It’s 9 AM on Black Friday, and your call center phones are already ringing nonstop. Customers want to track delayed orders, process returns, and complain about shipping mix-ups. Your agents look overwhelmed, hold times are climbing, and you can practically feel customer satisfaction dropping with every unanswered call.
This scene plays out at retail call centers everywhere during the holiday season, when normal busy becomes absolute chaos. And the instinct is to staff up quickly; hire seasonal agents to handle the surge. But rushed hiring often makes things worse.
Untrained agents take longer to resolve issues, frustrated customers hang up or leave negative reviews, and your experienced team burns out trying to cover the gaps. According to Forrester research, companies that maintain consistent service quality during peak times enjoy 51 percent higher customer retention.1
The question isn’t whether to scale up your team, but how to do it without sacrificing the customer experience that drives your bottom line.
The Cost of Getting Holiday Staffing Wrong
Poor seasonal staffing decisions don’t just create temporary headaches; they trigger costly problems that outlast the holiday season. This is why strategic seasonal staffing matters. Planning ahead lets your company survive the holiday rush and allows you to build stronger customer relationships.
The Competition for Talent Has Never Been Tougher
The numbers tell the story. With seasonal job searches up 18 percent compared to last year and retail seasonal postings climbing 8 percentage points above previous levels, competition for quality candidates has never been fiercer. Companies that rush to fill positions without a proper strategy often end up with undertrained agents who take 40 percent longer to resolve customer issues.2
Immediate Operational Chaos
The immediate costs are obvious: wait times stretch from minutes to nearly an hour, first-call resolution rates plummet, and inexperienced agents escalate simple problems. Agent turnover during peak season can reach 60 percent when employees feel unprepared and overwhelmed.3
Each departed agent represents weeks of training investment lost, plus the expense of recruiting and onboarding their replacement mid-season.
Long-Term Brand Damage
Most damaging of all are the lasting brand consequences. According to Forrester research, most customers will switch to a competitor after just one poor service experience.4
Thus, a single poor holiday experience can turn loyal customers into former customers who share their frustration through reviews and social media. The customer you lose in December may never return, even when your service improves in January.
How to Scale Retail Call Center Staffing Without Compromising Customer Experience
The key to successful holiday staffing isn’t just hiring more people but hiring the right people at the right time with the right preparation.
1. Hire for Fit and Resilience, Not Just Speed
When you’re under pressure to staff up fast, it’s tempting to lower your standards. But hiring seasonal agents who don’t fit your work environment often leads to more customer complaints and internal frustration.
Start by clearly defining what you need. For seasonal call center roles, focus on candidates who learn quickly, stay calm under pressure, and are comfortable with technology. These qualities matter more than previous call center experience.
In addition, use your historical call volume data to forecast peak periods. If last year’s Cyber Week or Summer Sale brought a 35 percent spike, expect similar or higher this year. Hiring based on these insights helps you avoid over- or understaffing.
This approach keeps your team prepared and your customers satisfied even during the busiest times.
2. Design Compressed Onboarding That Works
During holiday season, a slow onboarding process is a luxury you can’t afford. But rushing through training sets your team up to fail when call volumes spike. The solution is a focused, intensive onboarding program that gets new hires customer-ready without overwhelming them with unnecessary information.
Build a streamlined 3-5 day program that covers the essentials: Day 1 focuses on tools and systems, Day 2 covers role-playing key customer scenarios, and Day 3 involves supervised live call practice.
Use microlearning modules for specific situations like “How to handle a return request” or “Navigating shipping delays.” Provide job aids, cheat sheets, and quick reference guides from day one. Pair every new agent with an experienced mentor who can offer informal coaching during their first week on the floor.
Read More: How to Onboard New Employee for Quicker Integration
3. Support Agents in Real Time to Handle Volume Confidently
Even great onboarding can’t prepare agents for every challenge they’ll face on the job. What sets high-performing contact centers apart is how they support agents during the busiest moments.
