Your organization has taken the right step to offer another channel like web chat to provide support. Web chat is an easy way for customers to get help with inquiries such as more product or service information, billing, returns, and more, without having to pick up the phone. But it doesn’t end there! There’s more to consider in order to provide the best possible customer experiences through this growing digital channel. Read on for some helpful tips to maximize the use of web chat.
Introductions Matter
Always start a chat by introducing yourself. This should include your name, job title, your brand’s value proposition, and asking how you may help them. You may also ask how their day is! This adds a personable touch to the conversation and also sets a friendly tone. If your customer or prospect is already frustrated before the interaction, this will also help lighten the conversation from the start.
Be Concise & Consistent
When a lot of information needs to be communicated through text, it’s important to be clear and concise for your customer or prospect to understand what you’re communicating the first time. This will provide a better experience for your customers, reduce further questions, and reduce the time your agents are in each chat. An effective way to do this is to actively remove any “filler” words that aren’t necessary, and by using canned responses which are preset responses your agents can insert into the chat that have been well thought out for clarity. Cloud Contact Center solutions should have canned response capabilities.
Show Empathy
If your customer is frustrated, make sure you are being empathetic to their situation. This adds the human touch and shows you truly care, which will in turn make them feel like they are being listened to. Fast replies are important, however, if the inquiry is more complicated, time should be spent reviewing what the customer has sent to respond accurately. In these scenarios, canned responses could be used such as “Thank you for providing me that information. Allow me a minute to review this thoroughly. Thank you for your patience”.
Keep them Posted
If an agent is looking into an inquiry and it’s taking some time (maybe they’re reaching out to another department to get more information), a quick note should be sent that they’re still investigating. Customers want to get information as fast as possible, and this will reassure them that you haven’t forgotten about them. Again, canned responses may come into action here to save time typing.
Use a Profile Picture
Using a real profile picture on your web chat window helps make the conversation more live-like, especially when combined with an introduction. Your customers will appreciate this subtle addition and it will help keep the whole experience more personalized.
Positioning of the Web Chat Icon
Ensure the icon is not obstructing any areas on your website. Visit each page on your website and scroll through to see that the icon isn’t obstructing any text or interactive pieces such as buttons, expandable menus, and more. Another thing to consider is to place the icon at the bottom right of the screen. It’s most common for websites to place the icon there and your visitors will instinctively look in that area to open a web chat.
Consider using a smaller icon with a contrasting colour that’s not too intrusive. There is a fine balance between making it visible and not allowing it to compete too heavily with the content on your website. Also, apply the same principles to your mobile layout which is extremely important since a large portion of your visitors or maybe even the majority of your visitors may be visiting on mobile.
Use Triggers to Launch the Chat
Triggers are preset rules that allow a webchat window to appear with a specific message based on their browsing behaviour. For instance, if a visitor has been clicking or viewing multiple product descriptions for pressure washers, a chat window can trigger with a preset message asking if they need help finding the right pressure washer. This is an example of a personalized experience that helps customers find the right product or service faster, with your help. Contact us to learn more about this feature!
AI Chatbots Help You, and Your Customers
Web Chatbots are a highly effective way to get your customers answers to common questions fast, while at the same time lowering queues to speak to live agents. Your agents will have more time to handle more complex inquiries. Also, if you don’t have live agents available 24/7, chatbots will be able to cover for your agents, and if the chatbot can’t handle the inquiry, the customer’s question can be noted for the next available agent to reach out via email or phone.
Break Out Long Responses
Sometimes your response requires a very long message. A good tactic to keep in mind is to break out that response into separate smaller paragraphs, making it easier to read and interpret. A small change like this helps further improve the conversation.
Links and Rich Messaging
Make it easier for your customers to follow instructions or see material by pasting a link in the chat window versus sending them instructions on where to navigate. Also, you have an advantage if your web chat solution includes rich messaging, which allows for images to be shared, document previews, as well as gifs and emojis. NuVoxx can provide you with a web chat solution that includes rich messaging. Contact us to learn more!
Review Chat History
Take a look at the chat history of a returning visitor or customer to ensure you have some context before starting the conversation. This helps with creating a personalized and tailored experience. They may be reaching out about the same inquiry, and reviewing historical chats will help, but if it’s a new inquiry, you still never know if their previous inquiry will come up again. Either way, you will be more prepared to offer fast and tailored service without having the customer repeat themselves.
Go Above and Beyond
Even once you have resolved their issue, always ask if there is anything else you can help them with and if they’re satisfied with the service you provided. To top it off, maybe include a final canned response that includes information about a promotion, or any new updates on a product that they may like to be aware of.
Offer a Chat Transcript
Usually, customers would like to have a record of what has been said in the webchat. Offering a chat transcript helps your customers feel at ease, and shows that your agents are confident in the information and advice they provide.
End it With a Survey
Surveys shouldn’t only be implemented over the phone or email, but in web chats too! This shows that you care about your performance, and are actively looking to improve your service for your customers. They’ll appreciate it!
We hope this blog helped. Feel free to share this link within your contact center to provide some valuable tips to master Webchat CX! Leave a comment below to share your thoughts or to ask any questions you may have.