customer service team.
Some examples of alternative points of contact include chatbots on your eCommerce website, messaging apps embedded in your social media touchpoints, person-to-person chats via your eCommerce site, SMS Text Messaging, or email resolution messaging.
Giving your customers alternative communication options, some that they prefer over voice calls, alleviates demand on your customer service call centers and reduces wait times.
One customer service representative can also assist several customers at once using person-to-person chats, social media messaging, and SMS business texting.
Many customers today, a majority of them, prefer to text or message over making voice calls. Therefore, you will reduce strains on your call center resources and provide a preferred method of communication for your customers.
Scheduled Call-Backs
Another great way to reduce strains on your call center resources during peak traffic is to give your customers the option to receive a call-back once a representative is available. Many companies are utilizing this feature and have found great success with it.
If you’re not familiar with this feature, it works pretty simply. Once your customer enters the wait queue, your automated system gives the customer the option to keep their place in line while also not having to remain on hold. The customer will receive a call-back from a representative once their turn comes up and a representative is available.
Customers appreciate this option. Even though they still wait, they don’t wait on the phone. This frees them up to do other tasks at home or work while waiting for a call-back versus having to listen to music and pre-recorded marketing messages.
Self-Service Options Via Mobile App Or Website
Being up to date with the latest technology and innovations can make all the difference when optimizing your customer support. Implementing self-service options via your website, eCommerce site, or mobile application (App) can reduce demand on your call centers during high-demand peak times.
Self-service options include FAQ pages, intranet search engine-based support pages, or a tutorial section or blog.
Many customers have minor issues that can be quickly resolved. These issues will be standard, so you will have data identifying the most common problems your customers face with your product or service.
With this data in hand, you can create tutorials and FAQs that address these concerns and provide easy-to-understand instructions on how to rectify the problem. While this tip won’t solve every issue, anxiety, or problem your customers will have, it will address many of them.
When customers can self-diagnose and self-correct their issues, they do not need to place extra demands on your customer service team.
How We Can Help
As we mentioned, Awesome CX provides hyper-growth companies with the customer service services they need to elevate and amplify their customers' experience.
We make every effort to ensure that the negative connotations associated with outsourcing affect your partnership with us.
Instead, we focus on becoming an extension of your company and not just an outsourced partner. We strive to replicate your company culture, provide your company with a dedicated team, and provide completely transparent no-tricks up-front pricing to give you predictable costs.
Contact us today to connect with our teams and learn more about our services and how we can amplify your customer service department and save you money. We can’t wait to meet you and your customers.
Sources:
A Look Back At Why Blockbuster Really Failed And Why It Didn't Have To | Forbes
Outsourcing: How It Works in Business, With Examples | Investopedia