Most people consider chat as a tool to support website visitors and convert hesitating visitors into customers. Speed and convenience are considered as its main advantages. There is no lie in any of these things, but there are many other valuable aspects of chat that are less emphasized. An overarching aspect that people forget to address when talking about live chat is efficiency. Here are 7 of chat’s overlooked aspects that increase customer contact efficiency.
1. The Ability to Help More Customers at Once
Chat gives the opportunity to help more customers at the same time. Telephone operators can assist one customer at a time, while on chat they are able to help more customers. Experienced chat operators can handle 6 chats at the same time. This does not interfere with the operators’ speed and quality, and the customers are still satisfied with the service. This is a great advantage as you are able to assist six customers instead of just one.
2. Helping “In Advance” With Message Sneak Peek
Some chat software solutions contain a message sneak peek. This highly increases the efficiency of chat operators, because they are able to preview what the customer is typing. Being able to see the message before the visitor actually sends it is a big plus as the chat operator will be able to start working on the query before it was even submitted. In this way, the customer receives the information faster, increasing their satisfaction level. After all, speed while maintaining quality and providing an individual touch is amongst the most important parts of excellent customer service. So having (a part of) the answer before the question appears, contributes to the overall positive customer service experience.
3. Being Even Faster with Canned Responses
Usually, chat operators would have a really high typing speed, which is beneficial as customers receive their replies quickly. What helps with the speed, even more, are the so-called “canned responses”. Canned responses are ready answers to the most frequently asked questions. All you need to do is choose the canned response and send it. The message sneak peek comes in handy here as well. While the customer is typing, chat operators can choose the answer and send it as soon as they receive the question. Even if you don’t see the message in advance, you can give the right answer fast via canned responses. With these responses, it is possible to, on average, answer up to 90% of customers’ questions. Another plus is their flexibility – you can add/delete responses whenever you need or change them accordingly. They are well-structured, short and precise – exactly what customers need.
There is another great feature that we are currently developing. It is the shortkey auto-trigger. The chat trigger is closely related to canned responses. It is an automated connection between visitors’ questions and canned responses. The system is able to recognize keywords from the customer’s query. It then connects them to possible answers from the canned responses and displays them for the chat operator. All the chat operator needs to do is choose the correct answer for the case. This gives chat operators the opportunity to assist customers faster and without making any errors.
4. Screen-sharing – See What I See
Screensharing is another very convenient feature of live chat. With screensharing visitors are able to share their screen with chat operators and get more direct assistance with their queries. What’s even better is that there is no need to install any additional software or plug-ins. Visitors just need to allow the feature on their side, the chat operator needs to do the same and the screensharing may begin. Whatever the query of the visitor is, it is much easier to be solved with this feature. Chat operators are able to mark certain sections of the page that the visitor has trouble finding and guide them through a specific process. Screensharing can also be done with telephone operators. In this way, operators can guide the visitor through their voice, while marking sections on the visitor’s page. Through this feature, customers can actually see that they are being helped and this contributes to a positive customer experience.
5. File-Sharing – Easier Way of Document Sharing
Screensharing is not the only thing you can share while being on chat. Both customers and chat operators can share different files with each other. Customers can receive any kind of files needed in order to resolve an issue they might be facing. The other way around is also possible. Customers can send files like resumes or cover letters to the chat operator as well. This makes each of the processes really convenient and helpful. Customers are very glad when they do not need to write an email in order to send something to the company. Being able to simply drag the file to the chat window is much more convenient in any way.
6. Success codes (tags) – Categorise your chats
Being able to categorize the queries that are coming from the visitors is very important. It can be done very easily through success codes or the so-called “tags”. Success codes are labels that are added at the end of the chat. They put the chat in different categories, depending on what the chat was about. In this way, companies are able to see what customers’ most frequent queries are about. It also makes the follow up more efficient as it is easier to find specific information using success codes.
Another great thing about tags is that they help you with staffing. You can see if certain types of queries are coming more often in a specific part of the day. For example, if you see that more sales queries are coming in the evening, you can put a bigger part of the sales team on the evening shift. It also helps companies focus on what they need to improve in their services.
7. Email follow-up – Automatically forward chats
Another way to better organise companies’ internal procedures is through email follow-ups. When the chat is over, chat operators add success codes to the chat. Success codes are connected to email addresses of different departments of the company. In this way, departments receive emails with chat transcripts, connected to them, and they can start working on customers’ queries. This feature is very convenient for chat operators as they do not need to copy-paste chat conversations into emails. They just need to click one button and the email is redirected to the correct department or person.
Additional comments from the operator can be added to the script if needed. For example, if the query is urgent, the chat operator can add a comment about it. In this way, the team will be able to handle that query with priority.
Bonus Feature – Goal Tracking
Each company has its own goals. Being able to track goals and measure conversions is really important as it gives you the opportunity to move forward. With the goal tracking software, you can set goals based on your own criteria and track them really easily. Furthermore, it displays the number of sales for a certain period of time. You can also check the total revenue of the sales shown. This is a great way to see the bigger picture and where your company is headed.
The road to efficiency
Having all this in mind, live chat’s efficiency is no longer a secret. With all its different features it is really convenient for both the customers and the company. Chat is not just about receiving quick answers anymore, it is far more than that. With all these ways, chat increases customer contact efficiency. Customers are satisfied with the experience. This is how it is more likely that they will be coming back for more. Chat’s increased efficiency helps the companies with good reviews, it reduces costs and increases sales. It’s a win-win situation – by focusing on increasing the efficiency of customer contact, you give customers what they need and they give you back what you need. And so your business thrives.