Live chat has become an integral part of customer service. When a customer or website visitor has a question or complaint, or needs some other type of assistance, they expect to reach your brand via live chat. It’s also way more efficient for your support team. Service reps can’t field more than one phone call, but they can handle multiple live chat conversations simultaneously. Overall, live chat is faster and more cost-effective than any other type of customer communication. Regarding consumer preferences, it ranks higher than phone, email, and social media.

Live chat support combines real-time conversation with the ability to share links, collect information, and save a full transcript for later reference, and it is the ideal online service tool for a customer who needs immediate help. Getting started with live chat support is simple, but making live chat a sustainable, effective part of your customer service strategy takes careful thought and effort. Read on to learn why live chat support matters, how to add it to your support mix, and what it takes to deliver a great live chat support experience.

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What is live chat support?

Live chat support is a way for customers to have real-time, back-and-forth conversations with support agents. Using live chat software embedded in a company’s website, customers can send their questions to a person who can quickly reply to them in the same small window. Live chat software is also used for purposes beyond support for things like enabling sales conversations. However, live chat software that is built specifically for customer support may include additional support-focused features, such as deep integration with the knowledge base and shared inbox tools.

The benefits of live chat as a support channel

Why should you offer live chat support to your customers? Because customers love it! Studies show that live chat is the preferred choice of many customers, and it has the highest customer satisfaction level of any support channel.

Considering the key benefits of live chat support can help you decide whether it is the right choice for your business.

Live chat support is highly accessible

Live chat software can be integrated right into your customer’s workflow through a consistently available button or link on your website or in your app. Your customer doesn’t need to hunt down a special contact page or dig up an email address; they know exactly where to go when they need help.

That accessibility reduces customer effort, an important factor in building customer loyalty.

Live chat support delivers useful context

Embedding live chat right into the customer’s process gives them the best chance of explaining exactly where they are stuck and what they need.

Good live chat software will let the agent know where the customer is in the process and what they were doing before asking for help. That gives both parties a head start in understanding the problem and determining the solution.

Live chat support is timely

A customer who receives an excellent response to their email inquiry in an hour or two may be satisfied with your service, but a customer who receives the exact same answer in real-time via a live chat will often be much happier because they can continue on with their task immediately.

If your customer is considering making a purchase, renewing their account, or asking for a refund, a solid answer provided quickly can make a real financial difference to your company.

Live chat support is conversational

Many people are more comfortable expressing themselves through chat conversation than through more formal writing. Effective email support puts demands on the customer to explain their issue clearly and provide all the relevant details, tasks at which customers are not always experts.

Live chat support breaks those interactions into smaller chunks and allows the support agent to lead a customer through the process by asking the right questions in the right order. What could be a days-long, back-and-forth conversation through email might instead be a 10-minute chat.

Of course, you can’t just switch on live chat and expect to see the benefits instantly flowing in. Rolling out live chat support requires some careful planning and intentional design.

Adding live chat support to your customer service experience

Adding a brand new support channel to your service offering isn’t a step to take lightly. Often, you will be taking your existing resources (your team, their working hours, and their set of skills) and giving help across more locations. That can be a stretch.

Before you leap into offering live chat support everywhere at once, consider these questions:

• Who will you offer live chat support to? You don’t need to make chat an option for every customer or prospect who visits your site. Perhaps you offer live chat to your VIP clients or to newly onboarding customers.
• Where is live chat support most valuable? Are there pinch points in your app or sales funnel where having a real-time conversation can help people get unstuck and maintain their momentum? Consider providing live chat support only at those moments, at least initially.
• How will you balance your support channels? Look at the time and skills you have to work with and decide how many hours you can feasibly cover with live chat support. Compare that to the support volume you have incoming through your other channels, and decide on a sustainable mix between them all. You won’t get it right the first time, but you can make an educated guess.
• How will live chat integrate with your existing help desk or CRM? The more you know about your customers and their past history with you, the better service you can offer. Choose a live chat support tool that will connect each chat conversation with what you already know about that customer so you don’t lose valuable context.
• What training or resources will you need? Give your team the best possible chance to succeed by reviewing their backgrounds and skills and providing them with some guidance on what good chat support looks like.
  

Live chat support best practices

Delivering consistently great customer service through live chat is not easy, but it doesn’t have to be complicated. We’ve spoken to customer service folks about their experiences and collected the following best practices.

Live chat support best practices as a manager

If you’re responsible for setting up and managing the live chat support channel, there are some moves you can make to improve the experience for your staff and for your customers.

• Keep the incoming volume manageable. Your customers look to chat for quick, accessible interaction with your team. If your chat team struggles to keep up, the customer experience will suffer. Use reporting to keep an eye on the overall volume and response time, and take action if needed. Consider offering chat only during certain time windows or to certain customer groups to control volume.
• Don’t overload your individual support agents. A typical support agent can handle two or three concurrent chats without losing service quality, but that depends heavily on the type of questions they are answering and the levels of experience of both customer and agent. You should be able to set a maximum chat number so that no one team member is overwhelmed with chat requests.

