Live chat is used by 38% of purchasers. The conversations, however, can often feel robotic and impersonal. Some customers may perceive it as lazy, and it reflects poorly on the business.
Despite LiveAgent’s quality, you’ll need to refine your chat messages and train your agents on customer engagement. Below are 4 tips for making your chat agents more productive.
1. Be sure to greet properly! Impress everyone!
Making a good first impression is important, even in chat services. Always maintain a professional demeanor. Start off by being friendly and welcoming.
Having multiple chat windows open isn’t a problem. Technology no longer holds businesses back. Clients will benefit from the quick and friendly greeting provided by agents using canned responses.
Greetings example
You should always address a customer by name when you are making a first impression. These canned greetings will help you:
- “Thank you for visiting. If I can assist you in any way, please let me know.”
- “Thank you for visiting [COMPANY]’s web site. How can I help you?”
2. It is important to write as you speak
It is admirable to be able to write formal letters, but business chat messages are not the appropriate place or time for it. In the digital age, it looks impersonal and robotic, and customers are put off by it.
When chatting with customers, you need to type as you speak. Therefore, agents may disregard some formal writing rules:
- It isn’t a problem to begin sentences with conjunctions (and, but, or, nor, for
- Short sentences sound more natural than long ones.
- Within reason, interjections are acceptable. (Wow, Phew, Ouch)
Grammar remains important
Poor grammar can be prevented by grammar training. You should include helpful tips in the training, such as reading backwards to spot mistakes and reading messages out loud before sending them.
3. Providing professional engagement and clarification
There are a thousand ways to improve business chat messaging, but this is the bread and butter. By using live chat, you can interact directly with your customers and clarify their questions.
Step 1: Clarify the customer’s needs
When engaging with a customer, chat agents should remain focused on the customer’s message despite being able to multitask using software. Anything else should not distract them. Have a conversation with colleagues after the customer is satisfied and put the phone away.
Step 2: Be careful not to make assumptions
It is easy to fall into the habit of thinking we already know what our customers will say or ask after talking with hundreds of them. Because of this, a low-key solution can easily disrupt a customer’s workflow.
Step 3: No offense is as good as a good defense
Customers sometimes enter a conversation with high emotions. You might witness them hurling colorful language at the first person they see if they are angry or upset. No matter how successful the business is, you must never make excuses.
4. Write professional final checks and ask for feedback
Most chat agents believe a customer’s only question is the one they asked. Consequently, they may hurry to end the conversation. While managing multiple conversations, agents tend to rush to end them prematurely when they are managing multiple conversations simultaneously.
Don’t forget to ask questions like:
- “Is there anything else we can help you with?“
- “Do you have any further questions?”
A request for feedback
The feedback an organization receives defines its benchmarks and informs it of issues that need to be addressed or confirms if something works. Customer feedback is essential because of the speed of the platform.
You can use the following post-chat survey sample for your business:
- Was there something specific you were looking for on our website?
- Were you satisfied with our performance?
- How would you rate our customer service?
Summary
Live chat allows businesses to engage site visitors and convert them into customers. Business chat agents should write professional messages to meet and exceed customers’ expectations on a timely and efficient basis.
You can connect LiveAgent instantly to proactive business software to improve your live chat experience. Using automated routing options, site visitors can contact a live agent right away with any device.
