For many small businesses, there is a busy season -- several weeks or months when you make a significant portion of your annual revenue. For gyms and yoga studios, it’s the “New Year, New Me” rush in January, for retailers it’s the holiday shopping season, and for CPAs it’s early spring, when everyone is trying to beat the April 15th tax deadline.
Even if your small business stays fairly steady throughout the year, you’re certain to have peak periods, which may occur during a specific time or day, such as before a sporting event or concert at a nearby arena, or during brunch hours over the weekend. And, while you and your employees might feel pressure to go above and beyond to make the busy times as successful as possible, the hustle and bustle can negatively affect customer service if you haven’t done advance preparation to handle the influx of business.Knowing that most consumers prefer to call local businesses as their first line of communication, it’s important to take into account that there will also be an increase in customer calls. Because interactions that happen over the phone are often a new customer’s first impression of your business, it’s essential that you anticipate and manage call volume, but without the right tools and techniques in place, this can be a huge challenge.
The first step in conquering your peak call periods is identifying when they take place. You’ll want to consider if you are one of the businesses that has a particularly busy season, or maybe a day of the week or specific hours. Once you’ve identified your busiest times, you should train your employees to handle an increase in call volume, ensure you know the reasons why customers are calling, and be prepared to answer common customer questions, even when you can’t pick up the phone.
To learn more about how to anticipate and prepare for an increase in call volume, click here to download 4 Steps for Conquering High Call Volumes During Peak Periods.