When your staff head off on holiday, it’s important to make sure that your business will still run smoothly even with reduced capacity.
Providing excellent customer service is crucial to business success at all times – whether it’s peak holiday season or not – and when several members of the team are off on annual leave around the same time, you might be concerned about how to maintain the same level of service you are known for.
Luckily, if you already have a cloud-hosted phone system, it’s easy to stay on top of call handling. As long as you’re making the most of your VoIP phone system, you’ll be able to cope with reduced staff capacity without compromising quality of service.
Tips for efficient call handling in holiday season
1. Ensure staff set a voicemail
Staff being on annual leave doesn’t mean they can’t make meaningful connections with your customers. By setting a well-crafted voicemail message to greet callers in their absence, they can ensure the company makes a positive impression.
2. Make use of call forwarding or diverting
Give customers an answer or solution right away by diverting or redirecting their call to another member of the team, where possible. Setting this up to happen automatically means that customers do not have to wait days or weeks for the original staff member to get back to them on their return.
3. Set up a hunt group
A hunt group is a feature of VoIP phone systems that allows a call to be sent to multiple phone system users. It’s great for ensuring someone is on hand to answer a call even when some staff members are off. An incoming call will seamlessly move from one call agent to another if not answered straightaway.
4. Use Call Flow Designer
The Call Flow Designer function helps give customers a better experience of your business. It does this by strategically mapping the management of incoming calls to ensure callers are attended to without spending time on hold or being transferred from person to person. You can direct calls around the team in a more deliberate way, making call handling more effective and efficient.
5. Make sure staff calendars are up to date
Make sure your team members are in the habit of keeping a collaborative staff calendar up to date, so everyone is aware who is away on annual leave when and for how long. Not only does this help you make sure you maintain adequate staffing capacity, but it helps pre-empt call handling challenges and make sure solutions are put in place ahead of time.
Want to implement these tactics for your business? Contact Hive for more information – we won’t miss your call!