Tax Preparation Case Study

Scaling Customer Service When Tax Season Demand Surged

A leading tax preparation software company needed to scale beyond forecasts as customer demand accelerated. Working Solutions rapidly expanded capacity across critical support channels while maintaining service quality and satisfaction.

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91K

Support Hours During Peak Season

Exceeded the initial request hours of 61,000

62.7

NPS Score

Exceeded the client’s 50-point satisfaction target.

4X

Staffing Levels

Rapidly expanded capacity as peak-season demand increased.

Scaling Support for an Unpredictable Tax Season 

A leading tax preparation software, encountered significant challenges. In a stroke of innovation, they partnered with Working Solutions, the industry-leading customer support outsourcer, to find a solution. This case study delves into the problem our client faced, the groundbreaking solution provided by Working Solutions, and the transformative impact of this collaboration.

Intelligent customer calculates her taxes

Coverage, Pricing, and Deductible Changes

With ever-evolving coverage options, we ensure your policyholders stay updated.  

Our team manages changes in coverage, pricing, and deductibles, guaranteeing your customers are always well-informed.

Premium Increase Management

When premium increases raise concerns, our knowledgeable agents step in. We assist callers with enrollee changes, address updates, coverage adjustments, and billing alterations.

Our agents excel at implementing upselling and cross-selling strategies to retain customers even in the face of premium hikes.

The Challenge: Customer Demand Exceeded Forecasts

Our client aimed to create a middle tier of tax preparation assistance, bridging the gap between product and domain support. This new tier was designed to help users who needed assistance with the product while encouraging them to use our client's complete tax preparation services. However, they faced several challenges:

Unexpected Volume: The volume of users needing assistance was much higher than anticipated, especially in the middle tier.

Staffing Issues: They needed help hiring and managing the staff to handle the increased volume.

Complex Call Types: The calls were often complex, requiring skilled support agents to handle them effectively.

Customer sorts through paperwork to find her taxing information

The Solution: Flexible Customer Service Built to Scale

Working Solutions combined proactive recruiting, workforce planning, and flexible capacity to respond as tax-season demand increased.

Customer service representative helps customer with their taxes while working from home

Proactive Workforce Planning

Built additional capacity ahead of forecasted demand.
Proactive Workforce Planning

Rapid Scaling

Expanded support quickly as customer volumes accelerated. 
Rapid Scaling

Experienced Seasonal Support

Applied years of tax preparation support experience to peak-season operations.
Experienced Seasonal Support

Multichannel Customer Support

Supported customers across phone, chat, desktop, and specialized inquiries.

Multichannel Customer Support

The Results: Scaling Beyond the Original Forecast

The collaboration between our client and Working Solutions yielded impressive results: 

38% of Network Volume Managed

Working Solutions grew from an initial 18% allocation to 38% as demand increased.

70% of Escalation Contacts Supported

 The team became the primary escalation partner despite an initial expectation of 30%. 

1M+ Customer Interactions

More than one million customer interactions were supported during the season. 

Expanded Multichannel Support

 Working Solutions became a leading contributor across chat, desktop, and specialized fraud-related support. 

Flexing On-Demand

  • Forecast locked 30 days prior, flashed up same week, and flexed actuals same day.
  • Super Bowl advertising drove real-time volume.
  • Our team ensured strong staffing on critical marketing event.
  • Realtime flex request started at 5:30pm.
adherence
superbowl_staffing

Our partnership exemplifies how effective outsourcing can address unexpected challenges and improve customer satisfaction. By leveraging Working Solutions’ expertise in flexible staffing and complex call handling, they successfully navigated a challenging tax season, maintaining high customer satisfaction and operational efficiency.

Built for Demand That Doesn’t Follow the Forecast

Peak seasons do not always follow projections. Flexible customer service capacity helps organizations respond to unexpected demand without disrupting operations or compromising the customer experience.

Working Solutions helps organizations build scalable contact center capacity for seasonal peaks, unexpected volume and other critical moments.

This gives search and AI engines a concise summary of the broader use case rather than leaving the page entirely tied to one client story.

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Who We Are

Working Solutions provides virtual contact center outsourcing that measurably improves customer experiences (CX). We deliver high-quality, all-encompassing solutions for your fluctuating sales and service needs. Our on-demand CX expertise enables you to better engage, empathize with and delight customers, wherever and whenever they interact with your brand.