UK Call Centres brace for Postal Strike

With widespread disruption to mail deliveries, call centres up and down the country are bracing themselves for a deluge of customer calls resulting from the postal strike.

Where’s my order?  Have you received my cheque? When can I expect my bill? I haven’t received a final demand? Will I be charged extra for fast delivery?

This is just a selection of the repeated questions agents can expect to hear in large volumes during the strike period.

For some industries in particular, the repercussions could go on far longer than the strike itself. For example, banks, credit card companies, service providers, and utility companies face severe disruptions to postal billing processes. This raises the possibility that loyal customers could be affected by late payment surcharges if their bills are delayed. Facing the prospect of a disgruntled customer base and wavering customer loyalty, organisations should be anticipating these potential service issues ahead of a strike and implementing contingency plans to ensure customer service teams are well prepared.

Andrew Mennie

Business that offer their customers access to online services may well breathe a sigh of relief.  With volumes of calls likely to be higher than average over the coming weeks, customers would do well to utilise email or web options where available, as opposed to reaching straight for the telephone line for which there will be peak demand.

Andrew Mennie,  General Manager, eGain comments, “Whilst many companies are working hard to put processes in place for alternative delivery services, it is equally important that the customer service department is ready. Ensuring email, online, chat and web self-service options are available to customers could certainly help relieve demand on customer service agents, and help customers get answers they need quickly, should the postal strike hit. Organisations that rely solely on phone channels for customer care, however, could be in for a very busy period, or at least their agents could be.”