 Manage the conversation

Like being on the phone with that one aunt, chats can spin out of control. Being able to bring a chat back to the purpose of the conversation is helpful. Pro tips:

• Get on the same page — make sure you and your customer are both talking about the same thing.
• Set expectations — let them know if you need to step away or if they will need to wait.
• Build boundaries — have prepared responses for tough situations, like customers being abusive.
• Switch channels smoothly — if you need to move a chat to email or phone, do it gracefully.

Increase your speed

In a live chat, responsiveness counts for a lot. It’s better to share the first part of your answer and build your customer’s confidence than to wait until your whole answer is ready. Pro tips to speed up your chat support:

• Improve your typing speed — is it time to give Mavis Beacon one last job?
• Remove friction — can you replace clunky manual support processes or add context for your staff?
• Use TextExpander or saved replies — there’s no need to type it all out every time!
• Build out self-service — A well-stocked, searchable knowledge base, with text and video, can save you and your customer a ton of time.

Write concisely

Live chat is not the place for long exposition. Conciseness is a skill you can learn! Start with these tips:

• Know your stuff — with strong product and domain knowledge, you can quickly decide what is important for this customer to know and what can be safely left out.
• Cut the fluff — you can usually leave those complex edge cases and historical explanations for the long-form knowledge base articles.
• Use simple language — avoid using internal names, industry jargon, and marketing phrases.
• Be specific — refer to what your customers can see for themselves, using the words they will recognize.

Chunk information

If you’re an email support pro, you might have learned to include all the relevant information at once to avoid long back-and-forth chains. Live chat is a conversation, so back-and-forth discussion is a benefit! A couple of key points:

• Ask small questions — you can draw out the information you need piece by piece.
• Introduce one idea at a time — keep it simple and bite-sized.
• Listen and adjust — when you see your customers respond, you can tell if they are on track or if you need to take a different approach.

 
Teach your customers

Don’t restrict yourself to only answering the specific question your customer asked. Look for opportunities to understand what they are trying to do and why, and share your knowledge. For example, share an alternative answer that might suit them better or some setup tips specific to their particular needs.

Close it out

Don’t ghost on your customers! Make sure that you bring each chat to a helpful, clear closing point. A good live chat ending should:

• Confirm the customer has what they need.
• Leave them with clear directions (if they need to take any action).
• Thank them for their time.
• Let them know how to get further help if they need it.

Have better customer conversations through live chat support

High-quality service goes beyond simply providing the correct information to understanding what a customer is trying to achieve and helping them get it done. Live chat support can speed up that process by allowing for a more natural conversational style, where a skilled support agent can ask the right questions at the right time and quickly direct a customer to where they need to be.

The right live chat support software will allow you to combine real-time chat support with self-service options and an email contact point, allowing for many different support experiences according to the preferences of the customer and the capabilities of the

Top 10 Companies that support live chat:

Nikon

This company specializing in optics and imaging has never doubted the importance of live chat in today’s customer support. This channel has benefited their customers who don’t want to waste time digging through Nikon’s service and support website. With this feature on their website, Nikon can resolve customer queries and advise them on fixing specific camera problems.

Toys “R” Us

This toy retailer has found a way to improve the customer shopping experience through managed live chat. Their chat service is easy and can be activated by clicking a button at their web page’s top right corner. You can start a conversation by adding your email address and selecting your topic from the category list. Unfortunately, this iconic toy store declared bankruptcy last 2017 due to its long-term debt. Nevertheless, it can’t be denied how live chat helped the company improve its customer service.

HP

This American multinational information technology company has invested in a self-hosted live chat service to provide its customers with tech support 24/7. Through a Live Help feature, customers can choose between the department’s Sales Help, Returns & Exchanges, and Product Support to meet their needs. Support agents who manage these departments are used to handling customer service issues such as returns and repairs, technical support, warranty claims, refunds of charges, and even device support. What difference does it make? It’s helping businesses attend to customer needs faster and better!

Shopify

This Canadian eCommerce platform introduced Shopify Chat last year. This native live chat function allows online retailers to sell their products or services through real-time conversation quickly line. Retailers can also stay personal and prompt with every customer by sharing product recommendations, discounts, and draft orders directly inside discussions with just a few taps. Since the company believes customer relationships are built through conversations, they have leveraged live chat support.

Nordstrom

This fashion retailer has a creative way of using live chat support. It separated its live chat service into categories for better customer service. This enables web visitors to converse with beauty stylists, customer service, wedding stylists, and designers. Also, they offer 24/7 customer service to ensure customers won’t abandon a purchase due to an unavailable service. For online apparel stores like Nordstrom, live chat support comes in handy. With a live chat service team on board, online stores can show how committed they are to connecting to their customers.

Canyon Bikes

This German manufacturer of racing, mountain, and triathlon bikes has also capitalized on the benefits of live chat support. Canyon Bikes puts its service chat support at the front and center of its homepage. By doing this, it assists customers in their buying journey. At the same time, it improves customer satisfaction and secures sales instantly.

Goldsmiths

This jewelry retailer has selected Vee24’s live video chat solution to offer a superior shopping experience among customers. Vee24’s live video chat solution provides a high level of functionality for video chat and website co-browsing. This allows the Goldsmiths customer service team to talk directly to the customers from the website. At the same time, it’s easy to build a strong rapport and serve the customer face to face.

