Live Chat Support 101 – Outsourcing, Benefits, Best Practices and Everything Else
In a business, it is very vital to satisfy your customers by offering them a good experience. Customer experience plays a key role in establishing your rapport in the industry. When a customer is not responded to, it adversely affects the company’s reputation.
If you want to lend excellent support to your website visitors, then live chat support is a perfect choice these days. The best chat support is convenient, flexible, and prompt. If it is implemented and executed adeptly, live chat support builds a long-lasting relationship with the customer.
After all, there is nothing more annoying for a customer to be ignored. They are pleased enough to contact you more often, seemingly connected with your services and products when they are addressed with utmost regard.
In this guide, we put together all the metrics and details related to Live chat outsourcing, but first, let’s learn about Live Chat Support Services, which would give you a clear perspective on how it is emerging as the best etiquette in customer support.
What is Live Chat Support?
Live chat support is a quick customer support service that allows the customer to make their queries or have any other conversation about the product or service via web chat using a live online chat software on the company’s website.
Herein, the chat support agents or sometimes AI (Artificial Intelligence) bots are assigned to respond to the customers in the same chat window from where they are initiating their questions. Before using live chat and outsourcing these services, emails were the medium where customers used to have the conversation. The live chat support system has evolved into a better channel for the company-customer relationship.
It has become a delightful approach for potential customers to reach out for their needs. The “Live” is being considered as the real-time reference in the live chat support service. It has expanded exceptionally, increasing sales and higher conversion rates and timely customer service support. Additionally, live chat support also includes features like integration with the knowledge base and shared inbox tools.
Live Chat Outsourcing Services
In the fast-paced world, outsourcing has turned out to be an appropriate way to manage the business. In outsourcing, companies hire remote employees and designate them to oversee every work. So, companies sometimes prefer to choose to outsource their live chat support service.
In outsourcing live chat support services, there are some challenges that need attention such as making sure everything said stays within company guidelines and justifying costs when managing budgets via phone calls or video conferences instead of writing detailed emails about what’s going on behind-the-scenes–but most can be mitigated through careful planning.
Following are some perks of Live Chat Outsourcing:
Reduced Operating costs
Live Chat Outsourcing is typically less expensive. The contract secures what exactly is needed by the company, and thus, the work is done according to the agreed guidelines. Also, they take charge to get the live chat support active and responsive all the time.
24/7 availability
Customers seek fast replies and prompt solutions and live chat outsourcing offers this service with complete competency, as offshore centers work in different time zones providing 24×7 service.
Cheap and easy
Through live chat outsourcing, you can save a lot of your expenses; as per the sources, it is estimated that organizations save 40-50 percent of their money by outsourcing live chat.
Benefits and importance of live chat support channel
There is a simple theory for marketing and business, and, i.e., what is beneficial for the company is ultimately important to the company. The benefits and importance of live chat support are interlinked.
There are multiple benefits of live chat support, a few of them includes:
Adaptable and Easy to access
First of all, no matter where the customers are, they can reach out to you anytime via live chat. It’s far more convenient than calling an IVR number. They are more habituated to chatting as it allows multi-tasking too.
Immediate and time saver
As discussed earlier in the post, people have no time to wait. They look for an immediate response and quick solution. Outsourced live chat support offers that responsiveness to resolve the issue as soon as possible. Live chats are immediate enough to respond, which surely saves the customers’ time.
Competitive and high in conversion
Whether your company is a startup or a large one, you desire to shine out bright in the industry. Thus, to stand out in the business world, you need to pay more attention to the customer, and with live chats and chatbots, you can fetch many potential customers from your competitors and grow your conversion rate. If the live chat agent attends the customer wisely, it is more likely to draw the customer’s attention towards your service, apparently wanting them to avail of your service.
Best practices of live chat for a successful customer experience
When you provide a live chat facility to your customers, make sure you are not irritating them. To level up your composition for live chat support, follow these tips and help out your potential customers with a great chat support experience.
Know when your customer needs the chat support
Website visitors often get annoyed with the constant pop-ups that appear when they visit your site. Sometimes, this leads the customer to leave the page as well. Hence, to offer them a soothing experience, make sure not to reach out to them multiple times or without their consent. Moreso, chat support can be added on those pages where customers are more likely to seek help.
Do not make your customers wait.
Don’t you get irritated when someone makes you wait? Undoubtedly yes! Think the same way for your customers too. If your agents are available and ready to respond quickly, highlight the option indicating that someone is there to attend. You can give a sign to them like – “We are online”. In contrast, if your agents are not available, you can come up with the text like – “currently unavailable, please drop us a message”. You can also let them know with the dibs like the agent will be available in so and so time etc.
Be ahead of your customers’ queries.
Sometimes, customers are in so much hurry that they don’t want to type. In that case, you take a step ahead and extend them help automatically. Share the multiple options that might come under the questions of your customer. Doing so will save the customer’s time, and they will swiftly click the options related to their inquiry. Also, this can reduce the lack of your availability. Once you develop automation, you can extensively attend to FAQs and resolve them immediately and effectively, leaving no customers neglected.
Extend a little extra help
Do not wrap up within a moment. Rather, share more options and categories that you think your customer should know about it. Ask them if they need any other help other than their query. Share your company’s offer or any other recommendations. These can be blog posts, free trials, or a sign-up box with the company’s email address wherein your customer can switch and spend some more time on your website, ending up with some conversion or purchasing.
To Conclude
High-quality service is imparted to the customers once they are attended beyond any time limitation. Live chat service has abolished that time limitation factor and is exceptionally bestowing the customers regardless of any situation. It is now filling the gap of that barrier that was created in the customer-company relationship.
Live chat support can process more effective conversations with your customer, giving the customer an overwhelming experience with the company.