A factor Call Center employees worry about most is “Peak Hour Traffic” or “Peak Season”. It doesn’t matter if it’s the latest advertisement campaign or Christmas season the call center workers drown in the ocean of calls from customers.
However, the busiest hours for the call center could differ based on the specific industry. For instance call centers that assist retail businesses could be most busy during the holidays as well as call centers that assist eCommerce businesses might be most busy on weekends.
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If you don’t have a “press 0 to speak to a representative” option, then push through the phone tree in order to reach a real person as quickly as possible. Why it’s important – Speech enabled IVRs are, on average, only 65% accurate (Source: Interactions). |
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Do your research and troubleshoot beforehand, and bring notes on everything you’ve already tried to your phone call with a representative. Why it’s important – 40% of customers look for answers to their question via self-service before contacting a call center. |
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Call center agents are more likely to go out of their way to help you if you are kind to them. Call Center Tip – Use “we” instead of “I” to show you want to tackle the problem together. |
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Call center agents are people too. Establish a connection with them by painting a picture of the trouble your issue has caused you, and you’ll receive better service. Call Center Tip – Try repeating the agent’s name during the conversation to show you recognize them as an individual. |
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If your issue can’t be resolved in one call, ask to stay in touch with the same agent to have better continuity. Why it’s important – Customer service agents fail to answer customer questions 50% of the time. |
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If your agent isn’t being helpful, ask to speak with their supervisor. Sometimes it takes a higher authority to get an issue resolved. Why it’s important – Keeping an existing customer is 5 times less costly than acquiring a new customer. |
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If your agent helped resolve your issue, give them a positive review. Your review may help the company provide better customer service to everyone else in the future.Call Center Tip – Post your experience on review sites to keep businesses accountable for the service they provide customers. |
| Fun Call Center Facts |
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Peak Hour Traffic, as it should be simple to grasp, is the high volume of calls the call center receives at an exact time of the day, from their customers.
The call centers are struggling to ensure that their operations are seamless to maintain the same speed of response. The main goal of an office is to provide top customer service, and that’s exactly the same in the peak times. The staff at the call center try their best to deliver the best customer experience.
But, it’s not easy to calmly manage the customer service during peak hours of traffic. The following are some guidelines that you can follow to build your own strategy for ensuring equilibrium during peak times.
1. If you’re making a cold call
Best time to call: between 8 a.m. – 10 a.m. or between 4 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Best days: Wednesdays and Thursdays
Cold calling isn’t the most enjoyable thing to perform as a call center agent, however it is essential to ensure the success of every agent. Many people believe that 12-1 p.m. (or later than 6 p.m. as the most suitable time to make calls, but it’s not the case. The period between 12 and 1 p.m. is the most popular time to call for meetings or lunch breaks or meetings, and after 6 p.m the calls are seen as intrusions into the personal time of those calling. Consider your own situation and ask yourself if you would like to receive a call from someone selling in your lunch break? Perhaps while eating meals at your house? Agents in call centers have targets established for the amount of calls that they make; however , it doesn’t mean that you must be a nuisance or offended by potential customers in a way that isn’t necessary. When it comes to the times of the week, Wednesdays and Fridays are the most busy days of the week’s work and give the client time to decide, but not so long that they don’t remember the company.
2. If you’re making a warm call
Best time to call: 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. or between 4 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Best days: Tuesdays and Wednesdays
After you’ve conducted your research and have identified a lead that is the perfect match for your marketing campaign and you know when to call the phone could mean the difference between receiving the lead’s voicemail or a chance to meet. Being prepared with all the required information in your arsenal when your warm call is crucial to keep those calls warm. Customers may know that they are a part of your business, but you’ve not gained their confidence or their business. In the typical workplace employees are in the office at different times, but since it’s usually early in the morning it’s not the best time to receive a message from you when they enter the office. Additionally, at 11 a.m. employees are working to complete tasks before lunch. Then, between 4 and 5 p.m. the same workers are preparing to go home to end their day. In either case it’s unlikely that they’ll decide to take on a brand new project or undertake more work and this is the perfect time to get a call from you.
3. If you have to leave a voicemail
Then you need to have already crafted a personal, but specific, response and commit to follow-up.
There’s a debate about whether call center employees must leave voicemail messages, but since 80 percent of calls end up in voicemail, you shouldn’t be missing the chance to connect. The typical response rate to voicemail is 4.8 percent, so having the ability to convey your message swiftly and effectively is vital. Being able to leave recorded, personal voicemails without the”ums” and pauses that come with dealing with the task of leaving a message will increase the chances of achievement.
4. If you have to send an email
Best time: 9:30 a.m.
Best days: Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday
Sometimes, sending an email is superior to making calls or leaving a message, particularly if you have an extensive amount of information for customers to browse through. The ideal timing to email your customers is at midday to ensure that it’s not the first thing that they get (where it’s likely to be dismissed) or near lunchtime. The best times to send out emails are Wednesday, Tuesday, and Thursday since the people are working. If you can come up with an appealing subject line, you’ll draw the attention of your customers and possibly their attention to your business. Avoid sending emails on Fridays or Mondays as people tend to take longer to complete tasks when it’s the first or last day of their week. If you’re in the following-up phase, make certain to have a plan in place to keep your readers active.
The most busy days for call center operators are typically Sunday. This is due to the fact that many people aren’t at work or at school on Sundays, and consequently are less likely to contact customer service for concerns or questions. Furthermore, many businesses are closed or operating restricted hours for Sundays, which also causes slower calls.
The busiest days for call center operators are typically Sunday. This is due to the fact that many people aren’t at work or at school on Sundays, and consequently are less likely to contact customer service for concerns or questions. Furthermore, many businesses are closed or operating restricted hours for Sundays, which also causes slower calls.
