The statistics don’t lie: when it comes to shopping online, consumers prefer live chat support. Particularly now that the stores are closed and they miss the possibility of asking sales assistants for help. Owners of eCommerce must not miss the chance to use live chat for customer service. It’s efficient and cost-effective, so what’s not to like about it?
Live chat is a powerful technology that can help your business optimize support work. On top of that, it helps build customer loyalty, as the chat enables an interaction that enhances their shopping experience.
Are you ready to convert your visitors into prospects? Then check out this article for five amazing tips that will help you deliver the best customer experience with live chat.
Make Sure That Customers Can Easily Find the Option to Chat
Nobody wants to put pressure on visitors. Considering the experience we have at a physical store, it is mostly about having someone there. It is very kind of a sales assistant to ask if you need help, but you don’t expect them to follow you everywhere during your visit.
The same applies to live chat. Make it visible and available for your visitors, so they can easily click and make themselves feel at home if needed! We suggest placing the chat button on the right side of the page.
After that, you can personalize it with your business’ touch. It is possible to automate the chat to pop-up with a message saying, “Hi, how can I help you today?” after the visitor browses the page for 30 seconds, for example.
Don’t forget to assign a name and picture for your agents. Having a ‘real’ face makes it easier for visitors to interact in the chat.
Walk in Your Customer’s Shoes
We might not be able to read thoughts, but we can top consumers’ expectations by giving them the attention they seek. With most live chat software, it is possible to see what pages the visitor is currently viewing. Moreover, it allows agents to check the history of the chat if it is a returning visitor.
Adapt the conversation accordingly. If the customer browses running joggers, the agent can ask if they need help choosing the best size. If a returning visitor placed an order during a previous chat, the chat operator could ask if they got their order correctly and if they were satisfied with the service.
Trying to predict some of your visitor’s actions through the shopping journey is a subtle way to walk in your customers’ shoes. It is also possible to include a short survey once the chat is over.
Whether by simply observing what has been said by the customer or through a survey, the feedback from both is valuable. Based on that data, you can improve your knowledge base and prepare your agents for the most common requests.
Don’t forget to organize the chats using tags. By using this feature, you can easily map the areas that might require improvement.
Combine Automated Services and Live Chat
One of the best things about using live chat for customer service is that it is cost-efficient. In other words, one agent can offer fast and efficient support simultaneously for five different customers. The use of canned responses, or quick replies, comes in handy to make it work in the best manner.
Quick replies are previously written replies to the most common customers’ questions. There is some brainstorming involved to develop your first set of quick answers. Afterward, it evolves according to the interaction you have with consumers. We recommend keeping it simple.
Prepare efficient and short sentences using positive languages and always using the most helpful approach. By doing so, chat operators can ease and quickly adapt their quick replies to provide a personalized experience to customers. It saves some precious time for both agents and consumers!
Learn more about how to make the most of quick replies here.
Be Fast
When customers decide to use live chat for customer service instead of calling or sending an email, they expect a fast response time. Live chat software is ready to help you with that.
Here at Conversation24, the average first response time in the chat is 28 seconds. As soon as the customers say something, we reply with a simple “hello” or greet them by saying “Good morning!”. It is a way of saying that we are there ready to support them.
It only takes a few seconds and it helps agents gain some time while they search for the information requested by the customer. Moreover, by using quick replies, your agents can reassure one customer while they find a solution for more critical issues and reply to other customers at the same time.
Give Your Customers the Possibility to Pay Within the Chat
Besides providing support for customers through live chat, now you can also send them a link to pay for an item without leaving the conversation. Yes, you read it right! Let’s say that you have a car rental business.
A customer is about to spend two days in London and wishes to rent a car. They inform you of the days, the time, and the size of the vehicle they would like to have. Once they make up their minds and agree with the deal, you can smoothly send them a link to pay for the services.
At Conversation24, we are about to launch a new tool that allows an integrated checkout process. You can see how it works below:
Why You Shouldn’t Wait to Adopt Live Chat for Customer Service
Through live chat, you can get to know your customer better. Gradually, you can use their feedback to create tailored marketing actions and monitor your services’ quality to ensure maximum customer satisfaction. The result is much more professional and qualified customer service management!
Now that you know the advantages of chat customer service and how to implement it in your company, how about improving your customer service even more and stand out? We are ready to help you!
