About Social Media Today
Social media technologies provide us with new ways to connect with our customers. Typically, customers that choose a social chat feature seek quick answers and solutions. In other words, they want instant gratification. They choose chat so that they can skip phone messaging systems, avoid waiting for replies to emails, and reading through lengthy FAQs.
As companies continue to explore best practices in delivering customer service online, sometimes less is more. This was the main takeaway of a study we recently completed that reviewed how brands talked to their customers in online chat.
According to a recent article in Harvard Business Review “delighting customers doesn’t build loyalty; reducing their effort—the work they must do to get their problem solved—does.” This raises an important question – should a written communications style match that of the medium? For example, customers expect quick and easy access to information when they’re online (don’t we all!); should that approach be reflected in the words online chat agents use?
In fact, what companies say – and how they say it – is directly tied to the technology they use to do it. Focusing on online chat as a real time customer service tool, the more verbose online chat agents were in their interactions, the less satisfied customers were. In this study, we analyzed the online chat transcripts of Fortune 500 companies such as Zappos and Nordstrom, and were able to list several recommendations that can boost sales ROI from social CRM. Whether it was conversation flow, staying on point, or closing a chat session, less was always more. In other words, agents that stuck to the point, were concise and brief, scored best in overall customer satisfaction scores.
Here are some highlights to share with your CRM chat team. Keep in mind that the number one reason that customers choose chat is because it’s a fast medium that allows them to multi-task online.
1. Skip a wordy greeting; offer help right away:
Welcome to [Company] Live Chat! My name is David. Thank you for waiting. How can I help you?
2. Appear seamless. If you transfer a customer to another agent, you do the transfer. Don’t make the customer engage in a new chat session:
It sounds like it could be one of several issues, but I am unfortunately not equipped to diagnose the problem you are experiencing. I think the best course of action is to call Technical Support at 1-800-***-**** or e-mail them at support@company.com. I could also connect this chat to their department. Would you like me to?
3. Stick to the point. Support the customer with links to the specific resources they need. Use short and to-the-point answers:
Customer: Is your site protected?
Agent: Yep! http://www.zappos.com/shop-with-confidence
Customer: Okay, I see. Can you tell me about your shipping policies?
Agent: Yes, it is free shipping and free return shipping. Standard shipping is about 4 - 5 business days.
4. Like the opening, the closing sets the tone and supports the overall corporate brand:
Agent: Did you have any other questions or anything else?
Customer: No. I'll call-in later.
Agent: If anything else does come up, we are here 24/7 for you! Have a great day!
What tactics does your CRM team follow to effectively communicate with customers via chat? Start by analyzing the chat transcripts of your agents using customer effort as a key metric and share your findings with me.
