The customer experience is something more companies are investing in. Specifically, creating a more personalised approach to customers engaging with them. With online interactions consistently increasing, the virtual customer experience serves as a way to stay connected to audiences while also increasing their reach. It is often the first point of contact and the most crucial. This evolution also means a change in what chat support means.
Let’s pinpoint why it’s important to strengthen your chat support, and the ways to do it.
Providing An Authentic Chat Support Experience
Authenticity is the name of the game when it comes to the customer experience. It is something that should be evident in your chat support. People that come across your company expect to learn more about your values, services or products. But it shouldn’t be limited to a detailed webpage you can send. Some may want an interaction with real people who embody what the company is advertising. They want someone who they can have a real conversation with and an understanding of what they are looking for.
This means that the language used by your chat support remains consistent with the image you want consumers to see. To strengthen this aspect, chat support should make efforts to personalise interactions when the need calls for it. Whether it’s an email response, or talking with a service agent, people will always look for the human aspect of your business.
Using Automation To A Degree
When talking about authenticity in customer service, the subject of automation is bound to come up. Even before the rise of AI, automation was already being used in chat support to help businesses manage various customer inquiries.
However, because of said rise in AI usage, there have been discussions about what it would mean for current chat support agents and what it would mean for them. While chatbots can help provide resolutions with 90% accuracy, the need for the human element still looms.
Let’s look at some brief statistics:
- Last year, around 85% of businesses would offer live chat support
- A report from Inc.com said that 44% of consumers believe in the importance of live chat support.
- Another report from Comm100 says that 73% of consumers would pick speaking to an agent than bot.
Ultimately, AI and automation should not be seen as a replacement for human interaction. No matter how advanced the technology becomes in a few years, it cannot replace the nuances and context when speaking to a person on the other line. However, you cannot also fully dismiss AI as a whole. It can help augment the customer experience and support provided. Implementation of automation can help organise issues that need to be resolved by your chat support team. But it also means them having the final say in the interaction. By doing so, they also add to the personalised experience that you can provide.
Aligning Multiple Channels
As mentioned above, “chat support” has developed into a much broader term. Within the customer experience, it is not just about having a line to call or an email address. It’s about being available on different platforms that customers can connect to.
Consider your target audience for a moment. If your audience is more traditional, they will often prefer to reach your company by phone or email. More current, modern audiences however are more inclined to send messages in social media or through live chat. Both these examples highlight why it is important to have multiple channels available for chat support.
Of course, managing several platforms can be very time consuming. As such, companies should have an understanding of which platform they are most engaged with and prioritise accordingly. Doing so can help them focus on most issues they need to address without having important queries slip through the cracks.
Appreciating and Learning From Feedback
Let’s face it: every business wants to provide nothing but positive experiences to their audience. Sadly, there will always be moments when customers may end up giving negative feedback to you. However, this means that whether good or bad, customer feedback should always be taken into account. Listening to customers helps companies grow, develop and learn where to focus their efforts. And there is no better place to receive it than through the customer experience.
That’s not to say that all feedback received should be negative also. It used to be that customers were just sharing their negative experiences online. Nowadays, it’s common to see people also talk about their glowing reviews and recommendations for companies. Experiences often based on their online interactions. Companies can even take it a step further in asking for feedback directly to your audience. Through simple surveys or social media tagging, there are several ways to gauge customer feedback that you can incorporate into your business.
The Importance of Chat Support
It cannot be overstated how important good customer support is to companies. Whether you work in retail or any industry, it serves as a direct line between your business and potential audience. With more people looking for an experience over a service, companies should do what they can to separate themselves from others.
This often starts with how they handle chat support. With an understanding of their target audience and how they can speak to them, companies can begin to strengthen this aspect of the customer experience. Through consistent implementation and proper feedback application, the possibility to grow a bigger audience is not out of the question.
Citations:
Awasthi, Bandita. “7 Live Chat Statistics You Can’t Miss.” Software Advice, 18 Nov. 2020.
Cole, Nicolas. “The Power Of Live Chat: 5 Surprising Statistics That Show How Consumers Want Their Questions Answered.” Inc. Magazine, 25 Apr. 2017.
“Conversational AI: The next wave of customer and employee experiences.” Amazon AWS, Deloitte Digital, 2019.
HGS Offshore Staffing Solutions. “Why More Retailers are Offshoring Social Media Managers.” HGS Offshore Staffing Solutions, 8 Oct. 2018.
