Using professional chat etiquette not only strengthens understanding between support agents and customers, but also instills a sense of being valued in shoppers and promotes recurring interactions as well as customer loyalty.
Whether it occurs through a chat window, over the phone, or in person, connecting with your customers and offering a positive and supportive experience holds equal importance.
Chat Support Etiquette: The Basics
When engaging in chat support etiquette, the same guidelines that apply to speaking with a customer over the phone should also be followed. It is important to refrain from making sensitive or vulgar jokes, steer clear of using informal language, and strike the appropriate balance between formality and friendliness.
Do’s and Don’ts of Chat Etiquette
When working on live chat, CX agents need to be thoughtful about the words they use, their grammar, and their tone. The approach to this may vary among businesses depending on their brand voice and products, but in general, good etiquette for live chat involves being positive, using simple language, and communicating clearly.
- Do use simple language and short sentences. When live chatting with customers, use simple language and avoid complex terminology. Keeping things short and simple makes it easy for customers to understand your point, rather than being hit with a huge block of text within a small chat window.
- Do set a positive tone. Although it’s hard to convey tone simply through words, there are a few tricks to set a positive tone. Using positive words and phrases will help reinforce a positive experience for your customers. Remember to always be polite and thank your customers. When asking them for information, be kind, and try to avoid short, one-word responses (like ‘Ok,’ or ‘no’) which can come across as curt.
- Do watch for grammar and spelling. In the busy day of a customer service agent, it can be easy to overlook a few typos or grammatical errors. Taking a second to proofread messages before you send them, or implementing grammar check software in your customer support platform can minimize those errors and maintain a professional tone. Also, having a knowledge base in your CX software allows agents to quickly pull templated, ready-to-go answers. Knowledge base content not only reduces typos and grammatical errors, typos, but it ensures your brand voice and tone is upheld.
- Don’t go heavy on the caps, emojis, or abbreviations. Generally, it’s wise to leave the abbreviations and acronyms for messaging with friends. A well-placed emoji might make sense for some brands to use, but it’s smart to avoid acronyms like “brb” or “lol” as these may come across as overly informal.
- Do use punctuation–but don’t overdo it. Leverage the power of punctuation to come across as more human. Punctuate responses to customers like you would in any other professional communication. When used sparingly, an exclamation mark can help express an enthusiastic tone. (However, when they’re overused, repetitive exclamation marks can make you sound like you’ve had one too many cups of coffee.) If you’re using exclamation marks in responses to customers, read it out to check the tone before sending.
What is Live Chat Outsourcing?
Live chat outsourcing is a technique employed by sales and customer service professionals to delegate their website customer service inquiries to external vendors instantly.
Customers typically send “instant message” inquiries when they have questions, concerns, or need information about the products or services listed on the website. When implemented correctly, live chat can enhance conversions, bolster brand reputation, and deliver a superior customer experience.
Do You Need Chat Support Services
One interesting fact is that live chat is considered one of the customer support technologies that is rapidly growing in popularity. When apps or software are carefully designed and executed, it can be one of the few customer service tools that enables rapid expansion of leads, sales, and profits for ecommerce businesses. The widespread availability of software-as-a-service technology offers a significant competitive edge.
In the era of NOW CX, it is crucial to engage with customers promptly. Traditional methods like email and contact forms are no longer sufficient. While live chat is an option, it can be challenging to find the right technology or software that will enhance your CX and help you generate more revenue and ROI.
Benefits of Outsourcing Live Chat Support Services
By utilizing specialized chat support service companies, online chat can become a reality for your customer service and technical support teams, without involving generic offshore call centers.
If you have an ecommerce website and are considering a small investment that can greatly enhance your performance in various aspects, here are some reasons to persuade you to try an outsourced live chat support service for your company.
Even if they use artificial intelligence and other interactive technologies, we cannot currently endorse automated chatbots for ecommerce consumer support. Despite their impressive user experience and assurances of quick response times and innovative expansion, their effectiveness is limited.
The quality of a chatbot interaction is not equivalent to a conversation between two humans. In numerous instances, the return on investment for deploying and operating chatbots may not justify the necessary investment of time and money.
