The Live Chat Guide
This is an extensive guide to live chat & customer experience The comprehensive study will help you learn:
• How live chat is revolutionizing CX
• How live chat is different from other tools
• Which live chat solution is best for your business
So if you want to revolutionize CX instantly and have a personalized connection with customers, read this guide.
Content
CHAPTER 1
What is Live Chat?
CHAPTER 2
Live Chat Software Trends & Stats
Types of Live Chat Solutions
CHAPTER 4
Why do You Need Live Chat Software?
CHAPTER 5
What Features to Look for in a Live Chat Tool?
CHAPTER 6
The Benefits of Live Chat
CHAPTER 7
Buying factors of live chat software
CHAPTER 8
Human agent chat vs. Virtual agent chat
CHAPTER 9
Live Chat vs Messaging
CHAPTER 10
Best Practices to Get The Most Value from Live Chat
CHAPTER 11
The Right Words to Use in Live Chat
CHAPTER 12
Cost-effective, Easy-to-deploy Live Chat Solution
What is Live Chat?
CHAPTER 1
Mr . Jones wants to know his order’s status with company X. He is not very comfortable expressing himself over the phone. He also doesn’t want to have email customer support due to long wait times. Instead, he initiates a conversation through the company’s live chat tool – InfiBOT:
Compare this meaningful interaction with this automated email that Mr. X once received from Company Y’s customer support:
More importantly, which one will your customers prefer?
Until a few years ago, live chat used to be horrible. In fact, live chat messages used to resemble the above auto-email notice. Since it involved no live interactions and simply directed customers to another medium, it yielded little or no value. As a result, it failed to impact customer satisfaction or customer experiences (CX).
Today live Chat is a whole new story. ,Today, live chat is one of the most powerful tools for lead generation and nurturing, customer support and CX improvement.
This guide will cover everything about live chat – the benefits of live chat, why you need it for your organization, and many more.
But first, we will cover the basics: What is live chat?
What is live chat?
Did you know that the technology behind online chat has been around since the 1970s?
However, it’s taken over three decades for this medium to really rise through the ranks. And now:
Unsurprisingly, between 2015 and 2018, the use of live chat grew by nearly 400%. And by 2023, the global live chat software market is expected to grow to $987 million. In simplest terms, live chat is instant messenger with a professional flavor.
Live chat technology enables companies to have text-based conversations with their customers via a messaging interface. Here, “live” refers to real-time, two-way interactions between the organization and a customer, as opposed to email support where there is little or no expectation of immediate responses (much less immediate solutions).
Besides other digital communication channels like email, Live chat are expected to lead the Charge in the coming years. With features like live assistance, co-browsing and video chat, you can guide customers in the right direction and deliver a meaningful in-person experience. Some tools also provide a hybrid messaging option, which allows for both synchronous and asynchronous conversations to happen within the same chat interface.
When live chat software is embedded on a company’s website, customers can send their questions to an Artificial Intelligence-powered chatbot, who can quickly reply in the same window. If the bot cannot provide a suitable answer, say, because it is not already available in its knowledge base, or because the customer query requires human judgment or decision-making capability, it can redirect the Customer to a live agent. This person can then continue the conversation seamlessly, and guide it towards a desirable conclusion.
Although live chat is most commonly used for customer support, its utility extends to many other areas (use cases), including lead generation and customer engagement.
Live Chat Software
Trends & Stats
CHAPTER 2
Types of Live Chat Solutions
CHAPTER 3
Today’s live chat solutions have come a long way from the “Talkomatic” of 1973, widely considered the world’s first chat room app. But before you invest in one, it might be useful to be more aware of the different types that are currently available.
I. Types of Live Chat Solutions by Feature set
i. Standalone solution
A standalone live chat solution offers only live chat and its associated primary features to initiate live text conversations with website visitors. It is not usually integrated with the organization’s helpdesk software or CRM platform, so its utility is fairly limited, especially in the long term.
ii. All-in-one solution
In omnichannel settings where contact centers need close integration between multiple customer support channels, as well as integration with helpdesk and CRM platforms, an all-in-one solution is an obvious choice. It works alongside support ticketing tools and self-service customer portals and seamlessly integrates with the organization’s social media channels.
