Bad messages are usually those that are poorly timed or don’t match the visitor’s actions on the site. The message needs to show the customer that their needs are important to the site owner. A generic, one-size-fits-all site welcome message that turns up repeatedly on different pages is sure to be a turnoff. It gives the impression that the company doesn’t care.
Customers have come to expect that greetings will change to match their needs in some way as they shift from one page to the next or linger over a problem – that’s the whole point of triggered messages.If a greeting pops up saying,
- “Hi, we’ve got some amazing offers this week on hunting equipment!” while the visitor is on the page showing maternity outfits, the site’s live chat function definitely needs some more tweaking.
If the site data shows that 90 percent of its visitors are from Britain, a message saying,
- “¡Bienvenido! Si tiene cualquier pregunta, ¡simplemente haga clic en chat en directo!” is undoubtedly the wrong way to retain customers.
Messages also need to be concise, especially if there’s some important information to be conveyed.
- “Hi, welcome to the site. We hope you find what you’re looking for here. We have many new reductions on fantastic products this week, including discounts on shipping. Our office is open from 08.00 to 18.00 ET. Leave us a message if you need any help from our agents and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible”.
Here is a message that’s too long. Live chat mustn’t waste words and distract with too much text. It should set out the essential facts and leave any further information for subsequent triggers, e.g:
- “Hi, welcome! Our office is open 08.00-18.00 ET. If you need assistance from an agent, drop us a message and we’ll get back to you when we’re online”. This message gives the essential facts about agent availability, and it’s enough to begin with. Any additional material about reductions or discounts should wait until the visitor moves to a particular page, and then the message can match the products they are viewing there.
In general, bad triggered messages are a matter of timing and/or context. The site owner can remedy this problem by adjusting the chat function to send messages that more precisely match customers’ needs as revealed by their browsing activity, geographical location, and other available data.
Misuse of triggered messages
Bad messages are usually those that are poorly timed or don’t match the visitor’s actions on the site. The message needs to show the customer that their needs are important to the site owner. A generic, one-size-fits-all site welcome message that turns up repeatedly on different pages is sure to be a turnoff. It gives the impression that the company doesn’t care. Customers have come to expect that greetings will change to match their needs in some way as they shift from one page to the next or linger over a problem – that’s the whole point of triggered messages.
If a greeting pops up saying,
- “Hi, we’ve got some amazing offers this week on hunting equipment!” while the visitor is on the page showing maternity outfits, the site’s live chat function definitely needs some more tweaking.
If the site data shows that 90 percent of its visitors are from Britain, a message saying, “¡Bienvenido! Si tiene cualquier pregunta, ¡simplemente haga clic en chat en directo!” is undoubtedly the wrong way to retain customers.
Messages also need to be concise, especially if there’s some important information to be conveyed.
- “Hi, welcome to the site. We hope you find what you’re looking for here. We have many new reductions on fantastic products this week, including discounts on shipping. Our office is open from 08.00 to 18.00 ET. Leave us a message if you need any help from our agents and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible”.
Here is a message that’s too long. Live chat mustn’t waste words and distract with too much text. It should set out the essential facts and leave any further information for subsequent triggers, e.g:
- “Hi, welcome! Our office is open 08.00-18.00 ET. If you need assistance from an agent, drop us a message and we’ll get back to you when we’re online”. This message gives the essential facts about agent availability, and it’s enough to begin with. Any additional material about reductions or discounts should wait until the visitor moves to a particular page, and then the message can match the products they are viewing there.
In general, bad triggered messages are a matter of timing and/or context. The site owner can remedy this problem by adjusting the chat function to send messages that more precisely match customers’ needs as revealed by their browsing activity, geographical location, and other available data.
Increasing conversions
By any standard of measuring commercial success, proactive customer service offers opportunities that no other form of customer support can claim. Chances of upselling
- “Hi, this product has additional features and offers better value for money” and cross-selling
- “Hi, if you like this product, here’s something many customers find useful to go with it”) are enhanced as the chat software tracks the customer’s intended or completed purchases.
