Cupertino, CA, May 8, 2019 – Memorial Day and the Fourth of July are approaching, marking the beginning of summer vacation season. What may mean relaxation for employees could quickly become a test of patience for customers who have urgent problems. According to HelpScout‘s graph, 80 percent of companies believe they provide excellent customer service, but only 8 percent of customers say they do.
In fact, holidays offer particularly high potential for frustration on the customer’s side, as the number of service employees is often fewer. That’s why OTRS offers the following advice to keep customers happy at this time of year.
Keeping call volume under control through self-service
Online purchases and exchanges are often made on public holidays, because consumers have time and quiet to take care of them. These interactions don’t always go smoothly, and that’s why people pick up the phone quickly on public holidays. Companies can prevent an onslaught of callers and inquiries by using self-service tools. Using a knowledge database, customers can quickly find the answers they are looking for, without having to wait in a queue for a long time and take up the agent’s valuable time. In addition, the better presented a product offering is on a website, the less need there is to speak directly to a consultant.
Easy contact from anywhere
Customers who are in a hurry can quickly become impatient. This is illustrated by a study stating that almost 60 percent won’t wait on hold for more than a minute in a telephone queue. That’s why it’s important to provide customers with multiple contact channels – from anywhere and at any time. Omnichannel communication adapts to the different needs of customers and ensures greater satisfaction. Even a live chat on Facebook or the creation of an e-mail ticket can help boost the satisfaction rate. Of course, each channel should always be managed by experienced staff.
Automation of everyday tasks
Often complex steps are necessary in order to answer inquiries and requests may even need to involve a superior. This can be very time-consuming, especially if the agent has to follow detailed documented processes. However, since many requests and processes are often repeated, automated processes can help. By having the system automatically move requests from one process step to another, it saves the agent time and reduces the chance of errors.
Accelerate resolution times through efficient allocation
The faster the service, the more satisfied the customers are. It is therefore important for tasks to be assigned based on the experience level of the service staff. Temporary staff should, therefore, receive queries that require simple, quick answers, while an experienced employee can tackle more complex issues. An automated routing tool helps assign incoming requests so the team can work together to deliver the fastest possible service. This is especially true when staffing is lighter on public holidays, ensuring that the customer can continue to receive good quality customer service.
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About OTRS Group
OTRS Group is the manufacturer and the world’s largest provider of the service management suite OTRS, awarded with the SERVIEW CERTIFIED TOOL seal of approval.
It offers flexible solutions for process and communication management to companies of all sizes, saving them time and money. Among its customers are Lufthansa, Airbus, IBM, Porsche, Siemens, BSI (Federal Office for Security in Information Technology), Max Planck Institute, Toyota, Hapag Lloyd and Banco do Brazil (Bank of Brazil). More than 170,000 companies worldwide use OTRS, including over 40 percent of the DAX 30 companies. OTRS is available in 38 languages. The company consists of OTRS AG and its six subsidiaries OTRS Inc. (USA), OTRS S.A. de C.V. (Mexico), OTRS Asia Pte. Ltd. (Singapore), OTRS Asia Ltd. (Hong Kong), OTRS do Brasil Soluções Ltda. (Brazil) and OTRS Magyarország Kft. (Hungary). OTRS AG is listed on the basic board of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. For more information, see www.otrs.com.