Be your customers’ Champion: How to cope with over-demand

This month we’ll witness a mega-event that, every 4 years, causes the world to revolve around a football and run out of breath before each goal. During these days the lives of thousands of people will be altered and so will that of many businesses. But the FIFA World Cup is not the only event that shakes up markets and generates peaks of consumption. During seasons of over-demand, such as Cyber Monday and Black Friday, companies (whether B2C or B2B) receive benefit or hindrance according to how prepared they are.

What companies does the over-demand affect?

Without a doubt, those who have been training the most for the Russia World Cup are the manufacturers and chains of household appliances, especially those of TVs. Results show that there was a 30% growth in units and a 75% increase in turnover, according to the consultancy GFK (compared to the first four months of 2017).

But the football competition also impacts other types of businesses: from cable companies, electronics retail, gastronomy, sports merchandise, travel agencies, telecommunications companies, to banks and e-commerce websites of all kinds.

The risk of being outplayed

Companies have to deal with a lot of difficulties during special events like the World Cup, and shopping days like Cyber Monday, Black Friday. The most worrisome are bottlenecks in stock, points of sale, distribution chains and, above all, the support to current and potential customers. Whether it be to make purchases and track orders or to deliver information and assistance, consumers need to know that you are as close as ever.

Telecommunications will experience peaks of interaction and will have to deal with plan renewals and frequent recharges. The financial sector will have its hands full due to the general increase in consumption. Are you in tourism? Some fans may decide to travel unexpectedly. Restaurants and food delivery apps should also be anticipating the high-demand.

As if that were not enough, the 2018 World Cup will most likely decrease the capacity of your squad. According to the consultancy Watch & Act, the World Cup could reduce the productivity of companies by more than 60%. This means lack of punctuality, distractions during the workday and absences would become frequent during this time.

Get close to the goal line with artificial intelligence

While the World Cup revolutionizes the entire planet, other special dates and online bargain events generate spikes in consumption and support, for which you should prepare in advance.

To deal with both over-demand (and, in this case, a diminished staff), many companies rely on technology, particularly automatic solutions that use artificial intelligence. These tools provide unique and satisfying experiences for customers because of their speed and availability. In addition, they build trust and loyalty as they avoid the flight of customers to your competitors. Last but not least, some virtual agents can drive sales because they connect to your CRM and detect up-selling or cross-selling opportunities.

“No one wants to miss the World Cup. Customer service managers require extra help to support the demands of fans, build customer loyalty and deliver a response in real time.”

Martín Frascaroli, CEO of Aivo.

Benefits of a virtual assistant in times of high demand

1. Automatic replies. Virtual assistants respond immediately to all the frequent or predictable questions that will take place during the World Cup.
2. Always available. If you have many customers who may need your help at any time, as in the case of the Brazilian company Easynvest, it’s important that you offer 24/7 service.
3. Reduce your costs. You do not need to establish double shifts or hire more staff. Learn how Movistar managed to reduce its service costs by 30% using the virtual assistant AgentBot.
4. Omnichannel experiences. Be close to your customers regardless of the channel, either by phone or digitally through web pages, social networks or your app. Remember, omnichannel is not about being everywhere, but about delivering the same experience on all platforms.
5. Leave your agents for complex cases. Automating your service expands your support span, but in some cases, you’ll need to transfer the conversation to an agent.
6. Interact with empathy. In a time where emotions are at the surface, your customers will remember how you made them feel. Using a bot doesn’t mean that your brand should respond differently. Address your customers through a virtual assistant as one of your agents would.

Sony increased its service capacity by 1200% during Black Friday, thanks to AgentBot.

Tips and good practices

Some of our customers are ready to answer queries during the World Cup. The Aivo team is always aware of events that could help you stay on top of your game while increasing productivity and revenue. This is why we put together some tips to implement when preparing for times of over-demand.

• Change your avatar’s look and feel
• Create special content

• Co-browsing: send your customer to a landing page of your website
• Add iFrames in your answers

Over-demand can increase the productivity of companies as long as it is leveraged by detailed, fast and timely levels of service. Contact our team to learn how to prepare for events that generate over-demand.

Originally published at aivo.co on June 18, 2018.