Chat is one of the most popular forms of digital communication. It’s a good way for businesses to connect with their customers and can also be very effective in boosting sales. However, if you want to ensure that your business uses live chat for customer service effectively, it’s important to know what you should do to maximise its potential. 

In this article, we’ll explore some of the best tips to ensure your company is getting the most out of your customer service chats.

Bring chat into the customer journey

Chat is a great way to engage with customers, build relationships and improve customer service. But it’s not just about improving the customer experience; providing timely, effective support can also help you meet your business goals – particularly in terms of driving sales.

Chat has been shown to effectively reduce shopping cart abandonment rates, increase conversion rates, and boost repeat purchases. This is because when people chat with the brand, they feel valued; they appreciate being heard and want to go back for more.

Chat also makes it easy for customers to get answers quickly and efficiently, which is especially important when they’re in a rush. Plus, it gives them the opportunity to ask questions that may not be on your FAQ page (or even on your website at all).

Use real agents instead of chatbots 

While chatbots can answer simple customer questions, live chats are less likely to be frustrating for your customers when it comes to complex questions where personalised assistance is needed. You can use bots to direct customers toward human agents who can help them with more complicated problems. 

For example, when someone has a general question about how to use your website or app, ask them if they want you or the bot to answer it before providing an automated response. This will make sure that only those who need assistance from a person reach out through live chat in the first place—it’s an excellent way of saving time!

But don’t focus your resources and time too much on your bots; it’s better to invest in your human customer support team, as they can deliver more value to your customer’s experience with your brand. 

Train your customer service team for live chat

Chat is a great way to engage with customers, but it also requires a different mindset than traditional customer service channels. Chat is often the first point of contact for new customers, so your customer service team must know how to respond in the right way and keep customers happy.

One thing you should do before starting your chat program is train your customer service team on how to optimise chat for success. This will ensure that they are able to use their skills and knowledge effectively during chats.

Tips on how to optimise chat for success:

• Have clear guidelines on when to use the chat. This can help you avoid situations where customers contact you via different channels at the same time. 
• Train your customer service team on how to use chat effectively. At a minimum, this should include basic training on using the platform and responding in the right way.
• Create a set of guidelines for your customer service team, including how to respond effectively and how to keep customers happy. You should also include details on when it’s appropriate to use chat and when other channels are better suited.

Optimise your chat platform

You want to make sure customers have a positive experience, and if your company website offers chat, you should be able to optimise it for that purpose. To do so, there are several things you need to consider:

• Make sure your chat platform is easy to use and intuitive for employees who will be using it on a regular basis.
• Make sure your chat platform is secure. This means keeping all personal information private at all times – even when employees use their own devices (which we don’t recommend anyway).
• Make sure your chat platform is scalable – both in terms of the number of conversations taking place and how many users are accessing it at once.
• Ensure that other departments within your business can access the data from this system if needed – and vice versa! This way, any issues or questions can be resolved quickly with minimal effort on anyone’s part; no one has time for complicated technicalities these days. 

Chat is most effective as part of a wider customer support strategy

Customer support strategies that include chat are the most effective. It’s one of many options for providing great service, but it’s one that can be highly effective if you use it wisely.

Live chat can be an excellent tool if you’re looking for ways to improve your customer service. It allows your customers to ask questions and receive answers 24/7, which means you don’t have to worry about staffing hours or call-centre costs. Plus, it saves time for both parties involved!

At Greechat, we help businesses uncover revenue with our proactive, 24/7 fully managed live chat service.