9 Tips for Live Chat Support

9 Tips for Live Chat Support

Jumping on live chat with a customer can be a little nerve wracking at first. You don’t really know who is on the other end, you don’t know how complex their need is going to be, and it is kind of hard to gauge someone’s tone based on a chat conversation. Below are 9 tips and tricks that you can use to give you customers the best experience while going through a live chat with you.

1. Use emojis - Almost everyone uses emojis during their conversations. It’s a good way to show emotion and positivity during a chat. If a customer walks into your store or office, you would greet them with a smile. The same can be done with a smile emoji in chat.

2. Don’t use an ellipsis... - An ellipsis is a series of dots followed by an answer or a statement. Guess what… Using an ellipsis during a chat conversation can come off as condescending and unprofessional. You always want to maintain a professional tone during a conversation. :) Even during chats.

3. Avoid caps lock - NO ONE WANTS TO FEEL LIKE THEY’RE GETTING SCREAMED AT DURING A CHAT! Using caps lock can come across as being aggressive and yelling.

4. Punctuation and spelling is important - When you’re talking to your friends and family, you can get away with some misspelled words and missed punctuation. When you’re talking to your customers and representing a company, you want to remain professional and do your best to spell things correctly and use punctuation. Of course you won’t always be perfect, but make a conscious effort to do your best!

5. Don’t be afraid to laugh with the customer - If your customer says something funny, don’t be afraid to slip in a “haha” or “lol”. You are both human.

6. Speed, speed, speed - Respond to chats as soon as possible! Website visitors don’t want to be waiting for a few minutes to get answers to their questions. When managing live chat, you need to do your best to respond within seconds (if possible). 

7. Introduce yourself by name - Just like you would greet someone in person, let them know your name. In the beginning of a chat it’s good to ask for their name as well. At the end of the day, they are a potential lead or a current customer so their name is important.

8. Avoid sarcasm and jokes - It can be difficult to tell whether or not someone is joking through web chat. You’re probably not funny anyway… Just kidding haha. See, it’s hard to tell that I was joking.

9. When a chat is complete, be clear on next steps - A lot of times a live chat will end after an answer to a problem is solved. There are other times where a customer is scheduling or cancelling an appointment. Let the customer know that they will get an email confirmation as a next step. Or if they have an in depth question that can’t be answered through a chat, let them know that a specialist will call them within a few minutes.