I’m an avid advocate for live chat software, as you can see in the bottom right of this site (if I am online). Through seeing how live chat functionality has helped my clients and myself as a customer, it was one of the first things I setup on my new website. I wanted to share my findings over a two part blog post that covers the customer/client benefits of using a chat software and which too choose?
Live Chat – Customer Benefits?
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1. Multi Tasking
There is nothing worse than having to waste your lunch break on hold to a provider. With live chat you can carry on doing your day to day work or skimming social media whilst you wait for a “bing” sound telling you the agent has replied.
2. Transcriptions
Every time you call a company you hear the classic “Your call may be recorded for quality and training purposes”. The company may get a copy of your call but unless you have a recording function/app turned on you don’t get a copy. With the majority of live chat software you can receive a transcription of the conversation afterwards for your records. This helps you find what was mentioned and can be used in case any issues arise in the future.
3. Right Place, Right Time Customer Service
As a customer there is nothing more annoying than not being able to get hold of when you have a problem. Particularly when it is an online, digital or technical issue. Live chat gives you that option to speak to someone as soon as you have a full scale problem or just a question that needs answering. This reduces the need for call back requests, expensive 08 numbers and waiting 48 hours or 2 working days for that email response.
4. No On Hold Music
For me there is nothing more annoying that been put in a holding que with classical music or 90’s pop there for company. With live chat that doesn’t exist. You can choose your own background music (or glorious silence) whilst you wait to be transferred to another department or agent.
5. Cost
What’s more annoying than having a problem or question? Oh yea, paying to have it solved. Many people every year spend a fortune sat on premium rate phone numbers or stopping work to make a call. With live chat there is no cost to the customer and therefore no preloaded resentment from the outset of your agents conversation.
Live Chat – Business Benefits?
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1. Right Place, Right Time Customer Service
Yes, this is both a benefit for the user and for the brand. For brands live chat means they have a direct communications method sat on the website itself available at the time the customer needs you. Obviously this will be more beneficial for clients that get a lot of queries about how to use something or where to find things on their site. But its clear that in a world of real-time customer engagement users expect to be able to get in touch with someone virtually.
2. Cost
There is no complex wiring or infrastructure required to install live chat software. A simply piece of code and a subscription to the right package is usually all that stands in your way. Your business may already be employing a receptionist, call centre staff or sales team to man the phones. Why not simply assign each of them a time slot where they also man the live chat platform? This means there is very little investment needed to bring this into your customer communication methods.
3. Data, Data, Data
Whether you are a client or an agency you can NEVER have too much data. Live chat software provide an additional layer of data to your current tracking and attribution tools/methods. Of course the data you recieve varies per platform but in general live chat delivers:
Referring Link
- Find out where that customer came from on or off your site. You can use this to gauge what they might be looking for and to initiate conversation if they haven’t already.
Operating System / Device
- This will let you know if the customer is viewing your site from a mobile, tablet or desktop and what operating system they are using.
Idle / Viewing
- You can find out if the customer is currently reading pages or idle, e.g. not actively moving their cursor or scrolling.
Time on Site
- You will be able to see if they have just come onto the site or have been on for some time and therefore more likely to require your help.
Number of Visits
- Is this a new visitor or someone who has been on the site several times.
Number of Chats
- Is this their first chat or have they been talking to agents before? If so who?
Location
- Using the customers IP address, the majority of chat platforms will tell you their country and city helping you pass them onto a local store/representative if applicable.
4. Feedback
After the conversation you can automatically deliver a feedback form to the user letting them rate their experience with your agent. Vodafone have a form that includes a number of questions that really help them understand how your chat changed your decisions etc. Click on the Vodafone feedback form below to see the types of questions/answers to go for:
Live Chat In Practice
If we take a look at some live chat experiences from a users perspective, we can begin to see how and why it is such a vital tool for online businesses and a viable option for the customer.
Vodafone (who use LivePerson.com)
My phone contract with Vodafone was up for renewal and not ecstatic with their offering I decided to leave them and go elsewhere. I went onto their website to find out their phone number and in doing so stumbled onto a Live Help option.
Once clicked I was met by ‘Mel’, an actual person asking how they could help. My initial conversation was about keeping my phone number and unlocking my iPhone.After explaining how both of those things are possible and the processes the customer service agent transferred me through to their Retention department. This involved no waiting on hold or listening to a stress inducing classical music on repeat.
Once through, the Retention agent asked what deal I had chosen to go with elsewhere. I let them know about a Giff Gaff sim only deal I had my eye on and they asked if I would like them to try and match it? Naturally I said yes and after five mins waiting she came back with a brilliant sim only offer.
After much conversing I decided to stick with Vodafone, take the extremely good offer and save myself alot of money over the year. All this despite the fact I was previously determined to go with a monthly contract and ended up on a 12 month contract. Anyway, I was able to digitally sign for the contract whilst on the chat and get everything rolled over. I then received the various texts and emails with my order details. I ended the chat and gave Vodafone feedback through a form to which I had been redirected. I then received a full transcription of the conversation for my records. I carried on working on my PC as a happy Vodafone customer with no hefty phone bill or drained mobile battery.
MOO.com (who use LiveChatInc.com)
I got my hands on one of those “Free 50 Moo Business Cards” that regularly make their way around the net. I needed some business cards so naturally went for it. 10 days later I received my cards to find that they had been messed up and the alignment on the design was off. I went on to the Contact section of the MOO.com website to get an email address to send them photo proof and try and get a new set delivered.
I clicked on the chat option and was met by friendly agent ‘Sam’ who took me through the process and checked up on my order details to see if any of the file formats or sizing was incorrect. He found that the problem was actually my fault but still gave me a voucher code for a free replacement order. I was able to send him my updated files to check they were correct this time round. Once all that was sorted I bid farewell and received a full transcription of the conversation.
So, those are the many reasons why you should consider live chat software for your website. But which provider should you go with? Read my second post Which Live Chat Software To Choose? post here.
I would love to hear about your experiences of live chat software as a customer or as a business, including which software you prefer. Pop me a comment and lets get chatting.