Global Events Change Customer Behavior—Permanently

The FIFA World Cup 2026 will be one of the largest global events in history—spanning multiple countries, time zones, and millions of simultaneous customer interactions. 

But for businesses, the real challenge won’t be visibility or demand.

It will be the customer experience during events.

During global events, customer behavior changes instantly. Expectations peak. Patience drops. Customers want answers now—not tomorrow, not after being transferred three times. A slow response, broken process, or inconsistent interaction is no longer a minor inconvenience—it’s a reason to leave.

For businesses across travel, hospitality, retail, telecom, SaaS, and service industries, the World Cup will act as a real-world stress test of their CX strategy. Those who aren’t ready will lose customers at scale. Those who are will gain trust, loyalty, and revenue when it matters most.

To understand why the stakes are so high, it’s important to look at how global events fundamentally reshape customer expectations.

Why Global Events Push Customer Expectations to the Limit

Large-scale events like the FIFA World Cup 2026 don’t just increase traffic—they compress decision-making time.

Customers during events:

• Expect instant responses across voice, chat, and messaging

• Have zero tolerance for long wait times

• Compare experiences in real time across competitors

• Share bad experiences publicly and immediately

This is why managing customer expectations during high-traffic moments is harder—and more important—than during normal operations.

A customer who might wait 24 hours for a response in regular conditions expects answers in minutes during an event. If they don’t get them, they move on.

And when expectations aren’t met, the consequences show up faster than most businesses anticipate.

The Hidden Cost of Poor Response Times During Events

Most businesses underestimate how damaging slow response times are during peak events.

When CX breaks down, the impact is immediate:

• Abandoned bookings and incomplete purchases

• Higher call abandonment rates

• Increased refunds, cancellations, and chargebacks

• Negative reviews during your most visible moment

This directly affects contact center customer experience, where overwhelmed agents struggle to keep up with volume, context, and accuracy.

During the World Cup, every unanswered call or ignored chat isn’t just a missed interaction—it’s lost revenue and lost trust.

So why do these failures keep happening, even for well-established businesses? The answer lies in outdated CX models.

Why Traditional CX Strategies Fail Under High Traffic

Many CX strategies are designed for “average” days—not global spikes.

Traditional models fail because they:

• Rely too heavily on human agents for first-level queries

• Treat channels (voice, chat, email) as separate silos

• Use manual workflows that slow down resolution

• React to issues instead of preventing them

As volume increases, these systems collapse under pressure. Hiring more agents is slow, expensive, and ineffective when demand is unpredictable.

This is why businesses need a modern CX strategy for high traffic—one that scales instantly without compromising quality.

That shift starts with rethinking how customer interactions are handled at scale.

AI-Powered CX Solutions: The Only Scalable Way Forward

High-traffic events demand speed, consistency, and availability at scale. This is where AI-powered CX solutions become essential—not optional.

AI enables businesses to:

• Respond instantly across voice and chat

• Handle thousands of concurrent interactions

• Resolve repetitive queries without human intervention

• Escalate complex issues with full context

Instead of overloading agents, AI absorbs volume—allowing human teams to focus on high-value conversations.

For customer experience during events, AI is the difference between chaos and control.

But not all AI solutions are built to handle real-world event pressure. Execution matters.

How GALE Ensures Consistent Customer Experience Under Pressure

GALE, the generative AI voice assistant and chatbot from Tollanis Solutions, is purpose-built for high-volume, high-expectation environments like global events.

As a GALE customer experience platform, it helps businesses maintain service quality even when demand spikes dramatically.

What GALE delivers:

• Instant, conversational responses across voice and chat

• 24/7 availability without wait times

• Intelligent intent recognition and context handling

• Seamless handoff to agents when human support is needed

During peak moments like the World Cup, GALE ensures customers get accurate, timely responses—without overwhelming your contact center.

However, speed alone isn’t enough if internal processes can’t keep up.

Fixing the Real Problem: Broken Workflows, Not Just Volume

High traffic alone doesn’t break CX. Broken workflows do.

When systems aren’t connected, even the best agents struggle. Queries bounce between teams. Follow-ups are missed. Customers repeat themselves.

Intelligent workflow orchestration changes this.

By integrating AI-driven CX with structured workflow platforms—such as monday (Bronze Partner)—businesses can:

• Route requests automatically to the right team

• Trigger actions, updates, and confirmations in real time

• Maintain visibility across every customer interaction

GALE works within these workflows, ensuring customer conversations translate into fast, coordinated action—especially during high-pressure events.

Once workflows are aligned, businesses can move from reacting to problems to preventing them entirely.

Proactive CX: Winning Before Customers Complain

The best customer experiences during global events are proactive, not reactive.

Leading businesses use AI to:

• Answer FAQs before customers reach out

• Share real-time updates automatically

• Reduce inbound volume by resolving issues early

This approach doesn’t just improve contact center customer experience—it reduces costs, shortens resolution times, and increases customer confidence.

During events like the World Cup, proactive CX is what separates prepared brands from overwhelmed ones.

The question now becomes: what should businesses do today to be ready for 2026?

How Businesses Should Prepare for World Cup 2026 Now

To succeed during the FIFA World Cup 2026, businesses should start preparing well in advance.

Key steps include:

• Auditing response times across all channels

• Identifying high-volume, repetitive customer queries

• Automating first-touch interactions with AI

• Strengthening workflows and escalation paths

• Stress-testing CX systems under peak-load scenarios

Preparation isn’t about surviving traffic—it’s about converting attention into long-term loyalty.

And when the event arrives, there will be no hiding gaps in your CX strategy.

Conclusion: World Cup 2026 Will Reveal Your CX Maturity

The FIFA World Cup 2026 won’t expose CX gaps gradually—it will reveal them instantly and publicly. Customers won’t wait in queues, retry later, or give second chances. In moments of peak demand, slow responses and broken processes translate directly into lost revenue and lost trust.

Businesses that move early—by strengthening their CX strategy for high traffic, automating first-touch interactions, and aligning teams through intelligent workflows—will stay in control when pressure peaks. 

Those leveraging AI-powered CX solutions and platforms like the GALE customer experience platform from Tollanis Solutions will be able to respond faster, scale seamlessly, and deliver consistent experiences across every touchpoint.

Because during global events, customer experience isn’t about standing out—it’s about staying chosen.

The real question is: when traffic surges and expectations spike, will your CX slow you down—or help you win?

Start preparing your customer experience for World Cup–level demand—before your customers decide for you.