What are you doing to better your live chat customer experience?
As Artificial Intelligence technology advances, chatbots can now initiate conversations and give remarkably accurate responses by going through databases and breaking down queries faster than we imagined before.
Think of the bots on Messenger by Facebook, their use of emojis is very accurate; you may think you are chatting with a real person.
But for some business owners, adopting new tech without a human touch may feel like losing touch with the “real” live chat customer experience. And they are right; we shouldn’t forget that we have something a robot can never really copy, our human nature.
Shoppers Want a Human Touch
Studies concur that shoppers prefer getting help from fellow human beings when it comes to addressing complicated matters. True, chatbots are the best for straightforward responses to straight questions, but they fail to deliver on a human’s emotional needs.
At times, a customer has more pressing and complicated issues that need personal assistance from a person who can relate to their problems.
No wonder nearly half (44 percent) of online shoppers agree that having a live person answer their queries during a web-based purchase is one of the best features a site can offer.
6 Tips to Sound like a Person in Live Chat
So how can you make your chats more human and ensure better live chat customer experience?
Savvy business owners know it takes the perfect balance between immediate, accurate responses and fostering a good customer-business relationship. It may sound impossible when you are blind to eye contact or body language, but here’s how to master the idea:
1. Your First impression Will Make or Break CX
How do you sound from the word “go,” Are you keeping a positive and welcoming attitude all through?
Well, you should, and you must also avoid humor or sarcasm because, regrettably, sarcasm doesn’t sound as you intend when conversing through chat!
Be careful when selecting words to avoid ruining your user experience live chat. The way you put across whatever you are saying matters. When having a conversation through chat, it’s easy to inadvertently sound rude when you are just driving towards the point. This could ruin you live chat support experience.
Lastly, do not carry all your burdens to work. No matter how bad your day is, you must not fight back a customer who doesn’t sound too friendly. Keeping a positive and calm attitude will help you cool down your customers too.
2. Get personal
No one denies the significance of canned responses, but you also want to spend some time to give your interactions a personal touch, where suitable. Call buyers by name and make use of any details about them to develop a rapport. Don’t forget to ask about them and their day.
These seemingly little bits of personal touches will make your online chat CX better and make each contact more memorable.
3. Build confidence and clarify matters
As obvious as this point sounds, most customer reps hardly ever use the approach. They forget that it is essential to invoke confidence because a buyer on the other end cannot see them— and therefore can’t follow up on other cues other than the texts they type.
So you must go the extra mile reaffirming whatever the customer is inquiring about to make them feel understood and on the same page with the company.
Go even further to explain how you are working towards solving their issue; customers hate to be left, guessing, and waiting for a text that never appears.
In essence, the goal is to avoid keeping a shopper waiting as that would ruin your live chat customer experience.
But if you must make the wait for one reason or another, make sure you explain what you are doing and state that there may be a delay.
Take time to explain issues in full sentences and write complete answers. Buyers appreciate this level of clarity and live chat support experience. It gives them confidence in you and keeps them calmer.
4. Talk in your customer’s lingo
Change your tone based on your reading of a customer’s situation; it will help you establish an emotional connection and prove that you understand the situation.
If a customer is happy, join them in celebration. If they feel frustrated; show remorse and seriousness when tackling their issue.
In other words, speak in your customer’s lingo to better your live chat customer experience. It will help you win every buyer as a person.
5. Be Sympathetic
A customer can never feel heard or understood until you really get into their shoes and show signs that you sympathize with their situation.
Chat in simple language and leave technical jargon for conversations with your colleagues. Don’t forget that you are dealing with a customer who may not know whatever may be common knowledge to you and your in-house team. That’s why you want to use the simplest terms to put across any points to a buyer or prospect.
It is common to assume that once we know something, everyone else knows or understands it. But it makes more sense to walk in your shoppers’ shoes if you want to keep seeing things from their angle.
6. Add stories and real-life examples where applicable
Customers are humans and giving everything a touch of reality can go a long way in ensuring a customer support service with a difference. Use stories and real-life examples (where applicable) when trying to understand a customer’s point or explain something to them.
Bringing these pictures into a customer’s mind can go a long way in passing important messages home and proving to the reader that you really can make sense of whatever query they have.
In Conclusion
Today, online businesses are competing on the basis of CX. If you cannot offer a desirable user experience, then you might as well park and go home because the race is about to get unbearable for you.
Start by streamlining your live chat customer experience. Make it a memorable experience for any buyer or prospect you get in touch with at any point of contact. Make sure every customer walks away feeling contented and connected to your brand.
In other words, if you are against the use of chatbots, then you must concentrate on making the most of Emotional intelligence— something bots will never achieve.
That way, all your shoppers will feel listened to, understood, and happy with the outcome. Remember, customer support or live chat is now a routine procedure for every website; the difference today is how you interact personally with a buyer or prospect.
