THE CYBER MONDAY SURVIVAL MANUAL

www.olark.com/cybermonday

:: PRESENTED BY OLARK ::

Table of CONTENTSIntro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

What is Cyber Monday? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Key Cyber Monday Stats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

— The 3 Stages of Cyber Monday —Why Worry, We've Got Plenty of Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6(The Pre-Cyber Monday Checklist)n Cover the Basicsn Pre-load Shortcutsn Google Analytics Revenue Reportn Offline chat tab behavior

Wait...That's Today?? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13(The Cyber Monday Day-Of Checklist)n Make a great cup of coffeen Eat a good breakfastn Get your team ready n How to handle the rush

We Did It, We Survived! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19(The Post-Cyber Monday Checklist)n Celebrate n Reflect (sales don't end on Cyber Monday)n Delight those who purchased

What's Next? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

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PRESENTED BY OLARK :: The Cyber Monday Survival Manual

INTROThere's something about holiday shopping that brings out the best, and the worst, in people. The thrill of the hunt for a great deal, the promise of huge sales, the opportunity for what you sell to become THE product that everyone wants.

For the next two months, things get a little crazy, for better or for worse. We see it here at Olark. Interactions start steadily increasing as businesses prepare their online storefront for the rush. They want to make sure everything is perfect for the shoppers who will be arriving on Black Friday and Cyber Monday and beyond.

Sometimes clear thinking is lost in the hustle and bustle of the holiday shopping season. In the rush to set your sales, prep your support team and make sure your site host won't crash in a crunch, it's easy to overlook the basics. Yet sometimes it's the basics that keep you afloat, and even help you increase sales when the crowds arrive. Things like reviewing key ship dates, setting shortcuts for faster service, and remembering to reflect, are all vital to success this year and more importantly next year and the year after.

Our Survival Manual is a mix of 'don't forget to' with a bit of 'how to.' Some things here might be lessons you've already learned, some things might new. Everything here though is aimed at helping you succeed and have the best Cyber Monday yet.

A lot (not all) of what we'll cover in this manual is directly related to using live chat. We think it's a great tool for helping mass quantities of customers in a single day. It's worth noting that if you're not already using live chat, you can start a free 14 day free trial now and give it a test drive well in advance of Cyber Monday. Simply go to www.olark.com/price.

Also - we're offering two, free Cyber Monday Boot Camps over the next two weeks. The first is with Olark Customer and gifting experts, Man Crates, on November 10. The second is with the customer service ninjas at Bonobos on November 18. You can sign-up for either or both of those at www.olark.com/cybermonday.

Enough small talk - the hour is late and Cyber Monday draws nigh…

And online retailers said, 'Let there be

Cyber Monday.'

And it was busy, and sales

were good. .

– Ancient Story (maybe true)

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PRESENTED BY OLARK :: The Cyber Monday Survival Manual

WHAT IS CYBER MONDAY?Welcome to the holiday shopping season! Congratulations on making it through another year.

This is a pretty important time of year. According to the National Retail Federation, 20 to 40 percent of yearly sales for small and mid-sized retailers take place within the last two months of the year. (Source: Forbes)

n 20 to 40 percent of your annual revenue - in two months?! How did we get to this point?Much of it can be attributed to Cyber Monday, the busiest online shopping day of the entire year. Last year, more than $2B in sales took place on the Monday following Thanksgiving.

n Where did Cyber Monday even come from?You'd first have to look at Black Friday, a term many believe was coined by retailers for the day after Thanksgiving when sales were so strong it helped stores get back in the black (read: profitable).

As more traffic and shopping moved online in the 2000s, the Monday after the Thanksgiving break became a very popular day for those returning to work to take advantage of online sales. The spike in sales on this particular Monday lead the National Retail Federation to coin the term "Cyber Monday" in 2005.

KEY CYBER MONDAY STATSOver the last five years, Cyber Monday has maintained a steady growth of sales and customer interactions:

Total Sales across the U.S.

Total Chats across the Olark Network

Year Sales Year Chats

2014 $2.68B 2014 89,831

2013 $2.29B 2013 62,192

2012 $1.46B 2012 32,168

2011 $1.25B 2011 22,001

2010 $1.02B 2010 3,311

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PRESENTED BY OLARK :: The Cyber Monday Survival Manual

Over the last five years, Cyber Monday has maintained a steady growth of sales and customer interactions:

n What does that look like if you're on chat? In the chart below, the lighter bands represent a typical day on live chat, and the darker bands represent chat traffic on Cyber Monday. Obviously volume is higher, but it is also sustained for a longer duration, with some increases closer to the end of the day.

