With the Black Friday frenzy and Christmas chaos safely behind us, you will have conducted a review of your business’ seasonal sales performance.
The growing pains of fast-growing retailers
It’s often in the first few months of the new year that younger, fast-growing retailers suddenly recognise the growing pains that are harming their bottom line the most.
A seasonal peak like Christmas or the American invented sales bonanza that is Black Friday can expose the frailties within a retailer’s infrastructure, highlighting areas where further investment is required to avoid the same issue occurring in future. Are you dropping calls or simply unable to meet demand?
But among younger businesses in particular, the fear of ‘scaling up’ too early can lead to hesitancy – a behaviour often motivated by a desire to maintain financial stability. And, left unchecked, such hesitancy can have a negative impact on revenue in the long term. For many retailers, this presents itself as a sharp increase in customer enquiries during seasonal peaks that simply cannot be supported by existing internal resources, leading to dropped calls and missed opportunities.
Counting the cost of dropped calls
For a business of any size, all ‘dropped’ calls, email or social media enquiries represents a missed opportunity – and for every missed opportunity, there’s a financial cost to your business. Research from BT Business has suggested that dropped calls cost UK-based SMEs £90m per year.
Even more surprising is Vodafone’s estimation that UK business as a whole is losing a staggering £31.6bn each year as a result of missed calls.
But it’s not just lost sales that could be costing you
As any business owner knows, retaining a customer is a lot cheaper than attracting a new one to replace them. In the online age, it’s never been easier for shoppers to find a competitor that offers the service they expect (and name and shame those who can’t via social media).
That means now, more than ever, every customer contact point – be it a complaint or general enquiry – is a valuable opportunity to prove yourself and create brand advocates. It could offer a chance to strengthen a customer relationship, increase their overall spend, or retain their custom. Measuring the cost of all your missed enquirers and dropped calls can be too much to take for a small enterprise
But how can you deliver the service your customers expect without jeopardizing your business’ financial stability?
Outsourcing could provide the solution
Outsourcing your customer contact (or elements of it) to a contact centre can offer the flexibility to scale up when you need to, without taking on long-term business overheads.
If, like many of our retail clients, your business is exposed to seasonal peaks, meaning a higher potential for dropped calls. It could provide a cost-effective way to ensure your customer service remains consistently high at your busiest time of year. It can also free up your employed staff to focus their energy more effectively in other areas.
Case study: Crew Clothing
We’ve been working with some of the UK’s leading retailers for over 15 years, helping companies like The Entertainer, Hotel Chocolat and Scott’s & Co provide a consistent service to their customers throughout the year.
To understand how WeAnswer can help your business meet its customer service goals, read our case study of Crew Clothing.
