Live chat software allows businesses to engage with visitors to their website via messaging in real time. It functions as both a method for customers to engage with customer service agents, and as a way for companies to initiate conversations with website visitors to provide support and information.
Businesses use live chat software to engage with their customers in a way that is convenient for them, driving more sales and improving the customer service experience.
Companies that utilise live chat software experience numerous benefits. Live chat offers a more cohesive customer experience, with personalisation so that customers feel understood and supported. It reduces response times so that customers can get in touch with you faster.
Live chat preserves chat history, so operators can easily see previous conversations with individual customers and understand the context of an interaction, preventing the need to ask the customer repetitive questions. Agents can also share information with customers more easily, sending media files in real time.
When you are looking to introduce live chat to your business, there are some key features to look for to ensure that the software performs as well as it can and produces optimal results.
Co-Browsing and Video Chat Functionalities
Co-browsing allows customer service agents to see a customer’s browser tab while the customer is on your website. An agent can guide a customer through the website, support them in the buying process, and quickly trouble-shoot any issues in real time. This has the benefits of helping you to deliver a personalised experience to your customers, increasing customer satisfaction and in turn increasing revenue and return business.
It also assists agents to understand the context of their interaction with a customer, improving their productivity and minimising the amount of time they need to spend on individual exchanges. Utilising video chat functionality further enhances the interaction, mimicking an in-store experience and adding a level of personalisation.
History Review, Quality Management and In-Depth Analytics
Superior customer service is one of the most valuable assets a business can develop, and ensuring a consistent and high-quality approach to this requires training and good management.
Choose live chat software that has the advantage of saving all past interactions with customers; this allows customer service agents to access a customer’s history and glean context, and it also means that managers can review chat histories for quality management. Customer interaction transcripts can assist managers in coaching.
Analytics, such as first contact resolution time, greatly assist a business in understanding their performance. Self-monitoring capabilities allow customer service agents to analyse their own performance and work on areas that require improvement.
Integrated with Third Party Software and Compatibility with Mobile Devices
Because live chat software works best when agents can access the context of a customer’s history with your business, integration with third party software such as CRM and other business applications is vital. Live chat should also be connected to the other customer service channels of your business, including email, social media accounts, voice, and voicemail.
This gives a comprehensive view of multi-channel communication and ensures a highly personalised and streamlined experience for customers when they interact with your company. Modern customers will browse your products, make purchases, and contact businesses all from their mobile device, so it’s crucial that all functionality for customer service interaction is compatible with mobile devices.
Easily Customisable for your Business, Including Advanced Features
Research suggests that customers are more likely to give repeat business to companies that offer a superior customer service experience that is tailored to their individual needs. To create this personalised experience and take advantage of the many associated benefits, companies need to ensure that their engagement tools such as live chat software are customised to their business.
Savvy customers can recognise “out of the box” products with stock-standard responses and limited functionality; a fully customised experience with advanced features creates an improved experience and therefore better customer retention. Features that create a better experience for customers include personalised responses and the ability to send files such as images or video using the chat functionality.
Superior Cyber Safety and Customer Support
Maintaining the highest standards of security when dealing with customer data is of the upmost importance to modern businesses. We have seen the effects that data breaches can have on the reputation and credibility of a business, and it is vital that companies take cyber safety seriously and invest in software to ensure that data is protected. Secure data practices also assist with business continuity and compliance.
When purchasing live chat software, consider the customer support offered by the software provider. Ideally, purchase of new software includes extensive training by experienced and professional trainers, including specific training for different users such as supervisors and administration staff. The provider should offer assistance to install new products and make sure they are working correctly for the requirements of your business. Support should be ongoing and easy to access to ensure timely resolution of incidents.
When live chat is used by a business that takes advantage of all the functionality and features that this software offers, it can greatly improve the customer service experience. This leads to improved profitability and business success as increase customer satisfaction and retention increases.