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PRE-CYBER MONDAY CHECKLIST

Even a little preparation in advance of Cyber Monday is valuable. There are some technical things you can set up way in advance, and there are things you can save until the week before.

Regardless of how far in advance you like to prepare, we gathered a few ideas here for things you'll want to cover in advance that should make Cyber Monday a little smoother and more valuable.

Cover key information with your teamDon't assume that everyone on your team knows the drill. You know what they say about people who assume.

Here's a quick list of basics you'll want to cover with your service/support team before Cyber Monday arrives. You may even want to check this list twice before the big day...

n When do we open?n When do we close?n Who's on chat when?n Who's covering social media responses?n What do I do if I spill coffee all over myself?n Review 2015 Holiday Shipping Guidelines from our friends at ShipStation (next page)n What's our return policy?n What are our shipping cutoff dates?n What sales are we running and when do they start/end?n What coupons are we offering?n What do I do if I need a break from chat? (Hint: make sure to set yourself AWAY.)n How do I handle really angry customers?n How do I check on the status of our inventory?n Will we be price matching?

By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.

– Benjamin Franklin

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PRESENTED BY OLARK :: The Cyber Monday Survival Manual

Pre Load Your ShortcutWith more customers comes more typing. And the time you spend typing your holiday hours for the 20th time, could be time spent helping another customer buy something new.

Canned responses help solve that problem.

If you're not an Olark user, we recommend you check out TextExpander by Smile Software (https://smilesoftware.com/TextExpander/index.html) for iOS or Breevy (http://www.16software.com/breevy/) for PC.

However, making its Cyber Monday debut this year is Shortcuts, our own built-in canned responses feature.

With Shortcuts, you can save common answers and phrases you and your team use over and over, and use very simple commands to recall those in three keystrokes.

For example, you can take "All orders must be placed by DATE for shipping by DATE", program that as a Shortcut, and then just press ;S to recall that string of text.

Personal ShortcutsEvery customer service operator knows it's important to be human when talking to customers. Inserting a little personality in your introduction, closing, or common responses is one way to show you're not a robot.

Personal Shortcuts are specific only to you - no one else on the team can recall them. So if you want to be able to say, "Hey Hey, from big Karl with a K, Happy HoliDAYs, to you." each time you finish a conversation, get it set up in your Shortcuts.

Team ShortcutsIf you're part of, or oversee, a team of operators who will be helping customers on Cyber Monday, then the Olark account admin should consider creating Team Shortcuts. The entire team will have access to Team Shortcuts, which will help everyone stay consistent on the basics as well as important holiday-specific details like holiday hours, shipping dates, return policies, and/or time-specific sales.

Start your free 14 day trial of Olark

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PRESENTED BY OLARK :: The Cyber Monday Survival Manual

More Shortcut ExamplesBeyond cut-and-dry details, have a brainstorm with your team/company to see if there are any other common responses or sayings that get used frequently. If you sound it out, you might uncover some other helpful, time-saving Shortcuts, like:

n Frequently requested URLs – think /pricing, /features, /mobile, or a /holiday-landing-pagen Instructions – steps for product assembly, installation, uninstallation or usagen Misdirects – like it or not, people might have reached you accidentally. Pre-program a

nice way to tell them to jog off :)n Transcripts – customers like chat because they can get a record of the conversation.

Make it easier for operators to send a transcript with, "Can I send you a transcript of this chat so you have the links and info? If so, what's the best email address to send it to?"

How To Create ShortcutsThere are two ways to start creating Shortcuts:

Login to Olark and go to https://olark.com/extensions/shortcuts –OR–In the course of a chat with a customer, any response can be turned into a Shortcut right in the conversation. Just look for the arrow icon (see image), click once, and assign the new Shortcut a name.

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Create a Revenue Report in Google Analytics When Cyber Monday has come and gone, you're going to want to know how well your team did.

One way to tell is to manually count the number of times someone rings the "official" Cyber Monday Sales Cowbell. (If you got our Survival Kits you know what I mean). Another more accurate and efficient way would be to have Google Analytics keep track of the numbers for you.

n Even if you have limited experience with Google Analytics, this is fairly easy to do. Here's How:1. You need to have a Google Analytics account. If you do, you can skip this

section. If you don't, go to step 2.2. Go to Google Analytics and click the 'create an account' link in the top right

corner.3. Once you have signed into Google Analytics, click on 'create new account.'This

will set up a new profile to track your ecommerce site analytics.4. On the next screen, choose 'website' and complete the required details.5. Click 'get tracking ID' at the bottom of the page to get your tracking code.6. On the following page, you’ll need to copy the tracking code provided.

