Call centers were basically designed and initiated to support sales and after-sales services of product and service companies. As time went by, corporations big and small added more processes to their call center activities, to make them more functional for both the centers and the customers. The live chat process happened to be one such addition. There are many benefits of having live chat software integrated into the call center process. It assists the firm on an operational, technological, and financial level. However, it mostly ensures that your customers have a smoother and better communication interface with your call center agents.
In the call center business it is imperative to take care of customer queries. Quick turnaround of calls but in an effective manner is of key importance. To understand the benefits of adding live chat to your call center process we need to identify the advantages it offers.
For the Customers
Customers prefer live chat – Customers would love the option of being able to connect automatically to a chat with an actual person on the other end as compared to being stuck with an IVR for the first 5 to 20 minutes. They appreciate their concerns being taken care of at the click of a button. The very feeling of seeing someone with a name and face typing on the other side of the chat window makes waiting an easier task. Phone assistance, on the contrary, leaves the customers with undefined waiting times and they particularly do not like listening to the same music playing on the loop for minutes together.
Removes complexity of entering data – Chats make it easy for the customers to take down ticket numbers, and state order numbers to the agent as compared to spelling them out over phone chats. They can easily copy and paste details instead of dictating them and repeating them only to make sure the agents got it right. This works well for both the parties.
For the Agents
Opportunity to extend customized service – Given the live chat tools provided to the customer service agents, they are able to go through the browsing history, macros and co-browsing features of the customers before they get on to a Live chat. This gives them a clear idea of what exactly the customer might be looking for and helps them steer the conversation likewise. This helps the customer gain the exact information they had been looking for. Agents too can cut down time spent on each chat by knowing what queries to address beforehand, looking at the browsing history.
Handling multiple clients simultaneously– Unlike phone conversations in which an agent can address only one customer at a time, chat features allow agents to handle 4 to 5 different customers simultaneously. This decreases turnaround time for each query and also allows them to close conversations faster using their live chat tools.
Achieving increased sales – By using the live chat tools, agents can know exactly when to intervene and help the customers make a purchase, particularly when they appear to be in two minds. Sales cart abandonment causes a whole lot of issues for companies. If the sales agents are able to initiate a chat and find out if the customer is looking at other options as well, they can steer the customers to make the purchase immediately instead of looking for more. Once the customer has the product in the cart, the chances of them shooting an email or calling the service representative is low. A proactive response from the agent themselves will actually help the customer make the purchase.
For the Company
Reduced cost of operations – Installation and integration of live chat systems in the call center take lesser time than that of phone-based call centers. The simpler systems effectively take just a day, while the more detailed and customized ones take around 10-20 days. This lag time is clearly way lesser than setting up phone call centers. Live chat solutions also cost way lesser and provide much better output as compared to the traditional phone systems. All-in-all, they end up reducing the operational cost of your call center.
More chat turnarounds – Since it enables agents to handle 4 to 5 customers at the same time as against the one they handle while they are on the phone, quick chat turnarounds help firms churn out real time sales. By assisting customers to make the purchases, they have only thought of in their mind, by chatting with them, turnovers are made way easier through live chat solutions.
Easier branding – By customizing the chat windows skins with your company’s colors and logo, you can create a strong brand recall in the mind of your customers. Personalize it with a warm greeting from the company and keep the features simple so that customers can find it easy to use. Use your live chat services as an additional advertising tool as well.
Given the many brownie points that the live chat software offers, it makes sense to install it in your call center. With little installation cost and great returns, it sure will make for a great investment.
