As November rolls around, the panic sets in for customer service agents.  

Companies hype up their offers whilst their customers flood in like it’s the Hunger Games. 
 

Behind all those shiny offers are scenes of carnage:
 

• Agents working double shifts to alleviate queues  

• Neglected IVR’s sending customers to the wrong teams  

• Email inboxes chock-a-block with tickets 

• Agents are trying to piece together customers’ conversations across different channels  

And still, or should I say, STILL… Companies act shocked!  

“Wowzers, we didn’t expect it to be this busy” 😮

 

Do you even remember last Black Friday? 👀 

It’s literally the same every November since Black Friday began. 

Blaming Black Friday for a lack of preparation is the big problem here. 

 

Peak seasons don’t break your business… your systems do.  

It’s time to get brutally honest for a minute.  

If your customer service team struggles on a normal day, Black Friday will expose every weak point in that first hour.  

Expect to notice:  

• Every silo that stops FTR in its tracks 

• Every manual process that takes up more time 

• Every integration you wish you had  

• Every agent stretched so thin they are now see-through  

To make matters worse, customers don’t really care if you’re experiencing a demand.  

They just want: 

• Fast responses 

• Updates that make sense  

• Updated stock information 

• Up-to-date delivery information 

• Not to be left waiting or palmed off 
 

Yet, most bands plan the marketing, ignoring the customer journey.  

And that’s why Black Friday hammers their CSAT and TrustPilot scores.  

Peak Season Pain Is 90% Preventable 

The good news is, you don’t need a miracle, just good systems that lend themselves to clever business processes.  

Imagine if Black Friday looked like this 

✔ Automated replies for basic questions 

✔ Queues that are balanced properly 

✔ Personalised updates going out instantly 

✔ Live chat that doesn’t tip customers over the edge 

✔ AI helping agents keep pace instead of drowning 

✔ Calls and Messages across every channel, routed correctly 

✔ Sentiment alerts so your annoyed customers don’t turn into full-blown disasters 

✔ a CRM where you can actually see everything in a single view 

A cohesive, supportive service for both agents and customers, because after all, you shouldn’t have to sacrifice your team’s sanity just because the calendar says “discounts”. 

Customers remember bad CX more than a good deal 

Ouch, that hits hard, but the reality is, you can have the best offers in the world, but if you leave people on hold, agree to call them back, then forget, or send them to useless automation, you’re as good as handing your competitors new customers.  

Customers leave because:  

• They can’t get hold of you 

• Your live chat isn’t actually live 

• Your IVR is so confusing it feels intentional 

• They get different answers from different agents 

• You dictate what channels they can contact you on 

• You only offer email and live chat when they want to phone you 

• You don’t call them back when you promise, and they have to chase you 

• You respond on social media but ignore your actual customers in the inbox 

• You forget that customer experience is a feeling and not a department 

Customers can tell when your support staff aren’t really supported, and Black Friday magnifies this.  

Peak season shouldn’t feel like survival mode 

When you set yourself up for success, you can handle the volume without the chaos.  

And you can deliver better service during Black Friday than the rest of the year – with the right tech.  

Omnichannel done right =  

✔ One unified inbox
 

✔ One customer history 

✔ One platform
 

✔ One journey 

This also lends itself to less panic, more clarity, fewer mistakes and faster resolutions. 

Automation done right = 

✔ Speed without losing the human touch
 

✔ Updates without the slog of admin
 

✔ AI that supports your agents without replacing their personality 

Black Friday shouldn’t be the day your systems show their true colours.  

It should be just another day of the year, albeit a manageable, busier-than-usual one.  

Final truth bomb  

If your senior management team dreads November, and your agents are left traumatised.  

It’s not Black Friday’s fault.  

It’s your systems and your business processes.  

It’s time to fix the systems, the journey and the chaos.  

You’ll be rewarded with a peak season that is profitable, calm and dare I say it, enjoyable (Imagine that) 🙌🏽 
__________________________________________________________ 

Peak season doesn’t have to feel like survival mode. 

 
With the right tech and a unified customer journey, busy days become manageable days. 

Ready to stop firefighting and start improving?