Live Chat Has Taken Over Phone and Email
Live chat has taken over phone and email
There are many ways to do this, but in 2020 the demand for one digital channel couldn’t be any stronger
– That channel is live chat. This, coupled with the world’s need to service their customers remotely, has
led to the highest demand yet for “live chat” and the research data shows this.
Chat has now overtaken phone as the highest rated customer service channel with consumers preferring
Email – 27%
Phone – 28.7%
Chat – 28.9%
With real-time conversations customers receive a
better overall experience, however failing to
respond in time results in a negative customer
experience. Studies show you need to respond to a
live chat request within just 15 seconds! Any more
time than this, results in a bad experience.
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With real-time conversations customers receive a
better overall experience, however failing to
respond in time results in a negative customer
experience. Studies show you need to respond to a
live chat request within just 15 seconds! Any more
time than this, results in a bad experience.
Prior to world changing circumstances like
COVID-19, 41% of customers already expected live
chat to be available on your website and 50% for
mobile visitors.
That number has dramatically increased recently
and continues to grow, forcing businesses to
introduce the technology or face long queues and a
lot of stress on traditional communication channels
such as telephone and email.
We’ve put together some key areas of success if you’re going to be
implementing live chat into your website. Some of these are:
1) Prioritise all live
chat requests
Customers’ expectations of digital services are high, with on
demand “everything” available to them. You can easily exceed
their expectations by making sure their online experience with
you matches the same level of customer service offered by other
leading online businesses.
You can do this by:
2) Reduce average chat time
Use pre-written chat templates
Have a knowledge-base or an FAQ readily available
Escalate complex enquiries quickly
Set smart chat triggers based on; visitor time on site,
current page, even the search term used to find your website
3) Personalise the experience
52% of consumers say that they preferred companies that offered some kind of a personalised customer service experience and 23% of companies did not request contact information during a chat.
You can do this by:
Automating contact details request during chat
Integrating your chat software to your shopping cart
Using chat software that displays previous chat logs
Using chat software that displays the site visitor demographic
4) Integrate chat into
your business so it works
Rather than seeing the end of a chat as the end of an action or task, incorporate it into your customer relationship cycle.
A few ways to do this can be:
Ask for feedback after the chat with a satisfaction survey 45% of companies did not ask for feedback
Provide a copy of the chat transcript to the customer
More than 55% of companies either did not offer to provide the client a chat transcript or simply even ask if they would like one. Sending a transcript acknowledges accountability and responsibility. It also increases customer trust and this is priceless.5) Select the right software platform for your business
Before plunging straight into the deep end, it is crucial to research the differences in features & pricing offered by each various platforms available. Factors to also consider include the key differences to determine which platform best integrates with your business’ existing digital apps and services. So be sure to select the one that best matches both yours and your customers’ needs.
6) Keep Communication Consistent
Remember that quality is always better over quantity, especially with live chat, so don’t think that a quick impersonalised reply will cut it fullstop. Customers expect the same. amount of professionalism from chat, so make sure your business’s brand, language, culture and values come through on your communications.
Use pre-written chat templates
Ensure your chat agents understand any
current promotions or changes within the business
Always follow up on offline messages with
a phone call or external email
An independent study was done across 1,000 websites for companies across US and Europe which revealed the following key findings:
Top 3 Frustrations:
23% of customers are most frustrated by
scripted, impersonalised responses.
24% of customers are most frustrated
by long wait times on live chat
15% of customers are most frustrated by having
to repeat themselves on live chat
Top 3 Frustrations:
23% of customers are most frustrated by scripted, impersonalised responses. 24% of customers are most frustrated by long wait times on live chat 15% of customers are most frustrated by having to repeat themselves on live chat
Conclusion:
Live chat support only works if there’s an operator on the other end of the screen to respond immediately. Be sure to maintain schedules for your live chat to readily available either 24/7 or part-time depending on when your website traffic is busiest by simply analyzing your web analytics. With consumer appetite for online shopping and support rapidly increasing along with the next generation of consumers entering the market, it’s no doubt that live chat will eventually dominate as the main communication channel whether businesses like it or not. Businesses need to seize this opportunity and exceed expectations. Because one happy customer is likely to tell at least three friends about a positive experience and great customer service leads to increased sales. Once live chat becomes standard practice, this will no longer have the same effect and businesses that haven’t adopted it yet will simply be playing catch-up. Which isn’t the message you want to be sending to consumers if you value your online presence.
At The Chat Agency, we’re leading the industry with live chat and we treat it as an experience, not a service. We tailor the best approach to your customers by partnering you with one of our dedicated Community Managers who acts as an extension of your sales and customer service team, not a phantom chat bot.