A LEADING business outsource partner has seen a spike in demand for its contact centre services.

Lemon Business Solutions, based in Stockton, has seen an increase in demand for its 24/7 contact centre services during the coronavirus pandemic, handling a staggering 35,000 additional calls in April alone.

The firm has been working with many leading brands across the UK to handle an increase in customer demand prompted by the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown restrictions.

Many businesses have needed to outsource their call handling function due to furloughing staff or an inability to handle a high volume of customer calls when staff were required to work from home.

Using the team at Lemon, many businesses have been able to remain operational at a difficult time while still dealing with customer queries promptly.

Lemon has also assisted businesses in their social distancing responsibilities by allowing companies to have less staff in the office, without any impact to service levels.

Martin Anderson, managing director at Lemon Business Solutions, said: “Covid-19 has caused a difficult time for us all and many businesses have been doing everything they can to remain open and available to their customers.

“Recent research by BT Business found that missing calls can be potentially detrimental to firms, with 85 per cent of customers saying that if their call wasn’t answered, they would move on to another firm, leading to an average cost of £1,200 per missed call.

"These calls really matter and could make the difference to a business thriving or simply surviving.

“We are incredibly proud to have been able to help so many businesses across the UK to handle their customer enquiries throughout the crisis, with our team at times picking up more than 1000 additional calls per day.

“Now that lockdown restrictions are lifting, we’re aware that other sectors will need our support, be that dealing with a surge in customer contacts or when looking to reduce operational costs, and this is where our outsource model can really help.

"Our client’s know that quality and trust is at the heart of everything we do and that gives them the reassurance to work with us.

“Everything’s changed since the lockdown and we’re poised to help businesses settle into their ‘new normal.’’

Lemon was established in 2003 out of a passion to provide world class customer service.

It takes great pride in delivering excellent service and each and every customer gets the VIP treatment.

It’s not your average call centre; the team is dynamic, and eager to provide an outstanding service with integrity at its core.

It delivers bespoke customer service solutions, whatever a company’s requirements.

Lemon is innovative and uses technology to assist but doesn’t hide behind it.

There’s no robotic call scripting, just real people having real conversations.

They don’t manage clients at arm’s length and make them deal only with an account manager.

With Lemon, the client gets direct access to the senior management team.