Holiday Customer Service Tips
The holidays can be very stressful on both your employees and your customers, but that doesn’t mean that customer service has to suffer. Instead, use these holiday customer service tips to provide excellent service all throughout the holidays, and beyond.
Ensure you have Enough Staff to Meet Your Customers’ Needs
This is probably the single most important thing that you can do to keep your customers happy during the holiday season. Their time is precious, and they are not going to want to waste it waiting to be helped by an employee who is busy taking care of someone else’s problems.
Hiring additional seasonal staff and creative scheduling can keep customers happy and help avoid employee burnout. If hiring additional staff isn’t an option, hiring a call centre could be the best way to provide extra service for your customers.
Reward Loyalty
Small gestures such as free gifts or extra discounts in the New Year let your customers know that you appreciate their business. You don’t have to spend a fortune on gifts for every customer, but a small token of appreciation goes a long way in customer service.
Offer Several Outlets for Customer Service
Not every customer wants to deal with you face-to-face. Many prefer to call a call centre, email the company, or use online chat agents. Offering a combination of these methods will allow your customers to seek assistance in the way that they feel most comfortable.
Consider creating or adding to your FAQ section on your website to cover answers to the most common holiday customer service queries. Many customers like being able to help themselves, but they just need a little assistance from you first.
Look After your Employees, Especially if they are Handling Customer Service Issues
Make sure to keep the lines of communication open for these employees, since they have their fingers on the pulse of how your customers really feel about the company. It can be easy for them to get burned out, especially if they are dealing with lots of angry customers every day. Make sure they have ample time for breaks and are allowed to ‘vent’ to you; otherwise, they could make poor decisions in regards to how they handle your customers’ problems.
Take the time to make sure that your customers receive the best service possible during the holidays, and you may find that they become loyal for years to come.