It’s the most wonderful time of the year, with “teams to keep happy and phones ringing all the time, and customers not showing off in a good mood!” It’s bis-, the busiest time of year! Isn’t that how the song unfolds? For anyone spending that time trying to create demand, deliver products, and support their customers during the frantic final weeks of the holiday season, it’s a familiar air.

Brands could shrug their shoulders and resign themselves to knowing that it’s all over in January. Or, they might be looking for optimal ways to make vacations for their business and their employees successful and healthy.

Vacation problems start earlier this year

The supply chain issues plaguing 2021 appear to have no end in sight. 60% of buyers said they were unable to get a product they wanted due to shortages in the supply chain. Holiday shoppers will need to place orders sooner than ever before, and the risk of delays or mishaps along the way is greater.

Beyond physical gifts, some people will also give the gift of their presence. But flights are already changed months in advance, resulting in more new bookings, cancellations or other service requests.

These challenges follow changes in consumer tastes and behaviors. Consumers around the world expect a smooth digital experience and have less patience for a clunky customer experience than before the pandemic.

The supply chain pocalypse, in addition to the usual frenzied demands for cyber deals and holiday sales, means contact centers can expect record call volumes.

Keep the customer experience in mind

With 59% of consumers Now more concerned with the customer experience than they were before the pandemic, brands need to be on top of their game from the start. In fact, 83% of people said they would stop buying from a brand after a bad customer experience. The increase in the volume of calls and requests for support is already putting brands behind the eight ball, and competition from other companies only complicates matters.

Take these steps to make sure your customers aren’t disappointed:

• Make your contact details easily accessible. Why frustrate your customers before they can even contact you? Your contact information should be clearly available on your website and Google business listings, ideally in several easy-to-access and up-to-date locations. Additionally, more brands are succeeding on social assistance and texting, and are using communities to leverage common customer questions. Instead of letting your agents spend hours on the phone, an online community combined with a social response tree can facilitate more frequent responses.
• Offer self-service AI-powered solutions like chatbots and IVR. 58% of clients want another way to reach support without calling. Leverage AI and Machine Learning: While a chatbot or interactive voice response (IVR) automation can handle the most basic and common requests, it frees up an agent’s time for more issues. complex. This human touch helps provide a better customer experience.
• Listen on all channels. Not knowing the root cause of why your customers are feeling the way they are feeling is a missed opportunity and 90% of CX professionals claim to lack in-depth knowledge or the ability to explain why customers take certain actions. Having omnichannel data provides insight to all teams, giving you a holistic picture of how your customers are feeling about the end-to-end customer experience, and highlighting any major concerns or areas of praise.
• Analyze and act with your data. With an omnichannel solution, you get data from multiple sources, so act on the small wins quickly. Once you’ve made immediate changes, find opportunities for long-term improvements. It also encompasses how you report metrics, which should relate to the financial impact of each decision.

How to avoid contact center burnout

While the customer experience is essential for any brand, the focus is increasingly on the experience. in contact centers too. Frustrated employees have a significant impact on the bottom line: 34% of an employee’s annual salary is lost due to burnout– and burnout puts a strain on the health of employees.

First of all, know what burnout is and how to spot it. According to the World Health Organization: “It is a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic stress at work that has not been managed successfully. Burnout includes feelings of exhaustion or exhaustion, feelings of mental distance or negativity from one’s job, and reduced work efficiency.

Burnout can also lead to turnover, and this has only increased since the start of the pandemic. More than half of North American workers are looking for new jobs this year.

Dealing with contact center burnout is an ongoing battle, but it starts with a solid foundation. Here’s how you can strategize against burnout:

• Improve the training of contact centers. A common reason for burnout: Officers don’t feel they have the right training to deal with issues as they arise. 76% of Generation Z believe that learning is the key to a successful career. Training doesn’t have to be a long, drawn-out webinar – you can increase engagement through games, interactive learning, and internal podcasts.
• Increase agent independence. No one wants to feel like their manager is always looking over their shoulder. Granting agents a little more independence increases their motivation and improves their mood. You are always there if they need help, but have confidence that they can do their daily job.
• Offer incentives. Reward your agents for doing something good for the business. Incentives can be monetary or more creative bonuses, for example, offering free tickets to a game for a big sports fan, or a gift card for a good restaurant for a foodie agent. they will appreciate morale goes up and don’t forget your kindness down the line.

A brand’s holiday season can be full of joy, if you adopt the right strategies.

Make sure your customers don’t have to go out of their way to talk to your brand, and anticipate the frustrations that naturally arise during this time of year. At the same time, keep your agents in mind and show them how much you appreciate their hard work.

When you combine the two perfectly, you’ll be on your way to successful customer and agent experiences and a new year of opportunity.