It also provides:
II. Types of Live Chat Solutions by Function or Use Case
Why do You Need Live Chat Software?
CHAPTER 4
Some businesses still haven’t started with a compelling live chat solution. Here’s what will make you understand the real need for having a live chat software for your contact center
- Live chat is a fast-paced communication channel that works on the primary KPI of a business i.e., the response rate
- It allows you to track your customer’s journey and guide them throughout to close sales
- Live chat resolution time is excellent and canned response do wonders here
- Integration with CRM and other application assures personalized conversation
- It grows the loyalty and trust of customers in the brand since the business is always there to assist the visitors.
- Live chat empowers agents to engage with customers on the website proactively
- Allows both chatbots and agents to handle customer queries
- Audio/video chat options work as a cherry on the cake when it comes to a personalized experience
- Live chat support has become a gateway to convert leads into loyal customers and boost customer engagement.
What Features to Look for in a Live Chat Tool?
CHAPTER 5
Regardless of your specific use case, your live chat solution must incorporate these essential features.
The Benefits of Live Chat
CHAPTER 6
The #1 factor in delivering a great CX is not delighting customers, but reducing their efforts.
–Harvard Business Review
Today’s customers expect fast responses from the brands they engage with. They don’t appreciate long hold times, and they get seriously annoyed when they are transferred to multiple agents or departments. In a 433 sales team study, it was found that they lost nearly all their potential leads when response times were longer than 15 minutes. Even companies that responded in ten minutes compared to five minutes experienced a 400% decrease in their odds of qualifying leads.
Live chat effectively eliminates (or at least minimizes these issues). You can respond faster to customers (or leads) with relevant information that addresses their specific pain points or need. This speed – not to mention comfort and convenience – leave a good impression on them, and improves their CX. And for your organization, it can have a positive, long-term impact on conversions, sales and profits.
Here are some more powerful benefits of live chat, and why you need to implement it in your omnichannel contact center.
i. 24×7 Availability
Live chatbots provide an easy and effective way to support customers even when live agents are not available. This is a huge advantage in a post-COVID world where many support teams are either curtailed in size, working remotely, or both. Bots can be customized based on common questions. Scripts with user-friendly phrases and appropriate responses generate engaging conversations and can lead to useful results for customers – even in the absence of human support. Bots can also be used to measure CX and gather critical customer feedback that can then be analyzed to initiate improvements.
ii. Contextual, conversational and accessible support
Live chat can be easily integrated in the customer’s support workflow so they know exactly where to go to get the help they need. It is more conversational and real-time than email support. It enables agents to systematically lead the customer through the process by asking pertinent questions in the right order and quickly present solutions without long waits or unnecessary back-and-forth email dialogs.
Moreover, the right solution will let the agent know more about the customer, e.g., their purchase history, demographics or contact details. It will also show them where the customer is in their journey, so they have the right context to provide the most tailored and useful responses.
iii. Answer specific questions not covered in the FAQs
For common questions, FAQs and website support sections are usually adequate. However, when customers have unique, specific or complex needs, a chatbot can help fill key gaps. It can also anticipate the Customer’s needs and quickly address their concerns before they lose interest (or patience).
For customers on the fence, say, about a purchase, live chat can provide the right information at just the right time to eliminate conversion roadblocks and boost sales.
iv. Capture more leads
A live chatbot is a great way to capture leads and qualify them to move them down the sales funnel. Website forms don’t always work, especially now, when customers are more impatient and less brand-loyal. But with a simple bot and a few strategically-placed buttons, you can mitigate this issue. If your script is engaging and user-focused and uses direct “are you” and “do you want to”-type questions, you can easily capture and qualify leads without making site visitors fill out tedious forms.
v. Get a lead on the competition
The Drift study found that only 14% of companies had a live chat system in place. Extrapolating to the wider world, if your organization has implemented live chat, you are in a great position to improve your CX outcomes in a cost-effective, measurable and user-friendly way. This puts you several steps ahead of your competition. Live chat on your website is also a proven and more human way to show customers that you are “open for business” and that you care about them.
