Face Your Hang-ups

2. Schedule agents according to call forecasts for every hour of every day. Take a daily flash report to discern whether call volume corresponds to that day’s forecast. Appoint a supervisor to ensure that the number of agents is enough to handle the day’s actual call volume.

Involve your marketing department in call-volume forecasting. Have call center managers periodically meet with your catalog’s marketers to discuss the next two or three weeks’ worth of promotions. This will help you forecast call center staffing requirements.