It will look similar to this:

7. Now paste this code, in its entirety, onto every page on your site that you want to track.

Read more about Google Analytics

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PRESENTED BY OLARK :: The Cyber Monday Survival Manual

n Once you have Google Analytics installed (or if you already had it), then you need to turn on the eCommerce tracking feature:1. Click 'admin' from the menu bar at the top of any screen in Google Analytics.2. Use the drop-down menus to select which site you want to track, if you're tracking

multiple sites.3. Under the third column, click 'Ecommerce Settings.'4. Click the toggle so it says ON. (You can leave 'Enhanced Ecommerce Settings' OFF)5. Click Save at the bottom of the page.

(In this next section, we're assuming you're an Olark user. If you're not, other live chat software may also offer their own integration with Google Analytics.)

n With Google Analytics eCommerce tracking installed, you now need to turn on the Olark and Google Analytics integration:1. Login to your Olark account and go to the advanced tab of your settings

(www.olark.com/customize/advanced). 2. Scroll down until you see the option to 'Configure and Enable Google Analytics.' 3. Once you've found that, enable the “Track Olark Events in Google Analytics” option.

NOTE: it will probably take about 48 hours for Google to begin tracking and providing data on all of the activities on your site.

n Finally, you want to run a basic revenue report in your Google Analytics dashboard:1. Login to your Google Analytics account.2. In the left hand column click on 'Behavior' then 'Events' then 'Top Events.' 3. On the right you should see a graph for events across your entire site. Below the graph, in

table, click on 'Olark_Chat.'4. Under 'sessions' and 'segments', you'll see the options 'Event,' 'Site Usage' and 'Ecommerce.'

Select 'Ecommerce' and you'll see a 'Revenue' column appear in your data below, showing you revenue generated by Olark touchpoints.

n The touchpoints we automatically track for are: 1. Operator_Sent_a_Message: Provides data regarding individual Operators in your account,

and it will count the number of unique messages sent to visitors over the date range specified on the page. Once you click on that link, you will see the names of your Operators and the number of chats by each.

2. Visitor_Sent_a_Message: Simple piece of data that will track when a visitor sends a message to your Operators. The only value in this data point is True.

3. Conversation: Shows you the number of conversations that each of your Operators has with a visitor. This event will track both visitor initiated chats and Operator initiated chats.

4. Olark_Targeted_Chat_Sent_a_Message: Much like the 'Visitor_Sent_a_Message' in the fact that we just show if this event happened, and there is no granular events outside of the fact that a targeted rule fired.

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PRESENTED BY OLARK :: The Cyber Monday Survival Manual

Configure the Offline Behavior of Your Chat Tab When things get busy on Cyber Monday - and they will get busy - you should decide ahead of time what your chat tab will do when you reach max capacity.

When all of your available operators are at max capacity, they will be set to 'Away' so they can focus on all of the conversations they're in.

(REMINDER: You can set the maximum number of chats your operators can receive by going here: https://www.olark.com/customize/advanced and scroll down to 'Chat Routing.')

When all available operators are 'away,' you have two options of what the chat tab will do to set the proper expectation for new visitors: hide the chat tab, or have it turn into an email form.

1. Offline email form – maybe you still want people to leave you a message via email if you're not available to chat. No problem:a. Go to: https://www.olark.com/customize/behaviorb. Scroll down to 'Offline Messages'c. Customize your 'Offline Header' and 'Offline Body' (you might want to consider

something holiday specific)d. Check the box marked 'Send Offline Messages'e. Click 'Save'

i. Below this section you can also specify where offline messages will go and customize other parts of the email form.

2. Hidden chat tab – you may decide that, due to high volume of customer requests on Cyber Monday, you don't want to provide an email option because you know the response time won't meet expectations. In this case you would hide the chat tab completely:a. Go to: https://www.olark.com/customize/behaviorb. Scroll down to 'Offline Messages'c. Check the box marked 'Hide when offline'

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PRESENTED BY OLARK :: The Cyber Monday Survival Manual

DAY-OF CHECKLIST

Well, here it is: Monday, November 30th is finally upon us - Cyber Monday.

