The document outlines six strategies for enhancing customer service during the holiday rush to address the surge in customer inquiries arising from increased sales. Key recommendations include planning ahead, triaging customer interactions, improving self-service support, empowering agents, focusing on fast resolution times, and activating whole company support. Implementing these strategies can help maintain customer satisfaction and loyalty during peak retail periods.

1. 6
customer
service
-ps
for
the
holiday
rush

2. The
holiday
rush
is
just
around
the
corner

3. And
it’s
the
biggest
-me
of
the
year
for
retailers

4. Online
sales
are
projected
to
rise
to
$82
billion
in
November
and
December
2013
-­‐
Forrester

5. Online
sales
are
projected
to
rise
to
$82
billion
in
November
and
December
2013
-­‐
Forrester

6. Online
sales
are
projected
to
rise
to
$82
billion
in
November
and
December
2013
-­‐
Forrester

7. Unfortunately,
an
increase
in
sales
means
an
influx
in
customer
problems.

8. Unfortunately,
an
increase
in
sales
means
an
influx
in
customer
problems.

9. How
does
your
company
stay
ahead
of
the
compe--on
during
the
holidays?

10. By
providing
their
customers
with
an
amazing,
personalized
customer
service
experience

14. It’s
amazing
service
that
keeps
customers
coming
back
–
even
aTer
the
holidays.

16. The
last
thing
you
want
is
to
allow
customer
sa-sfac-on
to
die
during
the
holidays.

17. That’s
why
Desk.com
has
put
together
six
strategies
to
help
you
prepare
for
the
holiday
rush!

18. 1.
Plan
Ahead

19. The
best
companies
plan
ahead
to
meet
their
goals
no
maWer
what
-me
of
the
year
it
is.

20. Consider
looking
at
workflows
from
peak
seasons.

21. Check
out
Desk.com’s
business
insights

22. So
you
know
what
channels
cases
came
from

23. And
how
they
were
handled
by
your
team

24. 2.
Triage
customer
interac-ons

25. Don’t
put
your
support
team
in
a
situa-on
where
incoming
cases
seem
to
never
end

29. Rather
than
have
one
group
handle
all
customer
interac-ons

30. Break
customer
interac-ons
into
smaller
buckets

31. Then
assign
each
bucket
to
the
right
agent,
right
away.

36. This
way,
the
right
agents
are
handling
the
customers’
ques-on

38. “Triaging
cases
during
the
holidays
makes
all
of
the
different.
In
order
to
effec-vely
triage
cases,
we
use
case
filters
a
lot
in
Desk.com.”
–
Barb
Gates,
Support
Hero
Captain,
Smugmug

39. 3.
Improve
your
self-­‐service
support

40. It’s
no
secret
that
the
holidays
are
a
-me
of
high
cases
volume
and
even
higher
emo-ons.

42. Keep
both
at
bay
with
an
online
support
center

44. 72%
of
people
prefer
self-­‐service
support
over
email
and
phone
-­‐
Forrester

47. There
are
several
ways
you
can
improve
your
self-­‐service
support:

48. 1.
Op-mize
your
online
support
center
to
find
answers
fast

49. 2.
Focus
on
what
customers
are
searching
for
this
holiday

50. 3.
Rewrite
support
ar-cles
with
low
sa-sfac-on
ra-ngs

51. 4.
Empower
agents
to
get
the
job
done

52. When
you
trust
agents
to
make
their
own
decisions
they
can
deliver
a
personalized
customer
experience.

56. How
do
you
successfully
empower
agents?

57. 1.
Hire
the
right
people

58. 2.
Invest
in
training
agents

59. 3.
Give
agents
the
right
informa-on
to
provide
a
personal
experience
and
make
the
correct
calls

60. 4.
Arm
agents
with
relevant
and
accurate
content
so
that
they
feel
confident
giving
answers
to
customers

61. “We
empower
our
support
agents
to
do
whatever
it
takes
for
two
reasons
–
speed
and
loyalty”
–
Cole
Sickler,
Support
Managers
at
Bonobos

62. 5.
Focus
on
fast
resolu-on
-mes

63. Speed
is
oTen
the
deciding
factor
between
a
good
and
bad
experience

64. 52%
of
customers
will
abandon
a
purchase
if
they
can’t
find
a
quick
answer
-­‐
Forrester

65. 71%
of
customers
feel
that
valuing
their
-me
is
the
most
important
aspect
of
good
service
-­‐
Forrester

66. 67%
of
customers
said
that
fast
resolu-on
-mes
has
the
greatest
impact
on
customer
sa-sfac-on
-­‐
Forrester

67. 99%
of
customers
said
that
the
quality
of
service
directly
affects
customer
sa-sfac-on
scores
-­‐
Forrester

68. How
do
you
solve
cases
as
fast
as
possible?

69. 1.
Triage
cases
to
quickly
respond
to
customers

70. 2.
Apply
macros
to
get
ques-ons
answered
fast

71. 3.
Respond
to
cases
with
support
ar-cle
links

72. 6.
Ac-vate
whole
company
support

73. Rather
than
hiring
seasonal
workers,
cross
train
fellow
colleagues

74. At
Desk.com
we
call
this
whole
company
support

75. Whole
company
support
provides
more
personnel
with
liWle
training

76. It
also
eases
the
load
on
your
support
team

77. Looking
for
more
ways
to
get
ahead
of
the
holidays?

78. Let
Desk.com
help
you
with
the
holiday
rush.
Receive
100
Free
Flex
Hours
for
every
Desk.com
seat
that
you
buy…just
in
-me
before
the
holiday
rush.
Start
using
Desk.com.

79. Let
Desk.com
help
you
with
the
holiday
rush.
Receive
100
Free
Flex
Hours
for
every
Desk.com
seat
that
you
buy…just
in
-me
before
the
holiday
rush.
Start
using
Desk.com.