Is your organization searching for new means to enhance the customer experience on live chats? Probably, you have recruited new agents who are getting a tough time handling live chat interactions. If you understand the importance of live chat as a communication platform, you would be looking for the best ways to enhance your customer handling time on live chat.

Here, in this article, we have shared some best practices that you and your team can implement when handling live chats with customers. These practices work well for your business, no matter what your services are or what your organization does. They are:

Practice 1: Accept the chat quickly
People hate waiting, whether they are buyers or sellers. You should never let them wait when they want to break the ice first via sending you chat request. Make your first impression good by accepting the request the moment you get it. What if your customer wants help or is frustrated about something related to your services or products? Being prompt to answer a chat request can increase the chance to calm them down and this wouldn’t be a good start if you out them on hold for a longer period. Try to reach them within an average wait time of 20 seconds.

Practice 2: Chat with focus and courteousness
FOCUS! You heard that right. Sometimes you have to chat with multiple customers at the same time. Since customers have a different nature, query/problem, or temper, you have to treat them differently. Even if you are upset about something a previous customer said to you, you need to buck up, forget all the worries, tune all the negativity out, and give your customers proper, undistracted attention. Moreover, remember to have a confident and cheerful tone while chatting, as your current mood will directly affect the experience your customer have on your website.

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Practice 3: Greet your customers
Did you ever notice a uniform wearing lady or gentleman greeting you when you enter a five-star restaurant? What if you have reserved a table and they are not there, even not a single representative is there to guide you? What experience would you have? This is the importance of greeting the customers professionally as soon as they enter your area of hold or website. You can rush to them, ask for a table you have booked or simply ask them to find you a table as per the number of your companions.

Once you’ve accepted the chat request, you need to start with a professional and courteous greeting. Canned messages can be helpful in saving you time and effort when you have to get involved in multiple chats simultaneously.

Practice 4: Identify your customers
The next thing you need to do is to check out the customer’s details. Discover as much as you can. Check if they are a lead, presently trying out your product, currently paid client, or if they do not exist in your records at all and maybe, they are eager to be one or maybe they have misunderstood your services.

It is in your best interest to skim through your customer’s profile and discover information such as their purchased item/services (if any), recent contacts with your support staff, and any important user notes on the profile you should know.

Even if the visitor has misread your services and looking for something you don’t offer, it is recommended to steer them to the right company (if possible. The visitor may pay off this small favor by becoming a loyal customer in the future!

Practice 5: Read the chat subject judiciously
Some customers start the chat by submitting their query; you have to read it really well. Once you have accepted the chat. If the subject does not provide enough knowledge, you have to probe for further details.

Asking upfront what’s unclear is better than making assumptions that may or may not lead the whole chat in an entirely opposite direction. If you have not done the inquiry well or if you are making wrong assumptions, then there are chances that you chat will be pointlessly stretched and create an exasperating experience for your customer.

If in doubt, then it is always better to discuss with the customer what you have understood and check you are on the same page as the customer before offering any solutions.

Practice 6: Answer multiple queries one by one
It’s easy to misunderstand a query, particularly when you are chatting with many customers at the same time, so read the query well to get a better understanding of what your customer has asked.

If your customer has many questions to ask, then the best you can do is to address them one at a time once your customer is done with typing.
Responding to the queries is just a small step towards meeting your visitor’s needs. You can help your customer in a better way when you have a complete idea of what your customer has been looking for and can give them the right options to live up to their expectations.

Practice 7: If you need some time to research, tell your customer
You are not a superhuman, and chances are you may not have a solution for all your customers’ problems. In such cases, it is recommended to ask your customers for some time to research the problem so you can propose the right solution to the customer.

If the problem is complex or technical and you need expert’s advice, convey this to your customer.

Accumulate all the information needed from the customer. This will be helpful for the other agent—to whom the customer will consult next time—in accessing all the information they might want to ask the customer. This will also save your customer from repeating the same thing again and again to every representative they chat with.

Practice 8: Empathize with your customers
Showing some empathy towards customer’s problem establishes that the customer is not talking to a robot. Sometimes, all that the customers want is a pair of ears that take heed to their problems. So, always be ready to empathize with your customers and put yourself in their shoes to get the exact same feelings they are having.

So, these were some of the tips you practice to give your customer an exceptional experience. If you have to save your time, consider website chat outsourcing services provided by different professional chat outsourcing companies. They have professionals, who are well-versed with all the tips, tricks and hacks to attract, retain and impress a web visitor.