Earlier this week we hosted a webinar about
improving forecast accuracy in your call center, which was very well received. One of the topics we discussed was: “How to forecast special days”. Here is a quick summary of the key points:
Analyze call history data for previous and similar periods:
- Consider: Growth factor, day of the week, etc.
- Apply weight: Highest weight for recent year/month/day
In step two, you need to predict daily and interval call volume. With an WFM solution this is all processed and calculated automatically, but here are the key elements. You have to break down the forecast into monthly, daily, etc. intervals and also apply the "special day" effect (in italic below). The following is an example for 4th of July:
- Forecast for year = 382,572
- July percentage = 9.38%
- Wednesday percentage = 16%
- Impact of July 4th = 30%
- 10:00 to 10:30 proportion of day = 5.2%
In addition, you should adjust for other known influences, such as:
- Internal: Planned marketing campaigns, events, news, etc.
- External: Weather, season, consumer trends, etc.
If you would like to learn more about forecasting methodologies and related WFM capabilities, please contact us or check out the webinar recording that will be posted shortly.