Provide supervisors with tools that let them offer live feedback without disrupting the customer’s experience. Features like screen whispering and coaching alerts help adjust tone or guide problem-solving right when agents need it most.
At the same time, AI-powered assist tools can suggest relevant knowledge base articles or script snippets based on the customer’s words. This reduces pause time, improves accuracy, and builds agent confidence on the spot. Real-time coaching isn’t just about boosting performance; it also protects your customer experience when it matters most.
4. Build Your Bench with Backup Candidates
Holiday staffing rarely goes according to plan. New hires quit unexpectedly, call volumes surge beyond forecasts, and last-minute no-shows leave you scrambling. Smart call centers build their bench strength by identifying and pre-screening backup candidates who can step in quickly when needed.
Maintain a pipeline of qualified candidates who didn’t make the first round of hiring but showed potential. Keep these backup candidates engaged through brief check-ins and updates about future opportunities. When you do need to make emergency hires, you’ll have pre-vetted candidates ready to start within days rather than weeks.
This also gives you leverage when negotiating with your primary hires. Knowing you have alternatives reduces desperation and helps you maintain hiring standards even under pressure.
Read More: Building a Strong Call Center Workforce: Leveraging Effective Team Collaboration and Support Systems
5. Hire for Retention Potential, Not Just Gap-Filling
Not every seasonal hire needs to be a short-term solution. Many can become valuable long-term team members, especially after they’ve proven themselves during the high-pressure holiday rush. Look for candidates who show genuine interest in customer service careers rather than just seeking quick holiday cash.
During interviews, ask about their career goals and interest in permanent opportunities. Watch for agents who consistently meet performance metrics, take initiative to help teammates, and adapt well to your company culture. Have a clear process ready to convert high performers into full-time roles before the season ends.
For those who can’t commit year-round, create a structured rehire program. Maintain an alumni database and reach out early before the next busy season, offering returning agents preferred scheduling and fast-track onboarding to make coming back attractive.
6. Time Your Hiring Cycles Strategically
With competition for seasonal talent at an all-time high, waiting until the last minute means competing for leftover candidates. Successful call centers map out their hiring timeline based on historical data and start recruiting well before peak season hits.
Begin your first wave of hiring 8-10 weeks before your busiest period. This gives you time to be selective and properly train your core seasonal team. Plan a second wave 4-6 weeks out for additional coverage, and keep that backup candidate pipeline ready for emergency hires.
Stagger start dates so you’re not onboarding everyone at once, as bringing in small groups allows for better training and mentorship. Use your call volume patterns from previous years to identify exactly when you’ll need different staffing levels, then work backward to create your hiring calendar.
Build a seasonal team that delivers under pressure with Salem Solutions
The holiday season doesn’t just test your capacity; it tests your consistency. And customers remember how you show up when it’s busy. To get it right, you need more than just speed in hiring. You need seasonal staff who are trained well, supported in real time, and motivated to perform at their best even on the busiest days.
That’s where Salem Solutions come in. We connect you with experienced agents who are ready to step in, handle high-volume periods with professionalism, and protect your customer experience at scale.
If you’re planning to expand your team this season, now’s the time to get ahead. Let’s talk about building a seasonal workforce that’s ready to deliver when it matters most. Connect with us today!
References
1. 2024 US Customer Experience Index: Brands’ CX Quality Is At An All-Time Low. (2024, June 17). Forrester. https://www.forrester.com/press-newsroom/forrester-2024-us-customer-experience-index/
2., 3. Shrivastava, Allison. “Seasonal Postings Return to Normal, but More Job Seekers Want Holiday Work.” Hiring Lab, 9 Oct. 2024, https://www.hiringlab.org/2024/10/09/seasonal-postings-return-to-normal-but-more-job-seekers-want-holiday-work/.
4. Ramos, L. (2024, May 5). (Re-)Focus On Customer Retention And Growth During Volatile Times. Forrester. https://www.forrester.com/blogs/refocus-on-customer-retention-and-growth-during-volatile-times/
