Today’s customers are more impatient and demanding than ever before, and they’re all too happy to switch to a competitor if they’re not immediately satisfied. In fact, 82% of consumers have stopped doing business with a company after a single bad experience.1 And companies are under more pressure than ever to serve them better and faster – all while maintaining their bottom line.
As a result, live chat has become widely adopted by customers and businesses alike. Consumers increasingly prefer digital channels and view live chat as the fastest way to get a response. For businesses, chat increases efficiency and decreases the cost per contact since agents are able to manage multiple conversations simultaneously.
But for many businesses, adding a new channel and getting started with live chat can be overwhelming. Deciding to implement chat is the easy part, but where do you begin?
These are the five most common questions we get asked by companies as they begin planning:
- What does it take to get started? Decide who your target audience is, know what you’re trying to accomplish and what your goals are, and define an operational plan for who will staff chats and who will manage your chat strategy internally.
- How do you measure success and when will I achieve ROI? Start by defining KPI expectations. Will you be focused on conversions, customer satisfaction, agent productivity, or something else? Then analyze your results, test and adjust accordingly and repeat. If you commit to a strategy and a process, you will see results.
- How do I staff a live chat channel and does training differ from phone? Use industry benchmarks and website analytics to build chat volume models, and then use those inputs to build a staffing plan. Chat agents are different than phone agents, and you’ll want to hire based on typing and writing skills, as well as their ability to multi-task.
- Are their specific implications for mobile chat? Yes, absolutely. Mobile customers are on-the-go and have a greater sense of urgency. Agents will need to be faster, type less and solve the problem as quickly as possible. You may even consider routing mobile chats differently to ensure a timely response.
- How can live chat be integrated with other channels and systems? Chat should be incorporated into your omni-channel strategy, so agents have access to customer history and can provide a consistent experience across channels. They should also be able to quickly escalate to assisted support if issues become more complex.
If you find yourself asking these questions, don’t worry. We’re here to help. Watch our on-demand webinar, Leveraging Live Chat in Your Organization: 5 Key Questions Answered, to learn more about what it takes to get started and how live chat can benefit your organization.
1Get It Right: Deliver the Omni-Channel Support Customers Want, LogMeIn/Ovum, 2016
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