Developments in technology means that customer service has evolved from simply in store call handling and phone support, to customers being able to email and use social media to chat to the customer service team.
Live chat support is the latest customer support trend and here’s why:
– 63% of customers say they were more likely to return to a website that offers live chat as opposed to one that doesn’t.
–73% of customer satisfaction is coming from live chat.
– 77% of customers won’t make a purchase if there is no live chat support.
– Statistics show that most problems can be resolved in 42 seconds with live chat.
– 42% of customers say that not having to wait on hold is a key reason why they prefer live chat.
It is clear that live chat isn’t just another customer service phase – it is growing in popularity. That is why it is vital that contact centres learn how to embrace it and not ignore it…because if you’re not already using it to look after your customers, your competitors are.
If you’re thinking about integrating web chat into your contact centre, here are 5 steps we recommend you take:
1. Choose the right technology
When introducing web chat facilities into your contact centres, we recommend choosing the latest contact centre system that matches your needs, and one that can incorporate web chat effectively and seamlessly with other channels. By having an integrated system, it can allow agents to move between calls, chat and emails and help them deliver a consistent service.
2. Always test it first
It is important to test the chat service you’ve selected and make sure that agents truly understand how it works, and how customers are likely to use it e.g. will it be used to resolve issues? Or will it also be used to process orders? Or is it both? There is no point using a system that your agents struggle to use and that makes things complicated for your customers.
3. Select the right agents
You shouldn’t assume that your best telephone agents will be able to transfer their skills to web chat. We recommend that you choose agents that have good writing and typing skills and can communicate clearly and effectively through web chat. If you’re using web chat to help customers with technical issues, it is vital that you have agents that can take in technical information quickly and communicate it effortlessly to customers. It is also important to provide training to ensure agents remain confident and can look after customers through web chat.
4. Protect data
Like taking sensitive information over the phone, it is important that sensitive data is kept out of web chats. This can be done by ensuring that agents are kept up to date about network security, know how private details should be stored and what data should not be stored, and know the repercussions of not managing customer data properly.
5. Measure progress
Like other customer service channels, it is recommended that you have key performance indicators (KPIs) to track the success of using web chat compared to voice. This can include waiting times, quality scoring, customer satisfaction scores and first contact resolutions. By effectively measuring success, it will help you evaluate the performance of web chat and help you delegate resources accordingly.