5 simple customer service chat examples you can implement today.
Not too long ago, customers were prepared to call into a company’s customer service hotline, wait in line for an agent to become available, patiently provide all their details and hope to get a final resolution of their issue. Today, customers are a little less patient. In fact, customers are unwilling to wait more than 2 minutes 40 seconds before they expect a response.
So it should come as no surprise that chat – which offers immediate response and quicker resolution – has become the go-to channel for customer support. Here, we’ve gathered 5 simple rules to follow when offering chat support to customers.
1. Establish a connection with your customers.
Customers want communication to be a two-way street. To build a rapport with customers, you could start with a personalized greeting, such as, “Hi, I’m <your name>. Before we get started, can I have your name please?”, or if you already have the name of the customer, you could start with a “Hi <customers’ name>, how can I help you today?”.
Opening with a friendly message immediately draws a customer into a conversation and puts them at ease – unlike a robotic IVR message. Research shows that customers are likely to stay loyal to a brand for longer if their customer service team makes a good first impression. By acknowledging the customers’ situation and validating their concerns, you’ll be able to provide stress-free support.
2. Use conversational language and avoid jargon.
When customers come to you with questions, they are often seeking help in topics that they don’t understand. In this case, trying to explain the situation or solution with technical words, or jargon isn’t the best solution The best way to make sure you are understood is by using simple messaging. The common communication acronym called the ‘KISS principle’ (Keep It Simple, Stupid) doesn’t negatively reflect on the reader’s capability to understand, but on your company’s ability to break complex issues into easily consumable information. Although the acronym was coined to ease complex instructions for aircraft engineers, it applies to customer service conversations as well. No matter the background of the customer, simple language can uncomplicate topics for anyone.
3. Create chat scripts for simple interactions
In the same way that sales teams create scripts to systematize their work and have a ready response to most prospect questions, arming your support agents with chat scripts for simple and common interactions will undoubtedly help your team offer better (and faster) support.
An analysis of your previous customer support requests should reveal the most common questions that your agents deal with on a regular basis. From questions regarding product pricing to instructions on automating a process, pre-determined chat scripts mean that your agents are not scrounging around for answers, spending too much time crafting unique responses, or extending wait times for other customers waiting for a response. Moreover, following a script means your team can streamline their responses and send them to the customers with just one click!
Use chat scripts for common conversations that occur via chat.
4. Mention wait times in the chat widget
Responding to your customers in real-time is the most critical element of chat as a channel. 75% of businesses have lost their customers due to long wait times*. But for lean teams, getting to customers instantly can be close to impossible. A quick fix to this issue is to set expectations with customers by mentioning the average amount of time the customer might need to wait before they receive a response from your team. The benefit: An informed customer is likely to be more patient and stay on the chat until an agent is free.
Mention the typical reply time to keep the customers on chat for longer.
But, keep in mind that the first responses are expected as early as two minutes, and the longest customers wait to get solutions is about nine minutes. To know how much your customers are willing to wait, you can conduct a simple study to measure the chat drop-off rates.
5. Apply chatbots to answer routine queries.
Chatbots can be a blessing for lean teams. If you have the budget for implementing chatbots, use them to offer quick responses in place of your live agent. Chatbots can respond to every customer within seconds, thereby reducing the dependence on live agents. This way, your team can focus on more important support issues rather than repetitive questions.
Chatbots with artificial intelligence learn from every interaction they have with customers. So they only require limited training before they can mimic an agent. And, if at any point they fail to answer the customer, they should transfer the chat to a live agent who can solve for the customer. Learn more about chatbots for customer service here.
Acing customer service chat with lean teams
With small teams, it’s best to maximize automation. If you notice that your live agents are swamped with questions, find new ways to streamline their work. This will ensure your teams stay productive. That being said, successful customer service teams are not built overnight. You’ll need to continuously measure the performance of your team and find new ways to keep them productive.
Cover illustration by Swetha Kanithi
Sources:
- “https://web.timetrade.com/files/content_resource/TT_Retail-Exec-Survey-Brief.pdf”
- https://solvvy.com/blog/first-impression-important-think/
- https://www.superoffice.com/blog/live-chat-statistics/
