Live chat is one of the best solutions for your customers nowadays. All of your customers can get their answers very quickly and in their own convenient time and place.
The use of live chat is spreading a lot, but there are still some things that your customers might not like about it. We are going to look into all of these things one by one, as well as the solutions for them.
Quick but Not Quick
As we mentioned, one of the great benefits of live chat is that customers can get their answers really fast. Far faster than via email or phone. They don’t need to wait in line on the phone or wait for a few days to get a reply via email. They click, they type and they have their answer.
But one of the things that can really put the customer off is when the fast channel turns out to be a slow one. Having the customer waiting on your reply can be very frustrating for them. Since they opted to use the live chat channel, they expect it to be fast and if it is not, they may come to hate it.
To fix this, make sure you train your chat operators to reply to the customer fast. Even if they don’t have the answer yet, it is best to keep the customer engaged. This way they will feel like they are being helped and listened to. The best is to have the first reply sent within 30 seconds.
Human but a Robot
Another thing your customers might not like so much is if your operators reply like robots. It is even worse when they know they are talking to a human, but they get replies as if they are from a robot.
It can be very annoying because, with a robot, you cannot get to the same understanding as with a human. So customers are really happy when they know there is a real person talking to them. That happiness can disappear quite quickly if the operator is only sending templates and not really getting into the matter.
To avoid that, train your operators to use the quick replies but adjust them a little bit. Also, it is never a bad idea to actually type something on their own. This will always be necessary as no two questions are the same. They need to be more personal and attentive.
Too Personal
It is one thing to be personal, another is to be too personal. If at some point the conversation gets way too unprofessional, the customer will again be irritated. Being too casual on chat, just because it is a chat, is not okay.
Your operators need to know that this chat is not the same as the ones they have with their friends. In a professional environment, they need to act professionally and meet their customers’ needs in a professional manner.
They need to keep away from too personal questions. But they also need to make sure they don’t let the customers get into their personal space too much. There should be a perfect balance between personal and professional.
Live Chat or Chatbot
Another very important thing is having the customers think they are contacting live chat, while they will be in contact with a chatbot. As we mentioned above, people may want to use live chat, because they know there will be a real person there, who will understand their issue.
But if they find that the live chat is actually a chatbot that won’t be of any help to them, it can be very off-putting. Especially if their issue is serious and they are already angry, they will get even angrier.
To avoid that, make sure you know the difference between the two and make sure that your customers are informed about it properly. If it is a chatbot, make sure the name consists of the word bot or robot. The picture should also be of a robot and not a real human.
If it is a live chat, with a real human agent, you can use a photo of a person and a person’s name. This way, the customers won’t be confused as to what to expect when they are trying to contact you.
In order to help your customers get in contact with you in the easiest way possible – through live chat – make sure you follow these simple rules. This way, you and your customers will be able to get all the benefits from live chat!
We can help you with harvesting the great results of live chat here!