The implementation of this online live chat assistance solution has seen a positive increase in the retailer’s ROI. It has also increased conversion rates and average order value from customers. The essential features are voice, video, text, and co-browsing for web, app, and kiosk-based customer engagements. With this, it enhances the customer experience and increases e-commerce sales.

ModCloth

This online clothing retailer went for a live chat feature to engage with users on a trusting level. Modcloth displays a person’s image and name on their website so that customers feel they are talking to a natural person, not a bot. This enables consumers to feel understood and, most importantly, heard by the brand. This also allows operators to address client concerns in real-time. To access the chat feature, users need to click on Customer Care at the foot of the page to be directed to another page where they can select chat services.

Harvey Norman

This Australia’s leading retailer opted for web chat to help answer online customer questions and offer a more robust service. To provide seamless customer service, the retail giant implemented live chat in 2018 LivePerson to expand messaging channels. Since most conversations happen in digital messaging channels, Harvey Norman recognized the need to be where their consumers already are. Thus, they put up a live chat team to help customers find their needed products.
To access the chat service on their website, users must click on ‘Contact us.’ They will be directed to a different page where they can initiate an online chat with support teams.

Warby Parker

This designer glasses company also took advantage of live chat to meet the needs and requests of their consumer. They improved customer service by providing a live chat pop-up in the corner of their page. With this, inbound customers can minimize the chat window and continue browsing if they don’t want to use this feature. Also, through live chat support, customers can tell live chat agents precisely what they need if they have an inquiry.

To access chat support, users must click ‘help’ to be redirected to another page. On this page, click the ‘chat button’ among the options, and a window will appear at the bottom corner.

Apple live chat support:

The simplest route to chat directly with Apple live chat Support is to visit getsupport.apple.com. This intuitive website asks a series of questions to discover the nature of your problem before suggesting an appropriate service solution for you. Answering the questions should take no more than a couple of minutes. To start, you select the device or service you’re experiencing trouble with. You’re then presented with a list of common issues associated with that product. If none of the options are relevant to you, select “The topic is not listed” and describe the issue in your own words.

With your issue identified, the Apple live chat support website offers a choice of appropriate service solutions to choose from.

Playstation live chat support:

PlayStation is a highly popular video game brand produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment that includes consoles, games, online content, and many other forms of gaming media. PlayStation prides itself on its customer service and satisfaction, so if you need to get in touch with PlayStation live chat support, it’s easy to do so. There are multiple options for you to use to reach the PlayStation live chat support service representative directly or send a message to PlayStation.

Facebook live chat support:

Facebook Live Chat Support or Facebook Messenger Live Chat is one of the Facebook features for businesses that allows businesses to communicate with their customers in real time. This feature in Facebook live chat support allows businesses to offer immediate assistance, answer questions, and resolve issues, making it an effective tool for improving customer satisfaction. The feature is accessible and customizable through Facebook Messenger, which has over 1.3 billion monthly active users globally.

eBay live chat support:

If you’re running an e-commerce website, you need a customer service team. And if you’re running an online shopping juggernaut like eBay, you need a big customer service team. Luckily, that’s what eBay live chat support has. There are a variety of ways to contact eBay’s live chat support customer service team, along with a library of articles that can probably help with whatever issue you’re having. And if you’ve been the victim of an eBay scam, there’s even a dedicated phone number you can call for assistance.

Twitter live chat support:

When you think of Twitter, petty political arguments, viral celebrity tweets, and fast-paced news updates may come to mind. But there are great examples of customer service on Twitter, too. A dedicated customer service account helps keep customer complaints from bogging down your primary Twitter feed. Your main account can then feature exciting, engaging content such as funny videos, humorous memes, and notable product updates. Whether your account was suspended, you have a security concern, or you’re having trouble with (Twitter) X Blue, you can open a support ticket by filling out a quick form. Once you open a ticket, an X support agent 9twitter live chat support) will contact you via email. Twitter live chat support is easily accessible for users.

Conclusion:

Whether or not chat support is useful to you depends on whether it helps you accomplish your goals. Will it improve your customers’ experience? Will it increase revenue? Do you have the customer support and/or sales infrastructure to support it? If you answer yes to all three, then, you should build an online chat service. For a lot of your customers, calling in or waiting for a lengthy email response isn’t always preferable. They’re looking for the fastest, most frictionless solution to their issues. What’s the best way to provide that?

Live chat software can be integrated easily through a consistently available button or link on your website or in your app. When a customer needs assistance, they won’t have to look for a special contact page or an email address; they can directly click on the live support button to lodge their complaints. Thus, it provides customers with easy access that reduces their effort, which is essential in building customer loyalty.

Integrating live chat directly into the customer service process gives customers the best opportunity to explain their issues and their required assistance. Good live chat software will inform the customer support agent of where the customer is in the process and the process they have followed before requesting service.  It gives both parties an advantage in determining the problem and providing the relevant solution. Many people express themselves better through chat conversation rather than formal writing.

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