Black Friday & Beyond

Preparing for a Busy Period

Black Friday and winter sales. For consumers this is one of the best times of the year. A chance to get something special from their favorite brands. Yet for many e-commerce companies, the upcoming holiday season and sales period is when operational preparedness is truly tested.

To gain an insight into how Stone & Bridges support their clients and their customers during this busy period, we grabbed a moment with Lynn, Head of Operations. Lynn is responsible for maintaining the quality of service, whilst also scaling up for increased demand. Here’s what she had to say.

Can you provide an overview of holiday and sales period preparations?

The holiday season is special for us, as all the brands we work with have sales around the same time. Additionally, as everyone is ordering Sinterklaas and Christmas gifts, all couriers will have a backlog that influences deliveries and returns. This means the workload increases exponentially, so we need to recruit and train new team members in a short period of time.

Together with Anouk, we created a plan for the amount of extra agents we require to make sure we’re prepared for the increase in customer contact. It can be challenging to find the right people, onboard them on time and really make them feel part of the team. Luckily, I feel like we succeeded this year!

How do you make sure you have enough highly trained agents for this busy period?

Planning is all about numbers. To make sure we’re as prepared as can be, we ask the brands we work with to share forecasts and sales data as far ahead as possible. We then analyze this data, allowing us to anticipate when high volumes of customer contact is expected. Based on the average number of customer contact an agent can do per hour, we decide on the number of full time employees needed. The closer we get to the busy period, the more we will fine tune our preparations. This ensures the right people are available at the right time, ready to support our clients and their customers when they need it most..

What makes a candidate the right person to work at Stone & Bridges?

As the assignment is short, we look for people who learn quickly, think on their feet, and are team players. We also want our team to be able to handle a high workload and to be proactive. With that in mind, we look for people with experience in customer service. During the interview process, potential agents go through assessments to make sure they can provide customer care at the standard required. This is our first quality check when selecting and recruiting sales support staff.

How do you make sure new agents can provide the level of customer care required?

When training new agents, I think about the knowledge they’ll need. So with this in mind, every agent receives extensive systems training, customer satisfaction training, and training on the brand they will work with. For the brand specific training, we focus on the 5-10 most occurring situations. This allows new team members to be able to support our clients and their customers from day one.

Additionally, every new agent is paired with a buddy. This support is put in place to help with brand training and to provide answers to any questions that arise. The buddy also makes sure the new agent's answers and customer contact align with the brand voice and style through regular check-ins during the first days and weeks. I also make sure to regularly check in to see if everything is clear or if extra guidance is needed.

How do you make sure the team–both new and old–can handle the busy period?

We make sure that everything is available for the team to do their work properly and efficiently. This includes updating all our manuals, FAQs, and macros. I also make sure that all Aircall numbers and teams are configured correctly. Finally, we implement any necessary automations in Gorgias, our ticketing system. Once all macros, systems, and information are prepared, everyone receives efficiency training. So the set-up for success is there.

How do you maintain efficiency & create a positive work environment during this time?

Sales days can be hectic with a never ending stream of phone calls, so we teach our team tricks to stay efficient and focus on creating a positive work environment. I believe creating a positive work environment starts with myself. I always try to go to work with a positive attitude. I check in with the team, making sure everyone feels appreciated by organizing ways to keep the work fun. And of course, we bring nice snacks!

Additionally, every agent will receive sales preparation training. In this training, we explain what to expect, how to focus, and how to keep it positive. During busy periods, we often work with different focus periods. For example, an agent will focus for one hour on quantity and only do ‘easy’ tickets that require no administration or investigation. Next the agent will get focus time on the difficult tickets, allowing them to deliver a high quality answer there.

What do you see as the biggest challenges to overcome in this period?

Our two biggest challenges are finding new team members and reacting to any last-minute changes in processes and procedures. For example, altering settings in a return platform or changing sale dates can cause confusion, frustration, and extra work. However, we overcome these challenges by communicating clearly with our clients, explaining the consequences for us and their customers. We then plan to minimize the impact. This can be switching around when people work or finding temporary workarounds for any unanticipated issues.

As we have very positive working relationships with all our brands, we always find a workable solution. Yet, one extra challenge for us is that several of our brands ship from the same warehouse. This means when something goes wrong there, it has an effect on many of our brands and their customers.

How do you deal with unforeseen challenges?

To give an example, last year one of the packing machines in a warehouse broke several times in December. This meant that for three of our brands, shipping was delayed by up to two weeks. Once the items were shipped, delivery was even further delayed due to courier backlogs. So instead of next day delivery, customers were waiting up to three weeks for their orders.

Together with our clients, we crafted regular email updates to customers offering solutions outside our normal policies. Anouk and I cleared our agendas so we could help out with the incoming tickets and phone calls. We also found some extra assistance in old employees looking for a temporary job and our team volunteered to work extra hours on the weekends. It was a tough time, but once the packing machine worked again, all the parcels were shipped and the backlog cleared, we were all really proud. And, of course, we celebrated this success!

Do you find these preparations stressful or fulfilling?

Preparing for the busy season is actually not stressful for me; it provides a clear sense of purpose. And once everything is put in place, I feel at peace. All this groundwork actually removes stress. But being prepared is not just about the preparations needed by me. Teamwork is extremely essential to get through the busy days ahead.

Think of it this way: while answering the phone, chat or email, you need a team to back you up. Therefore, we make sure that there is also someone to direct a question to, someone to pick up the slack and help when it gets too busy. It can get pretty hectic during holiday and sales periods. Having someone to talk with, who is experiencing the same stresses and increased workload, can really help you in handling the crazy.

When is it a success for you?

I thrive and enjoy ad hoc work and problem solving. During the peak season, I am constantly putting out fires, helping the team with questions and investigating cases. But what is most rewarding is seeing the team thrive. Witnessing my colleagues take responsibility, increase their productivity, help their teammates and then also reach their goals is incredibly rewarding.

But one of the most important things we do here at Stone & Bridges is we always put the human element first. We are a team of people and not robots. We regularly check in with each other, make sure that tasks are rotated and that people find time to take a breather. Seeing everything fall into place gives me a huge sense of fulfillment. It's in the busy, crazy, hectic moments like Black Friday or the Holiday season that really make me proud of Stone & Bridges, our agents and the culture we’ve created.

Want to know more?

At Stone & Bridges, the busy period ahead is not a challenge. Instead, it's an opportunity to showcase our operational excellence and demonstrate our proactive planning for this period.

Are you interested in what Stone & Bridges can offer your organization? Do you want to learn more about our peak support? Get in touch today to find out how Stone & Bridges can take the stress out of supporting your customers–whether that’s during busy Black Friday periods or beyond.