Customer Service Week: Celebrating While Working Remotely
Customer Service Week is the first full week of October, and it’s all about celebrating your frontline. This year, of course, things look a little different, that’s why it’s more important than ever to show your appreciation to the customer service team that represents your business every day.
Anyone who has ever worked in a client-facing job likely understands exactly why this means so much to us! All of our virtual receptionists work tirelessly to support our customers and their customers, and this means being positive and upbeat even when they’re feeling down.
Customer service is often a thankless job. This is your chance to really change that.
Since you can’t exactly lay out a great spread of the team’s favorite food when everyone is working remotely, there are still great ways that you can celebrate customer service week.
Give Public Shoutouts to Your Customer Service Team
Even if your team is working outside of the office, there’s a great chance that you’re all still relatively connected. You may have a company Slack, for example, or weekly company meetings.
On your company-wide channels, make sure that you openly announce that it’s Customer Service Week. Give shoutouts to team members all week for a job well-done, and make sure you stress the value that your agents provide to the company overall.
Public shoutouts (even if they’re for an internal team) can go a long way in boosting employee satisfaction, because they feel recognized and appreciated. Encourage your business’s managers and team leads to reach out to customer service agents personally to thank them for their work privately, too.
Feature Your Customer Service Team on Social
While not everyone has a big social presence, many people do, and plenty are happy to receive public social accolades for the work that they do!
Announce on social media that it’s Customer Service Week and that you’ll be featuring some of your agents throughout the week. If you have a large, expansive team, make sure that you include at least one picture with the entire team so everyone feels included, and then consider sharing a few “employee spotlights.”
If you have a relatively small team, give everyone an individual post, even if it’s a story on Instagram or Facebook. Share their first name and fun facts like their favorite part of working for the company or what they enjoy doing outside of work.
There’s a fun bonus perk with this one: Not only does your team feel seen, but sharing fun facts about team members can build rapport with your customers, establishing trust and good will. Plus, people love to see businesses that value their employees.
Send Gifts to Each Employee’s Home
We normally cater large, themed events or ice cream carts during Customer Service Week, or have team leads pick out small gifts for each team member.
This year, obviously, things need to happen a little bit differently. That doesn’t mean that you can’t still go the extra mile to make your team feel appreciated.
Send gifts to each customer service agent’s home address with a personalized note. This can be a bouquet of beautiful flowers, a gift certificate for UberEats so people can order dinner on your business’s dime, or a small gift basket.
Even though it’s not a food truck, a $20 Starbucks gift card mailed to each customer service agent would be greatly appreciated.
Have a Virtual Celebration
In the past, we’ve thrown parties, movie nights, and video game competitions in-office during Customer Service Week. Just because everyone is remote, however, doesn’t mean that you can’t still have a party!
Virtual celebrations are all the rage right now, and if someone can have a wedding over Zoom, there’s no reason not to have a work party over a virtual call, too!
Let people know that a virtual party will take place. You can have games like Bingo, with supplies mailed to team members in advance, with great prizes.
If you really want to get creative, you can host a “themed” party. Tell people it’s a “Bahamas Nights” party and encourage beach-themed attire and backgrounds, or that it’s “Roaring Twenties.” People can get so into the themed events we have for Customer Service Week, and with many people bored at home right now, this can be a welcome distraction that adds to the festivities.
Customer Service Week might just mean more now than ever before, especially as customer service agents are typically dealing with rising call volumes, increasingly stressed-out callers, and the stresses of the pandemic in general. Your team is working remotely, which can be isolating, and they may be worried about where they stand with your company.
Taking the time to let your customer service team know how much you value them will be greatly appreciated, especially since this isn’t something they typically hear on a day-to-day basis. Make it special: They deserve it!
