There's just under a month until Christmas so it's about time to start planning for the break (if you're having one) and getting your technology ready for the festive season!
Here's the 3 things you need to do to make sure your technology helps you deliver customer satisfaction over the next few weeks...
1. Google My Business Special Hours
If you have a Google My Business listing (and if you don't, you really should!) then make sure you update your special hours to cover any irregular business hours. This includes extended opening to meet retail demand as well as your Christmas shut-down. If you're closing for Christmas and then over the New Year, you can add these as special hours rather than updating your regular business times or leaving them blank.
2. Email Out of Office
Setting an Out of Office automatic reply on your emails is a great way to ensure your customers know when you will and won't be responding to emails. Without the auto-replies, customer satisfaction can drop if they're expecting a reply and you're enjoying your Christmas break.
If you're an administrator for your company's network, you can log-in to individual mailboxes to set the automatic replies. Alternatively, you can write an out of office response and ask all employees to set it up themselves.
For Gmail, Office 365 and Outlook, the automatic reply function can be found in settings, just look for the cog symbol.
3. Business Voicemail
Often overlooked but still essential to good customer service, set your voicemail on your business telephone lines to include your Christmas closing dates.
Just a simple message of when your office is closed and the date/time it will reopen is enough. For a nice touch, you can wish the caller a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Date published: 29/11/2017