For online retailers, this is GAME DAY. There's an excitement in the air as you head into work early. You can almost hear the Internet humming and the virtual doors crashing open as visitors take to the stores. Your favorite song is blasting on your Walkman. Your shoes are tied tight (not too tight). You even wore your lucky underwear.

This is going to be the best. Cyber. Monday. ever. Let's Go!

How to Make A Great Cup of CoffeeFrom drip to percolators, to French and the Aeropress, Olarkers are proficient in the way of the coffee arts. We know that while there are so many variations on methods of preparation to personal preferences that comprise your favorite cup of joe, there are a few things to keep in mind that hold true throughout most of Coffeeland.

n Step 1: Use Freshly Roasted Beans.Too long have the likes of Folgers and other mass produced purveyors of our favorite brewed delight, held us under the spell of mass-produced caffeinated tyranny. To the true coffee connoisseurs, this rule holds true: use freshly roasted coffee beans.

The freshness of coffee is based on the amount of Carbon Dioxide left in the bean. When a bean is freshly roasted, it has the highest levels of CO2. During the hours and days following, the beans will naturally release this gas - it is the molecule of CO2 that delivers that great smelling aroma to your nose and other senses. In essence, the more CO2 left in your beans, the fresher (and more flavorful) it is!

Mike Mike Mike Mike Mike Mike...Guess what day it is?

– The Camel in the Geico commercial

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PRESENTED BY OLARK :: The Cyber Monday Survival Manual

n Step 2: Grind Beans Immediately Before UseThe logic follows, if one wants to have the freshest beans and best tasting coffee, not only do you need fresh beans, but you also need to delay the grinding process until right before use. Just like the natural process of the beans releasing CO2, as soon as you pulverise the coffee beans into grounds you have broken and exposed this material to the air.

This means, if you pre-grind your coffee days before when you first purchase it, you have already let most of the magic out of the beans. While I myself will drink just about any coffee offered to me, it is trivial to detect the difference between old grounds and a cup of coffee made from super fresh and recently ground coffee.

n Step 3: Some Like It HotCoffee Beans sure do!

According to common knowledge, about 200 degrees F is the perfect temperature to make a great cuppa. Most baristas will insist on some seriously hot water when making your coffee, just be sure to let it cool down before you enjoy!

n Step 4: Enjoy and RelaxNo really, take a moment to yourself and enjoy your cup of coffee and a moment alone with your thoughts.

Not to get too new-aged on you, but studies have shown that Mindfulness can be one of the most important things you can do, not only for your stress levels, but your entire wellbeing in general. Studies have shown that it can improve your physical health, thanks to an increased immune response and extra beneficial neurological chemicals that are released when you focus on quieting your mind and focusing on the present.

So take a moment for yourself with your coffee (or tea!) and relax a bit - work will always be there waiting for you once you are ready to take on the day.

Suggested Reading:

The Science Behind the Bean

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PRESENTED BY OLARK :: The Cyber Monday Survival Manual

Eat a Good BreakfastFun Fact: Astronauts eat steak and eggs for breakfast before take off because it's a huge amount of calories and your body can digest almost all of it (Source: Discovery).

Start your day right with a good meal. Here are some ideas to get you started:

You're not yourself when you're hungry.

– Snickers

Jeff ZellnerDevOps Borat

INGREDIENTS:Basmati riceEggs Priya coriander pickle

ASSEMBLY:1. In a large pot, cook

basmati rice until rice is tender.

2. In a separate skillet, fry eggs over easy.

3. When everything is hot, put on a plate and mix in coriander pickle.

4. ENJOY!

Kyle OwensBackend Software Engineer

INGREDIENTS:1 egg1 slice of breadbutterSriracha (optional)

ASSEMBLY:1. Cut a round hole in a

slice of bread with a cup.2. Melt butter in a pan,

throw bread in pan. 3. Crack egg in hole

in bread. 4. Cook till easily flipped. 5. Flip. 6. Cook till it reaches

level of done-ness. 7. Add Sriracha8. ENJOY!

Karl PawlewiczVoice of Olark

INGREDIENTS:Fage Total 2%GranolaProtein powderFruit (bananas, etc.)

ASSEMBLY:1. In a bowl, mix the

Fage with the protein powder until even.

2. Mix in granola to desired consistency.

3. Top with fruits of your choosing. Bananas are good; blueberries are awesome!

4. ENJOY!

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Get your team motivatedA team that plays together, wins together.

