4 Tips for Providing Help for Your Online Customers Using Live Chat

by Stephanie Faris on Monday, April 18 6:00

Traditionally when someone had trouble with a piece of software, that person would pick up the phone and either call a toll-free phone number or contact his or her business s help desk. At that point the caller would place a ticket and wait for help to show up. In some cases, the person on the other end could walk the caller through fixing the problem without having to wait for technical support.

Over time, technology has advanced to the point that users no longer have to call a help desk for help. Employees can place a help desk ticket using a portal or by sending an email, at which point the information is logged and help is sent. But sometimes those issues happen after hours, with a business s customers having the issue rather than its employees. Whether the user is an internal or external one, live chat gives businesses the opportunity to offer after-hours support without sacrificing quality of service. Here are a few tips to help you make the most of live chat in your business.

Use Pre-Chat Surveys

Pre-chat surveys can give your representatives the basic information they need before a call begins. Having customers enter a name, email address or account username, and a brief description of the problem will give the representative a head start when the call begins, saving time and frustration for the customer. Train your employees to start the chat with a welcome, as well as a brief summary of the problem, before beginning to help.

Invest in After-Hours Help

Your website and apps are operational 24 hours a day, which means your chat shouldn t be limited to business hours. Make sure the live chat feature only appears when help is available and invest in well-informed technicians who can take calls on evenings and weekends, when requests are often most likely to come in.

Provide Good Service

During the time the chat feature is enabled, make sure representatives respond as quickly as possible. Enable the feature that lets customers know when the representative is typing. This will assure them someone is actively working on a response, rather than leaving them wondering if they ve somehow become disconnected. Encourage representatives to be warm and friendly during the chat to avoid customers feeling as though they re communicating with a computer.

Personalize the Experience

With the data businesses have available, personalization is easier than ever. Make sure representatives have access to your customer databases and log each interaction. Train your customer service teams to mention previous calls or other details that have been noted in the database, such as a customer s birthday or notable events in a caller s listed town.

When a business s help desk provides fast, friendly service, it can win and retain customers. If those customers have convenient ways to get help when they need it most, they re most likely to get the resolution they need to avoid seeing a business as one that doesn t care about its customers. With the right tools in place, live chat can be customized to ensure a customer receives the best service possible.