With more people forced to buy online than ever before, and all the problems in the supply chain, you can count on an insane customer service rush in January.

How can you keep up with it all so that you end up with as many happy customers as possible?

Well, here’s our quick guide:

1. Know Your Volume

You can’t predict the future. But you can login to your customer service software, analyze last year’s volume, and use that data to estimate this year’s volume.

Also ,take the time to understand the customer service channels customers prefer.

For example, they may like email over live chat or phone support.

If that’s the case, you could focus your associates’ energy on email. You may even find out you can cut your costs and let go of some associates entirely.

Let the data guide your 2022 strategy.

2. Don’t Forget Your Customer Service Team’s Sanity

Hey, customer service is not an easy job. It’s important to have happy customers.

But it’s also important to have happy and energetic customer service associates.

If they’re not mentally feeling motivated, it will show in their performance, and you will have more angry customers.

Be as flexible as you can with work-from-home policies. Who wouldn’t feel a little more comfortable doing customer service from their own home?

Strategically give additional time off where you can.

Offer overtime pay or other rewards you and your employees agree on for taking on more work.

And make sure everyone gets treated fairly and equally so resentment doesn’t intoxicate your customer service team.

3. Mitigate Negative Customer Feedback

Negative customer feedback will increase during the holiday season. Customers want what they want when they want it.

And simply because of the sheer volume increase, you’re going to have more challenges.

So come prepared for them.

Make sure your customer service associates always answer with a happy, helpful tone. Avoid using any negative, judgmental, or critical language, even if it has nothing to do with the customer personally.

Immediately apologize to your customer for their experience, even if you suspect it’s their mistake.

Always communicate appreciation for their feedback, even if negative. And do everything in your power to make them come away from the situation happy.

These sound like basics. But they’re tough to execute when your customer service volume increases exponentially.

4. Minimize Returns by Addressing Your Customer’s Core Issue

It can be quite difficult to truly understand why a customer is returning a product.

In reality, your customer does not want to do a return. It costs them time and hassle. And they’d rather just have a working product or service that meets their needs.

They may just need some additional instructions. They may not have assembled the product correctly. And they might just be stressed from difficulties in their own personal lives.

You may also be able to negotiate an exchange with your customer to avoid a return.

Keeping many customers happy is no easy endeavor.

But with these tips, and accumulating experience over the years, you can come away with more happy customers than ever before after this Christmas season!