Ginger Conlon at Genesys explores steps you can take for better, faster customer service this holiday season.
With the holiday shopping season right around the corner, you may be making your list and checking it twice to ensure you don’t forget a single thing this year.
Meanwhile, endless options both online and in-store can make it feel overwhelming to find the perfect gift for everyone on your “nice list.” In all that hustle and bustle, there’s nothing worse than adding another trip to the store or dealing with frustrating customer service.
Fortunately, retailers are helping take the hassle out of shopping for your loved ones by tapping into technology built to assist you during the entire process – from browsing, to purchasing, to shipping and service.
According to a study, 76% of organisations are using AI to personalise customer experiences, which means support, product recommendations and discounts tailored specifically for you.
As AI becomes more mainstream in customer service, it can become the personal assistant you need, giving you a more enjoyable experience without even having to visit a store.
Avoid the Busiest Hours
If you’re calling for support, reach out in the early morning or late afternoon. We analysed the number of calls to US retailers’ customer service lines during the 2023 holiday shopping season (Nov. 1-Dec. 25) and found that the hours of 10 AM through 12 PM ET were overall the busiest times, which could mean longer hold times for you.
Ask the Bot
With 24/7 availability, using chatbots can make it easy to get help faster. Our research showed that nearly 90% of surveyed organisations are using chatbots for customer service.
Taking advantage of this easily accessible support tool can save you a little extra time when you’re looking for information like return policies, the status of an order and other simple questions.
And as AI continues to advance, expect chatbots to evolve into even more helpful virtual agents capable of handling more complex needs.
Explore your options
Reaching customer service by phone isn’t your only option. Using one of the many communication avenues businesses offer like chat, email, social media or texting can provide the help you need on your schedule.
Skip the hold music
Instead of waiting on hold, opt for customer service to call you. Many customer service lines offer callback options, letting you get on with your day without losing your place in line and letting them come to you. In an era where time is money, enjoy the convenience and flexibility that this helpful support feature offers.
Don’t be a Grinch
The holiday season is a particularly busy and difficult time for customer service representatives who may deal with hundreds of frustrated shoppers every day.
Don’t be one of the many customers who have lost their temper during service interactions. Remember that agents are there to help you.
If you’re feeling stressed, pause for a beat – it will make for a better experience for both you and the representative.
This holiday season, use technology to your advantage to skip the lines, get top-notch customer experience and navigate the post-holiday service rush. Happy shopping!
This blog post has been re-published by kind permission of Genesys – View the Original Article
For more information about Genesys - visit the Genesys Website
About Genesys
Every year, Genesys orchestrates billions of remarkable customer experiences for organisations in more than 100 countries. Through the power of our cloud, digital and AI technologies, organisations can realise Experience as a Service, our vision for empathetic customer experiences at scale. With Genesys, organisations have the power to deliver proactive, predictive, and hyper personalised experiences to deepen their customer connection across every marketing, sales, and service moment on any channel, while also improving employee productivity and engagement. Find out more about Genesys
Call Centre Helper is not responsible for the content of these guest blog posts. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of Call Centre Helper.
Author: Genesys
Reviewed by: Jo Robinson
Published On: 28th Nov 2024
Read more about - Guest Blogs, Genesys
