UK businesses that stay close to customers will be able to ride out lockdown 2.0, according to Gemma Harding from CallCare
As part of her role heading up the contact centres, Harding believes that “Now is the time to prepare and plan. We’ve seen an increase of 500% in enquiries [since the weekend’s announcement] from companies looking for flexibility in managing customer contact and enquiries. These companies are putting plans in place to manage sales fluctuations and changing call volumes during the second lockdown and beyond.”
Harding adds, “UK businesses are much better prepared than last time. We know how to handle it, and we know what steps we need to take to ride it out – and in many cases come out stronger. As businesses, we’re better protected and supported than we were. This time we’re not having to home school so work can continue as usual, and access to financial government support, such as the extension to the furlough scheme, will help companies with staff costs.”
Gemma believes that some sectors will see a minimum impact on trading during this lockdown, including those operating in sectors such as ecommerce, healthcare, facilities management and professional services. “While lockdown will have severe consequences in some sectors, others are buoyed. Our ecommerce clients are not competing with retail so will see continued strong growth, and even those operating in sectors such as beauty and fashion or home improvements are seeing growth as people spend longer in their homes,” Harding finishes.
As a result of companies looking at more flexible options for managing inbound customer enquiries and contact centre overheads, CallCare has doubled its booked revenue from £14m to £30m and created 100 jobs with another 300 planned by August 2021.
Gemma Harding is Head of Client Services at CallCare
For additional information on callCare visit their Website