Buying factors of live chat software
CHAPTER 7
It can be a bit overwhelming to choose the best live chat software for your business. However, as with any other enterprise software, the best way to start is by first defining your requirements and key use case(s) to guide your research and decision-making. Then you can begin to evaluate different options based on these must-have factors:
i. Features
The feature set you require will depend on your use case. For instance, features like automated campaigns, chatbots, and event-based messaging may be essential for your marketing team. Your sales team may need a lead-capturing mechanism. Your support team may demand intelligent chat routing co-browsing and screen-sharing.
ii. Cloud-based deployment
As far as possible, avoid a vendor that hosts their solution on-premise. A reliable cloud-based solution will be easier to set up and deploy. It will also integrate well with other tools in your enterprise (e.g., your CRM platform), and support data-driven decision-making for your omnichannel contact center.
iii. Omnichannel capabilities
Select a solution that seamlessly integrates with your omnichannel customer support software stack and provides cross-channel capabilities like mobile-readiness and social media support. Something that does empowers your agent to switch channels without switching screen
Human agent chat vs. Virtual agent chat
CHAPTER 8
So if your contact center is still stuck on old-fashioned voice and email support, or worse – website forms – you should consider expanding your omnichannel framework by adding a live chat feature to your business website.
Here, you have two options: live chat through chatbots and human agents.
Q: So which one should you choose?
A: BOTH!
Here’s why both are effective.
The Advantages of Virtual agent over Human agent
A chatbot or Artificial Intelligence-powered chatbot is a robot that can carry on a textual conversation with customers. It relies on contextual and language cues to respond with the right answers from the organization’s knowledgebase. This knowledgebase must be updated regularly with new queries and answers. This allows the chatbot to remain current and continue to provide timely support without human intervention.
Since they can’t give answers beyond what they have specifically been taught to say, customer support chatbots are usually best for FAQs and simple queries. For more complex queries, they can route the chat to a live agent so the conversation can keep going towards a desired conclusion. Certain chatbots (e.g. digital assistants) can be very sophisticated in responding to queries in a very human-like manner.
Despite their limitations, there are also many advantages to implementing chatbots. They provide quick resolutions with almost zero waiting time. They can operate 24×7, so the organization can still provide support during off-hours. Moreover, they can simultaneously handle multiple chats, thus taking some pressure off human agents and removing bottlenecks in customer traffic flow.
Modern chatbots can be “trained” to initiate and then modify conversations based on the visitor’s profile and relevant cues such as interaction or shopping history, demographics, etc. This one-to-one pairing enables brands to customize entire interactions and deliver enhanced customer experiences. Chatbot redefines customer interaction and improves the quality of their support over time.
And last but definitely not least, a chatbot is a cost-effective and scalable option compared to live agents. It just needs to be deployed once and regularly trained to handle an increasing number of queries. If the knowledgebase is sufficiently comprehensive, the contact center may even be able to reduce the number of human agents, further lowering their personnel costs.
Live Chat vs Messaging
CHAPTER 9
| Live Chat | Messaging App | |
|---|---|---|
| Examples | Human-agent/Chatbot | WhatsApp, Social media DM |
| Types | Session-based & Synchronous where customer chat history disappears after a session/resolution | Asynchronous communication where customer has all the messaging whenever the message opens |
| Messaging type | Video, audio, text messaging along with rich-media support | Same as Live Chat |
Best Practices to Get The Most Value from Live Chat
CHAPTER 10
As we have already seen, live chat offers numerous benefits that can strengthen your omnichannel contact center. Here are some best practices that can help you extract the maximum ROI from your live chat implementation.