I don't know if someone famous said that or not, but there's a lot of truth to it. When you stick together, good things happen.

Your team is going to have a lot of ups and downs throughout the day. No one should have to go through those ups and downs alone. If you have a big team, celebrate the high points, and encourage each other through the low points. If it's just you, find a friend or a family member or someone sitting at the coworking space next to you who can high five you or let you vent a little (just a little).

Some ideas:

Something good just happened

n Focus on breathing – As you are jumping for joy, or yelling aloud, remember to breathe.

n Divide and Conquer – Log a successful sale or conversation and move on to the next. Act like you've been here before.

n Human contact – Secret handshake, high five, double high five. Make it count and extend the good vibes to someone else.

n Conjure emotion – Do a dance!

n Make some noise – Ring your Cyber Monday Cowbell!!

Something not good just happened

n Focus on breathing – Deep breaths. Chill and remember this is not life or death.

n Divide and Conquer – Step away from the computer to take a break and ask others to cover for you.

n Human contact – A pat on the back, a hand signal (thumbs up). Bring the focus back to the real world and the supportive team.

n Conjure emotion – Have a cache of jokes ready to go to get spirits back inline.

n Make some noise – Find your favorite song, turn it up to 11, and get back in there.

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Review your tagsKeeping up with all the customers on Cyber Monday is hard enough. Add to that trying to remember conversation tags and it gets nearly impossible to tell left from right, up from down.

With every new chat, you're getting valuable qualitative feedback that you could use almost immediately to improve your business, or the quality of service you provide.

That's why it's important to review key conversation tags you want to use during the day, and maybe even hang them somewhere visible so everyone can quickly reference them in a pinch.

Here are a few tags we suggest using on Cyber Monday:n !tag Sales – close a sale? Tag it! Remember: coffee's for closers, so if you want another

cup of joe, you have to prove you're making it rain. n !tag Objections (or Complaints) – every objection is an opportunity. A frustrated

customer might provide some added insight, and even if you can't solve their issue in the moment, you can still win the day with a helpful follow-up.

n !tag Returns – more specific than an objection, this is a request for a return or refund based on some product objection. Tag and review these transcripts later for qualitative product feed-back.

n !tag Happy_Customer – when the dust has settled, you want to remember the GOOD TIMES too. Maybe a customer came on chat just to say how dang helpful you were. Tag it and pat yourself on the back later.

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How to handle the rushOnce you're well caffeinated, well fed, and fired up, the next step is to open for business and start helping people out.

But helping customers on chat definitely has its own pace and nuances. Here are a few things to remind yourself when things get busy on chat:

" Be transparent – When chatting I've found if you can handle the multitasking, take as many chats as you can! If you are in multiple chats, I am always up front in letting the customer know we're experiencing higher than normal volume. And be sure to double check that the answer you're providing matches the chat you've just clicked into so that the customer understands you're being attentive and empathetic to their individual needs." ―

– James Stillian from Man Crates

"�Often,�a�customer�coming�to�you�with�a�query�is�flustered�and�impatient,�and�not�doing their best to explain the real problem or request. Encourage active listening: turn�off�internal�dialogue�and�truly�focus�on�listening�to�what�a�customer�is�telling�you. Ask for clarity and details. Really understand the nature of a problem BEFORE formulating�a�reply."�―

– Bill T. of Olark

"�Don't�over�promise�-�Don't�promise�to�fix�something�if�you're�not�sure�it�can�be�fixed.�If�the�customer�has�a�question�or�an�issue�that�requires�deeper�reflection,�let�them�know that you'll look into it. And be realistic about when they can expect an answer – don't�tie�yourself�to�an�unreasonable�timeline."�―

– Michael Bohorovski from Tinfoil Security

" Remember, when people are upset by an issue they have come across, they are not upset at you, but instead upset at the situation. Be sure to remember that you are a person helping people. Show empathy and let the customer know you do care about them and their problem, and don't let the negative emotions overwhelm you. Helping people�is�one�of�the�best,�and�most�fulfilling�things�you�can�spend�your�time�doing."�―

– Ryan of Olark

"�For�difficult�conversations�-�imagine�you’re�chatting�with�your�mom�or�your�favorite�uncle. That makes every comment come in the best possible tone." ―

– Barbara of Olark

" I like to remind myself that the point of doing customer service is to try to help the customer,�not�to�figure�out�who�is�'right.'"� ―

– Zach of Olark

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POST-CYBER MONDAY CHECKLISTIf you're reading this, it means you made it. But you're not out of the woods yet. Sure, you might have had the best Cyber Monday ever, but the days after Cyber Monday are also critical for learning, following-up, and of course, blowing off a little steam.

