With the Christmas holiday season in full swing, followed by New Years and Super Bowl, AFS member stores are well into the busiest time of the year. While teams throughout the company provide excellent service to our member-owners year-round, now is the time to be incredibly sensitive to retail needs. Here are two recommendations to consider for team members who have retail interaction:
- Please respond to any phone calls from retailers within 12 business hours. If team members are taking time off, Microsoft Teams allows users to forward phone calls to a qualified team member who can respond on the person’s behalf. Please use these functions to ensure retailers receive the communication they need as quickly as possible. Click here for instructions on forwarding Microsoft Teams calls.
- Please respond to any emails from retailers within 12 business hours. If team members cannot immediately respond to emails, Microsoft Outlook allows users to create “Automatic Replies (Out of Office)” notifications. Notifications should provide contact information for a qualified team member who can assist with retail inquiries. Click here for instructions on how to set up automatic replies in Outlook. For team members with multiple responsibilities, more than one team member’s contact information may be provided in Outlook automatic replies.