i. Make the language warm and human
Canned, impersonal messages are adequate (and a huge time-saver) for simple questions like “what’s your address?” and “do you deliver on weekends?” But for more complex problems, canned responses are a no-no. Also, make sure that the language you use for both canned and non-canned responses sounds human-like and not machine-like. The personal touch helps build rapport and generates loyalty.
ii. Maintain professionalism
Live chat is less formal than email, but it still needs to be completely professional. Putting customers at ease is great but an overly informal tone is not. Every conversation should reflect brand stewardship and consistency with its values. Agents should always be trained to use correct grammar and spellings, even if the customer doesn’t.
iii. Read before replying
Try to keep chats short and to the point. A shorter chat session never lets your customers get board or dragged. A longer chat might drift a customer to a different channel for further conversation. And, chat sessions can be shorter only when you are a keen reader. Don’t jump to a resolution until you read the conversation carefully. Ask a question in case you are not clear of the context.
iv. Reduce your response times
Earlier we spoke about how companies lose customers due to long response times. Don’t let this be you. Customers are drawn to live chat due to its rapid-fire nature, so aim for a response time that’s as low as possible. Ideally, it shouldn’t go over 30 seconds per response. Otherwise, they will lose interest and leave.
v. State your availability – clearly
Your chat application should clearly state your business hours, especially if you’re not open 24/7, or if your human agents are not available at certain times of the day or week. When the business closes, state that chats are unavailable and will re-open later. Also, state if agents are busy so customers don’t waste time waiting. The omnichannel support can also ensure availability to improve customer engagement.
vi. Integrate live chat with your existing CRM
The more you know about your customers, the better service and support you can offer. Implement a live chat tool that integrates with your existing CRM platform so your agents get the valuable context they need to initiate meaningful interactions with each customer.
The Right Words to Use in Live Chat
CHAPTER 11
When your live chat script includes the right words and phrases, you can move past simply resolving your customer’s queries. You can even close more sales, boost profits, deliver memorable customer experiences, and create happy customers and loyal fans.
Here are some common affirmative phrases that you should include in your live chat scripts:
• Assure
• Certainly
• Definitely
• Absolutely
• Excellent
• Great
• Awesome
• Superb
• Wonderful
And these are some negative phrases that you should always avoid:
• Never
• No way
• Not at all
• No, unfortunately
• Forget it
• Bad
• Awful
• Terrible
In general, all “No” types of words should be left out. If you can’t avoid saying No entirely, make sure you couch all negative responses using positive words or affirmative phrases. Give alternative suggestions or provide other resources so the customer doesn’t feel frustrated or that their time was wasted. This way, you can still ensure a good CX and maintain your reputation as a customer-friendly organization.
Cost-effective, Easy-to-deploy Live Chat Solution
CHAPTER 12
Over the years, live chat has evolved into time-tested customer support, lead generation and sales tool. It provides a wonderful way to communicate with customers, nurture meaningful, long-term relationships with them, and improve their user experiences with your brand. Live chat is also beneficial for your organization since it can help you qualify leads faster, boost your conversions, and generate more revenues. We hope this guide has convinced you that live chat can add immense value to your omnichannel contact center!
Agent sneak peek
Agent can view customer’s intent while he is still typing. Prepares agent with possible solution to the query
Canned messages
Save agent’s time lost in typing similar messages numerous times a day with predetermined responses
Self & Team notes
Add notes to a live conversation for future reference and direction
Tagging & wrap-up codes
Saved tags to classify conversation and quick call closing with wrap up codes.
Pre-chat & offline forms
Don’t miss a lead even when your agents are not present to attend visitor on the website
360° interaction history
Empower agents with customer’s interaction history on a unified screen
Page-specific Chat
Rule-based greetings/ conversations for more relevant web experience
Branded chat widget
Define your brand theme to this important touchpoint.
Video/Audio Chat
Level up text conversation with in-person support through audio/video chat
Ready to uplevel your customer experience and convert more leads?
Schedule a demo today to learn how you can close more sales, retain more customers and get more referrals
