Your phone system is one of the easiest and most effective ways to keep clients informed of holiday business hours and seasonal promotions. Here are a few pointers to consider, so that you know exactly what to modify and keep clients engaged while simultaneously spreading some holiday cheer to your callers!
Still have last year’s call logs?
Don’t know how many calls to expect over the holidays? Explore your call data from the previous year and pay attention to these important metrics:
- Busiest Call times
- Average hold time
- Number of incoming calls per day
While demand will fluctuate based on multiple factors including year-over-year growth and what seasonal promotions your business is offering, you’ll be able to gauge what your business can expect this holiday season.
Update your business hours
Whether you’re extending business hours to accommodate clients or temporarily
reducing hours for vacationing staff members, you’ll want to know what level of service you’re going to offer in advance of the holidays. Program your telephone system to alternate time-based call routing paths that kick in on the specified date to match Holiday office schedules.
Determine answering rules for staff
Some VoIP systems allow you to create various answering rules that will determine how calls are directed and forwarded at different times. Perhaps you want incoming calls to go straight to voicemail for out-of-office employees? Or forwarded to a coworker’s extension? Consider each employee that will be taking time off over the Holiday and choose which answering rule will best suit the needs of the clients calling into their extension.
Travelling but need to keep in touch? Download a VoIP friendly app
If you’re the kind of Business professional who needs to keep in touch while on vacation, you
can forward calls to your extension to your mobile device through an app, available on iOS and Android. Quick to install, No hassles, No fuss and you remain connected to your clients.
*Give us a call and we will advise which app we prefer to use with our system.
Record holiday specific greetings – with Auto attendants
“Buddy the Elf, what’s your favourite colour?” may not be the most effective greeting but adding a little Holiday cheer to your voicemail messages will surprise callers and add a human touch to your brand. This also serves as a prime opportunity to announce:
- Modified business hours
- When callers can expect a response
- What number to dial in case of an emergency
Promote Holiday deals in your greetings.
There’s no better time to pitch your promotions than with a captive, on-hold audience. Give clients something new on offer to think about while on hold.
Add Extensions for Casual/Holiday staff
Does your business need to hire additional staff to lend a helping hand and keep up with seasonal demand? When your business relies on VoIP software it’s easy to scale up and down. Simply contact us to add new extensions to your phone system.
Update On-Hold Music
The best way to spread Christmas cheer is playing festive on-hold music for all to hear. Let your callers know that you’re hyper-engaged by playing season-appropriate on-hold music. If available, play songs that can connect with your value proposition, or that follow the theme of your current promotions!
Holiday, Out – of – office messages ideas:
- The holiday cheer – Add some Flair to your message
Spread some holiday cheer anytime someone calls you (or your team), and feel free to be inspired or use our cheerful example, while still giving the caller information as to when you’ll be returning their call.
“Happy holidays from Ranch Digital. Sorry we can’t come to the phone right now,
our team is wrapped up in a snowball fight, but as soon as we crown a victor, we’ll get back to you. Probably after January 4th. Just leave your name, number and don’t forget to spread some holiday cheer!”
- Be Personal – Your Individual Holiday greeting
Want a Holiday greeting to use on your own extension while you’re away–give
this one a try! Further, give your customers a contact they can speak directly to in case they are in need of immediate assistance.
“Hello, you’ve reached (name). I’ll be out of the office until January 4th, for immediate assistance please forward your message to my assistant Sarah and ext. 323. Happy holidays and I look forward to connecting with you in the new year.”
- Keep if Professional and Formal
This approach is a favourite. Straightforward, to the point–you’re giving the basic details: a greeting, your company name, and a date range for when you (or your team) will be away, and when you’ll be back.
“Thank you for calling Green Industries. Our staff are currently out of the office for the holidays, but please leave us a message, and we’ll get back to you when we’re back on January 4th.
And that wraps up our advice on getting your telecommunications system ready for the Holidays.
Travel safe and enjoy the time with your loved ones.
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