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Customer Experience

4 Tips for Building Customer Loyalty Through Live Chat

It’s no secret that retaining existing customers is good for the bottom line. Just look at the numbers. In detailed research looking into the lifecycle of customers, Bain & Co. found that increasing customer retention by five percent has the potential to increase a company’s profitability by nearly 75%. Additionally, Gartner has found that nearly 80% of a company’s future revenue is generated by 20% of existing customers. How can your company ensure customer retention? By offering them customer service and experiences that gives them reason to stick with your brand or product. One easy way to keep customers returning to you is by offering live chat, a preferred communication channel for many, particularly the Millennial generation.

Live chat agents are often on the front line of customer service delivery and training around best chat experiences is paramount to get the most out of this service. Customers expect quick answers, a personalized tone, and product or service expertise so they feel confident in moving ahead with a sale.

Here are four tips for maximizing your live chat training efforts to deliver the best chat experience:

1. Around the clock service

That’s right, if you want to satisfy your customers, you need to make sure they can reach you when it’s most convenient for them. Customers don’t limit their shopping or browsing to a 9-to-5 schedule, so why should your customer support be limited to banker’s hours?

2. Give live chat agents a 360-degree view

When agents can put themselves in their customer’s shoes, they are better prepared to deliver service that is effective, personalized and targeted to the needs of the customer. In addition to understanding the customer, it’s crucial that agents are well trained in how to use all the features of your live help software. Customers who communicate through live chat are looking for expedited help and service and don’t want to be left hanging while an agent is stumbling because they aren’t well trained on the infrastructure.

3. Don’t overlook the importance of writing skills

Knowing how to impart the correct tone, grammar and voice when working with live chat doesn’t come automatically, so training around proper communication techniques is essential. Without the cues of voice inflections or eye contact, it’s easy for a written conversation to be misinterpreted which is why training live chat agents is different than training phone agents.

4. Be the expert

Customers are contacting live chat agents because the information they are seeking to make a decision about a purchase is not otherwise readily available. Ensuring that your live chat agents are knowledgeable about your products and services allows them to confidently interact with the customer and guide him or her to the best outcome.

Customer loyalty is built on repeated, positive interactions with your brand or product. It doesn’t happen overnight, and it requires consistency. The good news is that customers aren’t expecting a song-and-dance every time they interact with your company, they simply want their needs met in the most accurate, timely, and economical way. They don’t have patience for long-winded, canned messages or pushy sales tactics. If live chat training incorporates some of the tips mentioned above, there’s a good chance that your customers who’ve contacted you through live chat will be returning to your website.

The good news for companies that offer live chat is that customers are more likely to return and if they consistently encounter good service, they’ll remain loyal in the long run. There’s no easier way to boost your company’s bottom line than developing long-term relationships with your loyal customers.

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