Customer service is usually the only point of contact a customer has with a company. It is there to resolve issues and answer questions – it offers reassurance.
While online services and suppliers can be extremely efficient and effective in meeting customer demand, their customer service can fall short when it comes to genuine, two-way communication.
The development of manned live chat is one way for businesses to bring a better level of personalised communication into the digital realm.
Outsourcing Manned Live Chat
For manned live chat to be at its most effective, it needs to be readily available, and convenient for the customer. But this can be a resource and cost issue.
As Paul Lawton, Managing Director of Chat Heroes, explains, outsourced live chat can address this.
“Many businesses feel they haven’t the time for talk when it comes to running a business online. At the right level, outsourced live chat can fill this gap, working as if it is an integral part of the business. This applies out of hours too.”
“Trust is a key issue in finding new customers and keeping them. Establishing trust is a challenge for websites, but integrated live chat can help to do this”
Paul was discussing the role of outsourced live chat at a recent Business Connections event, and used his company’s experiences to create a memorable piece of storytelling.
When Manned Live Chat Combats Crime
“Trust works on several levels,” Paul explains. “It’s what the customer wants to feel, but it’s also what the business needs to have with its supplier, if it is going to outsource a vital area of its customer service.”
Against this backdrop, Paul gave the perfect example of how a real-life incident can become powerful content, with trust at its centre.
“We had a situation where were providing live chat to a client, 85 hours a week. Our service was so embedded that when a member of the public saw our client’s offices being burgled, they contacted our live chat operatives to report it”
The chat operatives contacted the police in time to thwart the robbery.
“For the witness who alerted us, they perceived the live chat operatives as being physically present in the offices at the time. The way the live chat operatives were communicating made it feel like they were there. That’s the point.”
This ‘as if‘ quality means live chat bridges the gap between the digital and human experience, and helps form strong, trusted links with customers in the process.
“One in eight visitors to our clients’ websites, where we provide live chat services, turn into quality leads”
The robbery story illustrates the way live chat can become the public face of online customer services, above and beyond expectation.
“We were able to repay our client’s trust in our services by helping them when it really mattered,” Paul concludes.
To discover how to manned live chat can build trust with your website visitors and improve sales conversion, please call Chat Heroes on 0191 500 9788 or visit chatheroes.com.
