Need to hire more agents for the holiday sales period, but don’t know how many agents you’ll need?
We created an easy calculator to predict team size in December based on your inbound ticket volume in September.
To use this forecasting tool, access it here, then ‘Create a Copy’ in Google Drive so you can update the inputs on your own (and keep your information private).
Created by the Client Success Team at Influx.com
How to use the holiday support team calculator
- Input inbound tickets from September last year
- Input inbound tickets from December last year
- Input inbound tickets from September this current year
- Input days worked per agent per month (it’s usually around 20-23)
- Input average resolution per agent per day
Get your estimated number of new agents needed to clear the backlog! (row 16)
Note that this tool forecasts based on the September to December jump from the previous year. With most clients I’ve worked with over the years, you can use that jump to predict the size of your workforce in December this year.
Some more notes on using this forecasting tool
This tool predicts the recommended headcount in December. This number assumes that these new agents work at the same efficiency as your current team (Input: Resolutions per Agent per Month). That usually means you need to start hiring agents in October and on-boarding agents on 1 November to reach that target.
Or, you can reduce that input based on agent experience. So, for example, if you think your new agents can only resolve 40 tickets per day in December (compared to 80 for an agent that’s been working on your account for a while), reduce that value to 40 in row 11.
This tool does NOT include the added cost of management, training, and hiring new agents. We include that cost in our pay per agent service, but if you’re building the team yourself, you’ll need to forecast those costs and headcount separately.
Not all new agents work out usually for example, and everyone needs different training processes to be successful - some agents prefer a mentor approach, some agents are better with troubleshooting/chat, while others are better with using macros. Make sure you account for these on-boarding and learning tools, as appropriate.
One last note, many of the clients we’ve worked with over the years see an INCREASE in agent efficiency over the holiday period (as there are often fewer types of requests), so you can reflect that number in row 11 as well.
Hope this tool is helpful!
