With Mother's Day approaching (8 May), there's just enough time to order and send your gift. This day not only holds symbolic meaning but has become an important sales opportunity for businesses. Last year, Fleurop observed that 60% of the Dutch celebrate Mother's Day. Most gifts are ordered online, with flowers being the favourite.

A large number of people cannot see their mothers in person on the day itself and thus have to rely on the company to deliver their carefully chosen gift. This means it must arrive on time and, particularly in the case of flowers, be undamaged and in good condition. No one's mother would be pleased with a wilted or crushed bouquet or a bouquet that arrives days after the event.

So, how can you, as a business, ensure you provide good customer service on Mother's Day? Focus on these four areas to lay a solid foundation:

1. Ensure good planning, be prepared, and collaborate

For some consumers, it might be a last-minute task, but businesses also need to be prepared. After all, Mother's Day occurs every year. This means you can forecast demand based on previous years and use these figures to plan the resources you need. Whether that involves customer service staff ready to respond to inquiries or ensuring there's enough capacity to get all orders out and delivered on time. It's all about collaboration. Work with your sales departments to anticipate how busy you might get, and establish clear processes for coordinating with shipping companies if unforeseen problems arise.

2. Be available through every channel

We live in an omnichannel world. It's best to have staff available to answer questions and provide support through every channel and contact point. In today's hybrid world, this doesn't necessarily mean opening your contact centre, but allowing staff to work from home and log in when needed. Something mothers will especially appreciate.

3. Be open and share information

Ideally, customers don't want to have to get in touch, but they do want the reassurance that their gift has been delivered. Make it easy for customers to track their order and inform them via SMS or email when it's delivered. Answer frequently asked questions like the latest order date or through self-service on the website to further reassure customers that their gift will be on time.

4. Be empathetic

On Mother's Day, companies may deal with thousands of orders, but each order is special to both the sender and the receiver. Train your staff to be empathetic and understanding when dealing with customers if there are issues. They should be able to put themselves in the caller’s shoes and respond appropriately. Want to know more about this? Read our blog on the effective communication technique LSD (Listening, Summarising, and Probing).

Mother's Day presents a unique challenge for many businesses. Do it well, and you gain a customer for life. Fail to meet promises? It leads not only to immediate problems but also affects your reputation and future customers. After all, no one wants to make their mother angry…