Whew!  The holidays are over!  No more worrying about too few calls and too much staff (or too many calls or too few staff depending on your business).  Your staff is now back at your center, ready to get back to the work of answering calls and servicing your customers.   Right?

Well, maybe not.  When planning for the year or preparing monthly forecasts, be mindful of “non-traditional” holidays. They can impact volume, call distributions, and absenteeism.

Valentine’s Day, for example, can increase average daily call volume in some organizations, not to mention the number of romantics on your staff that try to arrange additional time off to celebrate the day.

And don’t forget other holidays such as Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Super Bowl Sunday, St. Patrick’s Day, Halloween, and various minor bank holidays. You might want to put together a list of non-traditional events that impact your call volume and absenteeism among your staff. It can certainly make a difference in your forecast and your staffing.