Live chat allows agents to handle multiple customer inquiries simultaneously, ensuring faster response times and reducing customer frustration.

Read on to learn more about live chat support.

What Is Live Chat Support?

Live chat support is a software tool that allows your customers to chat in real-time with support agents. Many live chat software vendors provide quality support to your customers at an affordable subscription cost. Adding the tool is as easy as copying and pasting the code into your website’s backend, and your live chat box will appear on the page once you publish.

Live chat support services include handling simple customer support inquiries, like basic purchase questions, newsletter sign ups, and tracking information. They can also provide your customers with in-depth support, including sharing details about your personalized services, making product recommendations, and assisting with recurring problems.

The Benefits of Live Chat Support Services

While the technology is relatively new for call centers, there are many benefits of outsourcing live chat agents to handle your customer services needs:

Gives You a Competitive Advantage

If you implement live chat on your website, you’re ahead of the pack and leading the charge in better customer service methods. Outsourcing live chat agents lets you provide 24/7 service support, a luxury few businesses can offer. It also improves customer loyalty by reassuring them that someone representing your brand is always available to help.

Cost-Effective

Setting up phone and email systems to handle customer support takes time and money—which you won’t need to spend with live chat support services to provide your customers with a great experience. Agents can handle multiple inquiries at a time, as well as use canned reply options to rapidly send out solutions to common problems. That way, they can focus their efforts and maximize their paid time on more complicated issues.

Helps Prevent Cart Abandonment

When customers reach the shipping and delivery stage of checkout, they may be confronted with information and prices that vary by location. The confusion can drive some to give up and abandon their cart. Instead of leaving customers to find that out on their own, they can reach out to a live chat agent for clear answers in minutes—and give you one more sale.

Personalizes Your Brand

Live chat features let you expand your brand with a customizable window. Not only can you change its colors to match yours, you can add agent names and images to create a personable experience for customers. The tools even come with smart routing modes, so a customer can be connected to the same live chat agent each time to deepen the relationship.

Improves Customer Satisfaction

Live chat is fast, free for the customer, and combines email and phone support into one platform. Customers can attach media files to illustrate issues, as well as enjoy anonymity so they can feel comfortable speaking directly. Agents on live chat support teams also ensure their conversations flow naturally to mimic talking with a person in real-time.

Live Chat Assistance: What to Consider

If you’re considering investing in live chat support tools, here are some things to consider first:

• Do you have a specific client-based that can benefit from live chat services more than others? You don’t have to offer it to everyone. Decide if it’s for VIP clients or new customers who need extra support.
• Where is it most valuable? Pinpoint those moments in your app or sales funnel where a real-time conversation can make a difference.
• How can you seamlessly implement live chat into your operations? Look at your available time and skills. Figure out how many hours you can cover with live chat support. Find a sustainable mix with your other support channels.

Live Chat Support Best Practices for Managers

By implementing these practices, you’ll be able to provide top-notch customer support and maintain service quality:

Keep Your Incoming Volume Manageable

Your customers expect quick and accessible interaction. Monitor the volume and response time using reporting tools and take action if needed. You could even consider offering chat only during specific time windows or to certain customer groups to control the workload.

Don’t Overload Your Support Agents

While a typical agent can handle two or three concurrent chats, it’s crucial to consider the complexity of questions and the experience levels of both the customer and agent. Set a maximum chat number to ensure that no team member gets overwhelmed with too many chat requests.

Live Chat Support Best Practices for Agents

Here are some tips to help your agents navigate live chat conversations:

Stay on Track

Just like managing a chatty relative, bring the conversation back to its purpose. Stay focused and make sure both you and your customer are on the same page.

Set Expectations

Let your customers know if you need to step away briefly or if they might experience a short wait.

Establish Boundaries

Unfortunately, dealing with difficult customers is inevitable. Be prepared with predetermined responses for tough situations, ensuring you can handle any negativity with grace and professionalism.

Make Switching Seamless

Sometimes, a chat might need to move to a different channel like email or phone. Make the transition as smooth as possible, ensuring your customer feels taken care of every step of the way.

ListenTrust: Your Reliable Nearshore Contact Center

Contact centers have evolved tremendously, and live chat has become an essential tool for smooth customer support.

ListenTrust is an experienced nearshore contact center with the technical skills to ensure your live chat support is the best it can be. We listen to your customers, provide solutions, and earn their trust—even in chat messages. And as a contact center that operates 24/7/365, your customers can rest assured that there’s always someone available to help. Contact us today to learn more about live chat customer service solutions.