Popular with customers, successful for companies
Surveys have consistently shown live chat to be popular with customers and a commercial success for websites that use it. While 29% of customers prefer email contact with businesses they deal with, and 16% prefer social media, for 46% live chat is the preferred mode of communication. This is hardly surprising. The average response time for enquiries by email is 12 hours, by social media 10 hours – and by live chat, 2 minutes.
As of May 2021, acceptance of live chat communication is highest on government and non-profit websites (26%), followed closely by e-commerce (23%). On commercial sites, customers who engage with the company through live chat were found to be worth 4.5 times as much as those who don’t. Seventy-nine percent of businesses who provide live chat customer care say doing so has had a positive effect on sales, revenue and customer loyalty.
Live chat best practice
It needs to be backed up by good site data
A good chat system doesn’t work in isolation. It needs to be matched with effective site analytics. It needs to know what stage in the sales funnel each customer is in, from initial awareness to final purchasing stage. Detailed data of their previous history and activity on the site is essential in scripting the appropriate chat greeting for each type of customer.
Chat greetings and triggered messages must be well matched with customer data
The design and timing of chat invitations are crucial to the efficiency and success of the whole customer service facility. Live chat greetings and messages need to be written for each occasion and each type of customer. The point at which they’re handed over to a live agent needs to be carefully decided.
Each company is unique
No two companies have precisely the same requirements when it comes to proactive customer service. Each must study its own customer profile, taking into account such factors as its age range, nationality, economic status and gender division, and keep up to date with any changes. Are its messages right for these types of customers? Could it expand its customer base to take in a wider demographic with better use of chat invitations?
Chat activation point depends on site content
The point at which assistance is offered can depend greatly on what kind of site you have, what kind of products you offer, and what type of customer is likely to visit. Suppose, for example, you sell some kind of equipment or technology that requires the site content to be in technical language, while your customers are people without much knowledge of the terminology. In that case, they will appreciate a chat invitation and an offer of help at an earlier stage than on a site whose content is more accessible to lay people.
Bad triggered messages can be counter-productive
It’s also important to bear in mind that a facility that’s invaluable to customers can be annoying in equal measure if not properly implemented. Badly designed or badly timed chat messages can irritate the user into leaving the site. Also important is the facility to switch off chat, with the customer having the choice of doing so either for the current session or for all future visits until they decide to engage with it.
Always leave the option of saying no
You must make it easy for customers who simply don’t want to engage with the live chat facility until they decide to initiate contact. No matter how efficient and helpful a system is, not all people will welcome it. It’s essential that the opt-out function be conspicuous to the customer and easy to use. For those customers who prefer to talk exclusively to a human agent, the chat window should clearly state whether there is one currently available, or, if not, at what time there will be.
The versatility of live proactive live chat software
The great advantage of proactive live chat software is that any number of messages can be programmed into it to match different triggers provided by the actions or attributes of the customer. As the tracking of customer activity becomes more advanced, the messages from the chatbot become more specific to match it, and the interaction with a chatbot comes closer to speaking to a human agent.
Proactive chat makes full use of all available data
The days of reactive customer service (i.e. where the customer always had to initiate a conversation with agents) are gone. The system has moved on irreversibly from the scenario when agents would wait to hear from customers. The advantages provided by customers’ browsing and purchasing data are too valuable to be ignored or wasted. Every well run site has a wealth of data about customers’ wishes, preferences and intentions that can be used to increase conversions. Anyone not making optimal use of this data for proactive chat triggers is in a failing business.
Conclusion
Clearly, proactive customer service has gone well beyond the stage of being an optional feature. It offers unrivaled opportunities to engage with site visitors, both retaining existing customers and gaining new ones through the speed and immediacy of the assistance it provides. Customer browsing habits are gradually evolving to expect the suggestions offered rather than having to ask for them. The passive approach of reactive chat is no longer enough. A fully functioning proactive live chat customer support system is vital for any company that wishes to stay competitive and grow its business.