Customer service after the holidays. An influx of support tickets.

If you think the rush is over when the holiday season comes to an end, you're wrong. Did you know that 30% of all products ordered online get returned? 56% of returns come from fashion and 42% from electronics.

You know what this means, right? It's time to get your team ready for some hard work. Especially when you've sold even more products on your webshop this year than ever before.

Win customers during rush hours

I'll get straight to the point. Most webshops implement exactly the same marketing strategies with the same buss words. This will not make your brand stand out to your customers.

So how can you make a difference with your webshop?

Succesfull webshops don't only focus on rush hours. They focus on situations that create rush hours. A lot of one-time transactions are nice, but what if a customer orders for the rest of the year?

One of the situations in which you can truly make a difference is when you are handling return orders. It may not be the most fun job to take back your products, but it is a chance to differentiate yourself from your competitors.

There are two ways to win.

1. The return process: your customers want the return process to be easy.
2. The customer service: your customers prefer fast and high-quality support.

Make the return process easy

I like to order products online as well. But, just like most of us, I quite regularly stumble upon a product that is not what I expected it to be. Especially products in the categories I mentioned before: fashion and electronics. Clothes don't always have the right size, and electronics often don't meet my needs.

This is exactly what makes an easy return policy essential. My favorite way of returning products is quite simple:

The product I ordered comes with a package I can re-use for return. Inside is a return label, which I can attach to the package. I can register my return order online and only have to deliver it to a post station.

Life can be so simple. And yet, it often happens that contact with customer service is unavoidable.

Offer your customers fast and nice support

While most marketing is usually stuffed with buss words about the best products and fastest delivery times, webshops often lack in providing good customer service. And if there's one thing that makes me a returning customer - you might have guessed it - it's good customer service.

You don't win customers over by offering good products and a fast delivery time. Cause that's what your competitors are trying to do as well. It's the bare minimum in this day and age. You win customers over by offering outstanding customer service.

But during the huge peak of returning orders during the holiday season, your customer service team will be super busy answering customer questions. It's one big chaos, and you're soon to lose the overview. How can you save your team from this influx of support tickets?

5 tips on how to prepare your customer service for the rush of return tickets

1. Inform customers about your return policy right away

When you inform your customers about your return policy beforehand, it will save you many problems. Publish the return conditions on your website, and make sure you send them after your customer's purchase as well.

2. Use a seamless omni-channel customer service solution

Nothing is more efficient than answering all customer questions from one system. An omnichannel customer service solution connects all channels such as email, Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger, and Voice to one inbox. This way, you never reply to the same customer twice, and you have an overview of all unanswered messages.

3. Have answers to frequently asked questions at your fingertips

Many questions you'll receive during this period will be the same. Instead of typing the same answers over and over again, you can pre-set them in your customer service system as 'quick replies'. With one click, your employee can load a template with the right answer and send it to the customer. This way, your team will work faster than ever.

4. Use positive language

Typed messages also convey feelings. But because you are only dealing with text and cannot express yourself in tone or facial expressions, it's pretty easy to get it wrong. The message you send can come across differently to your customer. So, take the time to re-read your answers. Using the right emoji can also be very helpful. 😁

5. Keep your response time low

It is important to take enough time for a solid answer, but you can't make your customers wait too long. They have less patience than ever before. So, make sure you respond as fast as possible but always provide high-quality answers. When you respond fast but don't give the right answer, your customer will only get annoyed.

Keep your head above water

Your team doesn't have to face the influx of support tickets alone. It all starts with using the right tool. And I'm not talking about a lifeboat (although the above solutions can definitely feel like life-savers). I'm talking about an omnichannel inbox.