By Steve Castro-Miller, President and CEO, Bold Software
In the past, many businesses thought of live chat technology as a one-dimensional tool best used for sales or service, but not both. Today’s knowledgeable retailers know that you can’t have one without the other. Sure, live chat can be valuable for economically and effectively supporting customers, but its ability to help agents drive conversions is as true as using customer service phone agents to help sell products. But only if you do it right.
While implementing live chat is incredibly easy, a “set it and forget it” approach can jeopardize customer relationships and hamper sales opportunities. Here are five live chat pitfalls retailers need to avoid:
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Mistake #1 – The Robotic Interaction
As users of live chat technology know, “canned messages” for answers to frequently asked questions help agents respond quickly to customer inquiries. However, relying too heavily on pre-typed responses can leave an impersonal impression with web site visitors. Not only should their use be judicious, but canned messages should be reviewed on a regular basis for relevance and adherence to your overall web site message strategy. While efficiency matters, don’t lose sight of making sure the connection with the customer is real.
While there are robotic tools that interact with visitors, leading chat tools offer intelligent messaging, which presents agents with suggested canned messages based on the content of the chat, and then “learns” which are most often selected so that the suggestions become more accurate over time.
Mistake #2 – Any Agent Can Handle Chats
Having the same agents that handle your phone communications handle live chats can be risky, especially if they don’t have the appropriate training and disposition. Being a good verbal communicator may not translate into being a good written communicator. Live chat agents not only need to be good typists who can multi-task to handle multiple chats simultaneously, they need to be trained and proficient in the nuances of tone unique to text-based interactions.
Retailers should not assume that live chat agents need less product training and familiarity simply because of the tools at their disposal. Studies and customer testimonies show that the more knowledgeable the agent, the more successful the chat.
Mistake #3 – “Initiating and Ignoring”
Though easy to get up and running, live chat shouldn’t be implemented and then forgotten about. As one of your key customer communication channels, you should carefully monitor and adjust your implementation on an ongoing basis to ensure it mirrors your overall marketing message. While much of human communication is artfully nuanced, live chat has scientific elements that must be undertaken to harness the maximum benefit it can deliver.
That doesn’t mean that offering live chat should consume significant chunks of your day. With a small amount of time set aside each week to “inspect what you expect,” retailers can keep customers happy and garner better satisfaction and conversion rates.
Mistake #4 – Build it and They Will Come
Live chat won’t fix all that ails you. Simply having a chat button on your web site may not result in a change that provides your hoped-for ROI . While chat button design and placement are critical, no chat button will drive increased traffic to your web site.
However, chat can help improve your web site if you simply listen to your visitors. Read chat transcripts regularly to understand where people are confused about your product offerings or web site designs, and then make changes to eliminate the confusion.
When you are ready, use the analytics embedded in your chat tool to proactively invite visitors to chat. Shoppers who chat with an agent via an invitation-driven chat are six times more likely to buy than a regular web site visitor. And don’t forget to carefully test, evaluate and manage your invitations to generate the greatest ROI.
Mistake #5 — Missing Opportunities
If you have chat agents available at all times for every customer or prospect that wants to communicate, you can maximize the benefits that chat affords. However, your business may not be of a size yet to justify that staffing level. Your chat tool should allow would-be-chatters to leave you a message, since more than 20% of chatters will do so.
Better yet, determine if your chat technology also offers a way to recapture visitors who have expressed interest in chatting when your agents were away. For instance, if a visitor who tried to chat when your agents were away is still on your web site when an agent becomes available, your chat technology should be able to proactively inform that agent, so that the agent can immediately reach out to the visitor to initiate a chat.
Lastly
Live chat can be a powerful customer engagement tool for your business — when it’s done right. By avoiding these pitfalls, retailers can reap the rewards that live chat affords.
Steve Castro-Miller is the president and CEO of Bold Software, provider of web communication tools including BoldChat live chat software.
