Internet Retailer Highlights the Live Chat Personal Touch
Tuesday 12 October 2010
Internet Retailer Magazine, the largest monthly magazine in e-retailing in the US has highlighted in a recent article the rise in retailers adopting live chat as part of their online customer engagement strategy.
The article compares the lower cost of live chat compared to traditional telephony and it is this cost saving in part that appears to retailers. The article also addresses the role of the chat agents themselves and the training required to ensure the Live Chat strategy is a success.
Article Highlights
Live Chat Retail Growth
Live Chat adoption by e-retailers is set to double this year, due in part to the cost savings that can be achieved compared to traditional telephony, the ability for an agent to handle more than one request at a time compared to voice offers immediate cost savings.
Forrester Research - 28% of retailers currently offer live chat, another 26% planned to add it within a year.
Chat Agents
"Chat is a hard job," says Jim Allen, CEO of ApplianceZone.com, that employs 10 full-time live chat agents. "You have to screen people and let them know what they are about to get into. You can't stress how hectic and fast-paced chat can be."
The Payoff
For those e-retailers that use Live Chat and use it well there are clear savings to be gained. Forrester Research estimated that the average cost of a Live Chat was $5, compared to $6 to $12 for a telephone call. A staggering 63% of consumers surveyed that had used live chat found it satisfying. Live chat came a close second to telephony at 69% but more importantly ahead of self service and email.
There are also significant profits to be gained from live chat. Since 2008 ShopNBC.com has used live chat for selling higher-margin items and an analysis by Forrester conservatively measured ShopNBC.com's ROI at nearly 300%. The report also highlighted that customers who engaged with live chat spent an average of 38% more.
Typists wanted
Its important to select agents carefully those who can communicate quickly and clearly, and type at least 45-50 words per minute are most suited to this type of role. They must also be knowledgeable in multiple areas so they can provide the right assistance in a timely and accurate manner.
Dropping Telephone Customer Support
More and more e-retailers are doing away with traditional telephone based support in favour of live chat one such organisation ApplianceZone.com, dropped telephone support in 2008 they now handle approximately 10,000 chats per week far more than the 2000 phone calls in 2008.
Training
Learning how to use chat software is often the easiest part of training, especially if new agents are already familiar with communicating online via instant messaging and e-mail, live chat trainers say.
Setting the Tone
Learning to set the right tone in live chat is crucial, and chat trainers say they spend the most time on honing this skill. Agents have to realise that customer don�t hear their tone of voice, throwaway expressions, such as "to be honest with you" or �as I said before� can be misconstrued negatively in a text exchange.
Speak the Lingo
In order to form relationships with the end user using live chat formality isn�t always necessary, a teenager using text speak within the chat will form a greater relationship with an agent that talks using the same abbreviations.
The Full Article can be seen at www.internetretailer.com