Live Chat Software or a Traditional Phone Support – Which is Better?

Customer service has become the increased focus of domain across all business verticals. Organizations—small and large, both are increasingly acknowledging customer service as the primary differentiator between competitors.

  • You may have a high quality solution but chances are your competitor will eventually bring itself on par.
  • You may be offering the most cost effective solution in the market but chances are that others will catch up.

It’s the quality of customer service which then dictates the accession rules to the governing throne.

Traditionally, organizations have used phone support as an established medium of delivering high quality customer support services. However, the recent emergence of live chat software solution has forced a rethink among business community to reshape their customer support strategy. We explore the two mediums of customer support, aiming to help our readers to decide the better alternative.

live chat software

The Weight of Emotional Subtext

A phone support service allows customers to pick up their phones, dial the help line number and speak to a customer support representative, asking answers to their questions.

A live chats software solution allows visitors to type their queries and receive text based answers to their questions. Both the subjects can structure the responses they want considering the dynamics of the situation.

Both the support solutions look convenient, adding comprehensive details and depth to the interaction between the customer and the customer support representative.

However, with phone support services there is an added advantage. The customer can hear the voice of the representative and the agent can hear what the customer has to say. They both can identify and understand the emotional undertones characterizing the conversation.  This highlights the emotional subtext, which can prove to be the difference between successfully convincing a customer and losing a prospect.

The Process of Facilitation

When trying to connect with a customer support representative over the phone, callers often have to wait in long queues before their calls are forwarded to the agent. Sometimes this can take few minutes, and depending on the traffic, quite often a customer has to wait for a good 15-20 minutes.

With a live chat software solution, the process of facilitation is much faster. Your customer will just click on the chat button and a representative will immediately join the conversation. Your customers don’t have to wait in long queues waiting for their turn. And, even if the live agent goes offline, a virtual agent may replace them or a quick alert message gets them back on board.

Redirecting a Customer to Expansive Sources of Information

Let’s hypothesize.

A customer wants to buy a desktop computer. The budget has been set but the customer does not know much about the components that make up the system—the motherboards, the processors, the graphic cards.

Sure, a customer support representative over the phone can assist the client in choosing the system that suits the budget. But,

  • What if the customer wants to know about the types of graphic cards available in the market and which would be the best solution for the application?
  • What if the customer wants to match the specs of the system suggested by the agent with another system?

How can you redirect the customer to other sources of information over the phone?

This is again, where a live chat software solution can help. The live agent can simply copy and paste a link to a credible source of information and helps customers make an informed decision on their purchase.

So, which medium of customer support service do you think is better? We are interested in hearing your opinion.