15 May 2018

Plan Ahead for Summer Absences by Securing Call Centre Support

Summer can be a busy time for many businesses, but it can also be a hectic one. When the weather warms up and the kids are out of school, your employees are likely to take more time off of work, whether planned or unexpected. This can put a strain on the rest of your customer service staff, but it doesn’t have to. Plan ahead for these summer absences by organizing call centre support before you need it.

Make arrangements before you need them

Before your desk is filled with vacation requests, contact the call centre to organize how you’ll use them. You may want to utilize the services of the call centre all summer long, or you may only use them during periods when your employees will be away. You may be able to arrange for the call centre to catch ‘spillover’ calls that your staff can’t manage, and you may even be able to have the call centre available ‘on standby’ for those unexpected summer absences.

Include your staff in the planning

Discuss with your employees your plans to use a call centre. Explain why you’ll be utilizing their services and how it will integrate with your existing customer service policies. This will not only help you determine how to best use the call centre’s services, it will also help determine when you’ll need to use them.

Consider incentivizing delaying vacations and other absences until later in the season, or when it’s less likely to cause a scheduling conflict. Offer bonuses or other incentives to those employees who choose to reschedule their time away. You may be able to minimize the use of a call centre if you do this, but it’s still a good idea to have them available in case you get more calls than you expect. The customer shouldn’t suffer because your employees take a well-deserved break.

Everyone deserves to have a great summer, and that includes both your employees and your customers. Take advantage of all the services that a call centre offers and plan ahead for your summer customer service needs.

To find out more about how a call centre can help you keep your customers happy this summer, contact the friendly, knowledgeable staff at Answer 365.