Handle Volume Without Slowing Down
The dream of every entrepreneur is to launch an appealing business that attracts customers. Ultimately, you want the phone to be ringing all day with orders and customers to queue in shops to buy your products. Except that when that happens, a lot of companies find themselves struggling to keep up with their popularity. The eternal dilemma of the business owner is to find the right balance between building up popularity and managing a high volume of demands. After all, if your customers have to wait a long time to get served or to receive an item they’ve ordered, it’s likely to assume that they will look for a quicker alternative with your competitors.
However, you can’t afford to deal with every query at the same time for one simple reason: It is virtually impossible to handle simultaneous tasks effectively and without a drop in quality. Multitasking, contrary to the common belief, is never the appropriate solution for the high workload. Customers who don’t feel supported in their queries develop a natural mistrust for the company and tend to turn to competitors for help. In other words, you need to build the best possible approach to manage high volumes of demands and interactions without causing a loss in productivity, quality of products or services, and customer satisfaction.
Don’t let your callers wait too long
How long is a caller happy to wait to talk to you? This is the question you need to ask yourself from the very start. Missing a phone call can be devastating in the business world, as you could lose a potential customer or even develop a negative reputation. As a rule of the thumb, most customers expect their call to be answered within opening hours after the third ring.
If you need any longer than that, some customers would have already chosen to hang up. However, it’s not always easy to be available for a phone call when you’ve already got a million of things to do! But you can use a call forwarding option to direct unanswered calls to your receptionist who can then take a message or answer simple questions, for instance. To avoid long waiting times, it’s often best to work with a virtual call centre and assistant – depending on the size of your business – to tackle all incoming calls and manage queries in real time. This will keep your customers satisfied and feeling cared for without stretching out your IRL workload. However, you need to ensure that the management of open-tasks after the calls is effective and quick. A customer who left a message expects a rapid answer.
Don’t make 503 your worst enemy
Do you know what happens When your website is hosted on a shared server? During peak times, and especially if the website is popular, your visitors might find it difficult to access the site. The server might become unavailable as a result of a temporary overload in visits. When this happens, visitors will receive a 503 error and will be advised to try again in a little while. Another server error that is getting more and more frequent is the 509, which is a non-standard code to refer to the web host’s bandwidth limit excess. Ultimately, this error also appears when the volume of visitors is too high for the shared server to handle. That’s precisely why it’s always a good idea to move to a dedicated server solution before your website grows too big. What is a dedicated server solution? It is a server that hosts only your website, and that is designed to respond to your requirements in real time. As visitors have little patience for server errors, you want to ensure the best experience of your site.
Don’t miss the 60 min deadline on social media
Customers ask questions or complain about their experience with your brand online. Their preferred method of interactions is social media platforms, where they can contact your company in real time. Given the nature of social media, a customer who contacts you via Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram expects a rapid answer. In fact, 67% of consumers have reached a brand on social media for customer service needs, and 42% of them expect a response within the hour. The longer you wait to tackle their issue, the more it can damage your reputation. Consequently, you want a dedicated team for your social media presence.
Do people wait 72 hours for an email back?
If you’ve worked in an office before, you’ve probably heard of the unspoken 72 hours rule: You can wait up to 3 days to answer an email. In reality, 52% of people who send a work email expect a reply within 12 to 24 hours. 60% of people say they will wait up to 2 days for an answer. However, almost no one is happy to wait any longer. The reason is that the longer you wait, the more you feel like you are being ignored – unless exceptional circumstances. Therefore, it’s primordial to develop a rapid answer to every email, even those you can’t answer now. A client will appreciate a short note to let them know that you are preparing an answer or need the input of another colleague.
High volume in the waiting area
For businesses that welcome visitors to physical premises, it’s important to acknowledge that not all the waiting happens on the phone or online. More often than not, people have to wait in the designated waiting area of a company. And this is where your brand can die. 97% of people in waiting rooms get frustrated with their experience. Consequently, you need to bring upgrade ideas that can dramatically improve their experience. Free wi-fi, for instance, is a must, and so is a tasty snack. A waiting room with a coffee area feels depressing and uncomfortable. Additionally, you need to account for entertainment over an extended period of time. A variety of magazine, sockets (for phones and laptops), and multiple TV screens can help to make the area more welcoming.
The secret of maintaining a successful growth rate in your business is in learning to manage the challenges of growth. Consequently, the volume of queries being one of the most important, you need to establish all the strategies to keep your customers feeling cared for and satisfied, regardless of their preferred method of interactions.
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Hi, I'm Kelly O'Donnell.