Nearly 82% of American adults plan to travel this summer, with 75% intending to take at least one road trip.
That spike drives an avalanche of customer service calls. Booking changes, pickup delays, and those inevitable lost keys…
So, for car rental companies, scaling support teams becomes critical.
Handling volume isn’t just about adding headcount; it requires
- Smart strategy,
- Agile technology, and
- Multilingual capability.
Let’s break down what a winning summer service model looks like.
Planning for Peak Season Starts Early
Contact center strategy for peak season hinges on proactive resourcing.
If you’re staffing reactively in June, you’ve already missed the mark. Historical data, market forecasts, and weather trends can guide volume predictions.
Workforce planning for summer should begin at least 90 days out.
To implement this strategy, follow this step-by-step guide:
- Start by digging into last year’s data: Check out how many calls, chats, and emails came in each week—look for those crazy busy times so you know what’s coming. Use an omnichannel system to keep all your data in one place
- Take a guess—but make it smart: Mix your past numbers with upcoming summer travel trends to estimate how much support you’ll need.
- Sketch out your dream schedule: Build shifts that match when people need help. Don’t overhire for quiet hours or understaff during rush.
- Plan staffing buffers: Include a margin of extra coverage for unexpected surges, especially around holidays and weekends.
- Keep it flexible: Use short-term or part-time contracts so you can ramp your team up or down fast without locking into long commitments.
➕Remember, effective scaling starts with good data, and good data comes from a reliable CX Insight. Without one, workforce planning is just guesswork.
Takeaway: If you do not have reliable data gathering, build one in the first place, and start workforce planning at least three months ahead
Smart Staffing with AI Support
Customers don’t care if your team is seasonal or permanent; they just want fast answers. That’s where AI in car rental CX becomes a strategic asset.
Take Ayvens. Their WhatsApp chatbot Ivy offers a complete and personalized experience, available 24/7.
Let‘s see what kind of AI tools you can use for your car rental contact centers:
- AI-based workforce management tools help you see the busy times coming so you can staff up (or down) without scrambling at the last minute.
- Real-time agent assist systems are like a digital co-pilot that gives your team hints and reminders during calls to keep conversations smooth.
- Automated chatbots handle all the repetitive stuff—”What’s my booking number?” or “How much for an extra day?”—so your agents don’t have to.
- Sentiment analysis listens for stress or frustration in a customer’s tone and flags it early so someone can jump in and fix things before it gets ugly.
Key benefits:
- Shorter wait times with AI chatbots handling repetitive inquiries
- Fewer escalations thanks to agent assist tools
- Better staffing efficiency with predictive routing
Takeaway: AI tools are essential for support during summer surges. Have a point of view such as: if AI can do it, then let it do it.
Language Matters in Travel CX
After the Tower of Babel crumbled, we were left with a problem: multilingualism.
So, summer means international travelers, and international travelers mean language diversity. If you want to keep your NPS score intact, multilingual customer support is table stakes.
This is especially important at airport rental kiosks or in regions with high tourist density.
In conclusion, you need to:
- Hire multilingual reps in high-volume regions
- Deploy real-time translation for live chat and messaging apps
- Prioritize local language fluency in self-service FAQs
Or you can turn all of the existing agents into native speakers with the accent neutralization tools. Boost agent communication with Call Center Studio’s AI-powered Accent Neutralization.
Takeaway: You need to work on the multilingual capabilities of your customer support team. Because, due to tourist density, you are going to need that for customer satisfaction in summer.
Staffing Models Built for Speed
Seasonal call center staffing How Seasonal Call Center Hiring Impacts Summer CX Performance must be flexible, agile, and localized because the demand is unpredictable. Static staffing models leave you with idle agents in one city and chaos in another.
Cross-train agents on multiple channels—like phone, live chat, and WhatsApp—to cover volume swings.
Key benefits of flexible staffing:
- You’re faster where it matters: Flexible staffing helps you throw more agents at hotspots when the heat is on, like airport pickups or holiday weekends.
- You keep your team sane: No one likes overtime marathons. A well-balanced crew means fewer burnout cases and way happier agents.
- You don’t drop the ball across time zones: Having agents in different regions keeps the support clock ticking 24/7 without wrecking anyone’s sleep schedule.
Takeaway: Agile staffing models help you meet demand peaks without sacrificing agent well-being or budget control.
Recap
Long hold times, mismatched info, or language gaps are the obstacles you need to get over to improve summer CX in travel.How Airlines Can Improve CX During Holiday Travel Peaks
Your support experience must be as seamless as your booking experience. That is why:
- Plan smarter with historical insights: Review past data to identify your busiest weeks and common support issues.
- Leverage AI to enhance human support: Deploy AI tools like chatbots and agent assist, etc.
- Prioritize language fluency: Ensure support channels are accessible in multiple languages to serve international travelers.
- Use dynamic staffing to respond quickly: Implement flexible staffing models that let you scale your team in response to real-time demand.
Summer is coming. Scale up your team with Call Center Studio AI Contact Center.