Remember to celebrate

When the last sales bell of the day rings and the last chat closes, it's time to celebrate. And why not?! You've earned it!

Remember, the best teams work hard and play hard, so don't be shy about carving out some time to do something to unwind. It doesn't have to be immediately after Cyber Monday, especially if you have customers shopping with you right up until Monday. But don't underestimate the importance of giving everyone the opportunity to blow off some steam.

Tom Haverford: Once a year, Donna and I spend a day treating ourselves. What do we treat ourselves to?

Donna Meagle: Clothes.Tom Haverford: Treat yoself.

Donna Meagle: Fragrances.Tom Haverford: Treat yoself.

Donna Meagle: Massages.Tom Haverford: Treat yoself.

Donna Meagle: Mimosas.Tom Haverford: Treat yoself.

Donna Meagle: Fine leather goods.Tom Haverford: Treat yoself!

Donna Meagle: It's the best day of the year.Tom Haverford, Donna Meagle: The best day of the year!

Some ideas:n Rock climbing

(an Olark favorite)n A local barn Bowlingn See some live musicn Make some musicn Pet an Alpaca

n A team bike riden Beach day, if you live

somewhere warmn Ski or sledding day, if you

live somewhere coldn Crocheting classn Wine tasting

n Cook a meal together (another Olark favorite)

n Surprise day off (!!!!)n Xbox or PS4 Game Dayn Board Games and Drinksn Afternoon on some trampolinesn Naps

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ReflectCyber Monday is like a big, big project. There are a lot of pieces to get in place before it arrives, and even more moving pieces once things get rolling.

Any time you complete a big, stressful project, you should take time to reflect on how that project went - what went right, what went wrong, and how you would do things differently the next time. In the moment it's impossible to take stock of it all, but afterward you have more mental bandwidth to focus and really examine the experience you just came through.

At Olark we use a template for project reflection, which asks three basic questions:n What went well? – List the positives: people who excelled,

processes that worked, etc. It could be meta (We all felt happy!) or very specific (The hotel was in a good location.).

n What did not go so well? – List the negatives. Here, be critical and honest, but remember not to make it personal if it's about a colleague.

n What should we do differently next time? – If you listed something that didn't go well, now's the chance to offer a different approach. Or, if a great idea dawned on you during the project/event, now's your chance to capture it for next year.

n Action Items – I know I said three, but we have one more, and it's important: what are the immediate action items following this project/event? List them here, and give each one an owner, and make sure they get done. Don't list items that are big huge projects with no actionable outcome. Ideally it should be clear what's being done and when it will be done by.

In addition to reflecting on the project, remember to review transcripts and any conversations that were tagged as 'sales' and 'objections.'

From your transcripts, you want to build a database of responses so your team can review them, collate best practices and take action, like compiling good answers or updating copy on your website to reflect customer verbiage.

REMEMBER: Objections are opportunities to improve or correct something that customers don’t find agreeable. This is true in the short term, as you make immediate follow-up from Cyber Monday, but it's also true for the long run.

Life moves pretty fast.

If you don't stop and look

around once in awhile, you

could miss it. .

– Ferris Bueller

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Delight customers who did purchaseThe Holiday Shopping Season is a marathon, not a sprint. Holiday sales aren’t really “complete” until January, and even then, up to 40% of clothing and 10% of electronics are returned in January.

If someone does make a purchase in your store on Cyber Monday, think of something you can do to delight them after the sale. Something as simple as a personalized 'thank you' email might suffice, or you might extend an additional discount or offer to them.

Or consider providing something physical to go along with the purchase. As one Olark customer observed last holiday season, "Customers are inundated with emails during the holidays. Our emails did well on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but after that our open rates plummeted and many customers even opted out. Don't bombard your customers with emails!"

WHAT'S NEXTThat's it for now. We hope you've found some helpful stuff in here.

If you did, we'd love it if you'd share this with colleagues, friends, family, whoever.

In November we're hosting two Cyber Monday Boot Camps. You can sign up for those by going to www.olark.com/cybermonday

And here are some places you can find us online:

@OlarkLiveChat

www.pinterest.com/ olarklivechat

www.youtube.com/ user/olark

blog.olark.com

@Olark

www.facebook.com/ olarklivechat

www.linkedin.com/ company/olark

Blog

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