Volume spikes can be fraught for brands, and a season of surges is upon us. Health insurance companies are at the cusp of open enrollment, retailers are gearing up for the holidays, and government agencies are at the tail end of hurricane season with winter storm season fast approaching.
When surges occur, extra associates typically must be onboarded and trained quickly and a deluge of inquiries into the contact center can lead to longer wait times, customer frustration, lower first-contact resolution rates, and employee burnout.
The benefit of cyclical spikes, in particular, is you know they’re coming. They’re part of a longer cycle. Taking steps ahead of time (during calmer parts of the cycle) to get the right people, processes, and tools in place makes it easier to manage the most intense phase of the cycle when the surge hits.
Once the frenzy of a surge is in full swing, brands must make snap decisions and try to implement improvements on the fly. Taking a more thoughtful approach earlier on will drive better results and save time, money, and headaches.
Here are some ways companies can master seasonal volume surges with the right people, tools, and game plan.
Hire, ramp skilled associates quickly
To navigate any volume surge successfully, most companies will need to hire more associates to handle incoming calls, emails, texts, and chats. This is no easy feat amid an ongoing labor shortage, and associates may be reluctant to take on seasonal work due to the high stress levels it can bring.
There’s no time to waste when inquiries are about to flood the contact center, so new hires need to be brought up to speed quickly. AI-enhanced training and curriculum can help, allowing associates to learn through simulated interactions and receive real-time coaching and feedback.
Customers always expect their issues to be resolved quickly, but seasonal surges often bring more emotionally charged interactions: a consumer who’s trying to pick the best health care plan for their family under a tight deadline and is confused by the options, a shopper trying to acquire the perfect gift in time for the holidays, or a homeowner dealing the fallout of a natural disaster, for instance.
These interactions require empathy. Train associates not only resolve matters quickly to do so in an empathetic and genuine way. Investing in associates that have the right skillset will deliver dividends in the form of better CX, higher customer satisfaction, and greater loyalty.
Adding another layer of complexity, some support roles require specialized training or qualifications. Associates helping customers choose a health plan during open enrollment must be licensed, for instance, which can make finding qualified candidates even harder. Having the right hiring processes in place year-round is critical to ensuring associates can hit the ground running when it’s show time.
For brands that lack the expertise in-house, working with a BPO can be a great way to tap into a skilled, global labor pool; onboard and train associates quickly; and ensure associates have the empathy and skills they need to do their jobs well.
Deliver proactive, personalized support
One benefit of seasonal surges is they become at least somewhat predictable. Once they’ve been through a few, brands can find patterns and use those insights to inform future decision making. This is incredibly important as it empowers brands to shift from reactive interactions to proactive CX.
When they can anticipate customers’ needs during peak seasons, companies can proactively put measures in place to help manage surges – or, better yet, reduce the number of inquiries coming into the contact center in the first place.
Knowing your top customer intents, or the reasons customers reach out to your contact center, is essential to delivering proactive support. Once you know the top drivers of inquiries, you can determine which ones to deflect to automation, which ones require a human touch, and how to make all interactions feel more personalized.
The right analytics tools are also key to becoming more proactive. With conversation and business intelligence, for instance, brands can use AI to listen in on all customer interactions and then quickly comb through that data to find patterns and trends. Once you gain this deep understanding of the customer journey, you can work to eliminate friction.
When a frustrated retail customer reaches out to a contact center during the holiday season, associates will be able to help that shopper faster and better if they have easy access to information - that shopper’s purchase history, buying habits, how long they’ve shopped with the retailer, their loyalty status. Putting analytics tools in place (and training associates to use them) year-round ensures they’re well integrated and part of the daily workflow by the time the holiday rush hits.
Customers appreciate a proactive, personalized approach. It shows that a brand truly understands them and their needs, knows their history with the company, and is ready to help.
Leverage AI and automation
Automation offers many advantages during surges, for customers and associates. The right tools can give customers the ability to help themselves and give associates faster, better access to the information they need.
Resolutions need to be quick and seamless during peak times, which means associates must be able to get the information they need quickly in those moments that matter. Put relevant, up-to-date information at their fingertips with an AI-enabled knowledge base. Doing so reduces associate stress on the job, reduces wait times, and improves resolution rates.
AI can also make associates’ jobs easier in other ways: by neutralizing accents to improve communication, eliminating background noise during calls, summarizing interactions, and taking menial tasks off their hands so they can focus on more meaningful interactions.
Automation should also play a key role in helping customers. Deflect intents that make sense to chatbots, self-service, and intelligent virtual assistants (IVAs). This empowers customers to resolve issues themselves (on their own time and in their preferred channel), decreases the number of inquiries flooding the contact center, and allows brands to offer 24/7 support.
Of course, some inquiries will require the help of a human, so be sure to have systems in place that facilitate a seamless handoff from an automated tool to an associate when needed.
Prioritize employee engagement
It’s no secret that contact center work can be stressful. Associates are under pressure to resolve problems quickly and hit certain metrics, and they often find themselves in emotionally charged situations. This can be especially true during surges, when customers have more pressing issues and may be waiting longer for resolutions.
Employees are more susceptible to burnout during hectic times like open enrollment and the holiday retail season. High turnover rates have long plagued contact centers and attrition can be a costly problem, since finding and training new associates is more expensive than retaining existing ones. That’s why brands must prioritize employee experience.
Set associates up for success from the outset with the right training and tools, then make sure they’re consistently getting coaching and feedback from team leads and supervisors. Employees who are engaged in their work – and have career development opportunities – are more likely to stay.
Incentivize associates by rewarding top performers and share employees’ successes stories across the broader team so that winning strategies can be replicated. It’s equally important to acknowledge when associates are struggling and give them the coaching and support they need. Fostering continual, two-way communication between associates and team leads creates a collaborative environment where associates feel valued and engaged.
Plan now, excel later
In the fast-paced world of the contact center, unexpected hiccups are bound to happen. Make it easier to grapple with unforeseen roadblocks by preparing ahead of time for challenges you know are coming.
Planning in advance gives you the time and opportunity to test solutions and workflows, troubleshoot problems, and make adjustments as needed. Once that seasonal surge hits, there will be little (or no) time for such thoughtful planning or strategic decision making. Think ahead and take advantage of the chance to work out problems before crunch time.
