Webcare & live chat: a match made in heaven

Live chat has proven itself as a successful channel for customer contact. Various studies have shown positive results, which show that live chat should not be missed as a service channel. Recent research by Zendesk, for example, shows that people prefer the channel live chat if it is offered on the website. The number of questions through other online channels, such as phone, decreases when live chat is offered.

In addition, several studies have shown that live chat has a positive effect on the customer experience and that customer satisfaction via this channel is higher than other channels. But in addition to service, live chat also offers sales and marketing opportunities:

• Live chat increases conversion. Interact with visitors on your website and offer (pro)active help with questions. This way you are able to better control the visitor. Interaction ensures a better feeling of the visitor to your brand. With a positive experience, this makes him more prepared to make a purchase.
• Live chat lowers the bounce percentage on the website. The easier it is for a visitor to approach you when having questions, the more likely it is that he or she will take advantage of this.
• It reduces costs because the channel is more efficient and faster than many other channels. With telephone contact you also have fast and real-time contact with the customer, but you are limited to having 1 conversation at a time. Live chat allows multiple conversations to take place side by side, without compromising the personal character of the service.

With the addition of technology, such as smart chatbots that can handle first-line questions, this efficiency can go one step further, leaving more time for service employees to answer more complex questions.

For good service, it is important to answer the customer’s question immediately as soon as this occurs. For example, an angry customer wants to be able to help you when he’s still full of emotion. Only this will give you the chance to turn the emotion into a positive experience.

Traditional channels such as email and telephone are becoming less and less suited to meeting the expectations of today’s customers. They are less efficient, because you can only have one conversation at a time during telephone contact or because a response to an e-mail is often more extensive than a response to a question via other channels, where questions are asked much more concise. In addition, e-mail is much less of a real-time channel, where people react immediately. This means that conversations from start to finish take much longer and it also takes longer for the customer to feel well served.

“Live chat is more efficient than a phone call, but it also makes it possible to answer customer questions quickly,” says Alexander de Ruiter, CEO at Spotler Engage.

Efficiency and relevance are a must for optimal service. It is therefore important to be kept up to date with reports about your organisation, always and everywhere, in real time. Live chat within Engage can be added to the existing tool in which service employees also handle the messages that arrive via social media or other messaging channels.

By adding live chat to the same service tool/webcare tool, you’ll always have an overview of all questions asked through different channels. This allows you to work clearly, efficiently and quickly. It is easy to switch between different channels when it comes to providing service. In addition, reporting per channel provides insights into its use per channel, the diversity of topics per channel and also peak times. With these insights you can give guidance to the service team.

• Make sure there is enough capacity to react quickly. By reporting on the channel live chat you are able to gain insights into peak moments. Adjust the occupancy to ensure optimal service.
• Leave the jargon. Make service more personal by speaking the customer’s language.
• Live chat is more efficient than phone. Pick up multiple conversations at the same time, but make sure you have enough attention for each customer. For example, choose not to pick up more than 3 chats at a time.
• By adding technology within live chat, you are able to be reachable for longer by the customer. A chatbot can help solve problems, even outside opening hours.
• Make the most of live chat by seeing opportunities not only for service, but also for marketing and sales.

Did you become inspired to use live chat for your organization after reading this article? Do not hesitate to contact us to discuss the possibilities. This can be done via +31 (0)85 210 50 60, contact-engage@spotler.com or send us a chat message on workdays!