10 Tips to Make Webchat Work for Your Contact Centre

Thomas Rødseth gives his advice on getting the most out of webchat, when implementing and developing the channel. 

The webchat promise delivers in so many ways. It guarantees a seamless digital experience, offering near real-time communication in a highly personalised way.

It may come as no surprise therefore that webchat is one of the most popular channels for customer interaction used by 39 percent of UK customer service organisations.

Here are ten simple strategies for implementing webchat and delivering the webchat promise.

1. Prioritise pages and make web buttons highly visible

Recognise that not all webchat conversations are equal. A password refresh is not as critical as someone asking a last-minute question about your product at the online checkout!

Provide priority routing for customers arriving from key pages and make webchat buttons highly visible on these pages.

2. Limit the use of proactive chat

If a customer has been hovering around a checkout or FAQ page for longer than the average browse time, use a proactive chat option where a webchat screen appears in front of the customer, but don’t over-use. This will just drive potential customers and sales – away!

3. Use intelligent routing to boost customer experience

Make sure the customer’s routing experience is as smooth and painless as possible and don’t ask for too many details upfront – a name and email address will suffice.

Rely on the latest WebRTC softphone technologies to capture additional information about a customer’s browsing journey or account history and pass this through to the webchat agent.

Consider passing customers to a specialist or give priority to customers visiting a certain page to ensure a swift and successful interaction, and don’t forget to offer self-help options.

4. Keep customers informed at all times

Communicate, communicate and communicate. Provide a position-in-queue announcement or an estimated time-to-answer and show activity indicators such as ‘agent typing’ so that the customer can see progress and knows they are receiving your full attention.

5. Use webchat to extend opening hours

In today’s digital world where consumers expect round-the-clock access to your virtual shop window, use an outsourcer or company-employed homeworkers to deliver webchat services when your main contact centre is closed.

6. Optimise services for mobile users

When so many customers consume products, services as well as information on the move, this element is absolutely critical or they are likely to go elsewhere.

Optimise the webchat user experience for mobile devices by keeping the account verification process simple, text responses short and file attachments small.

Also, consider integrating webchat support into mobile applications for regular users.

7. Incorporate a post contact survey button

Use customer feedback to improve your webchat service and boost your own social media presence by posting positive ‘Voice of the Customer’ feedback from customers online whilst encouraging them to share their experiences on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

8. Offer chat transcripts to customers

Provide transparency and boost customer confidence by offering customers access to full chat transcripts upon completion of interactions.

9. Consider a chatbot

Tap into the latest craze in automated web communication – chatbots or computer programs that mimic human conversations using artificial intelligence.

Bots can answer questions and proactively send messages, bringing a whole new dimension to the webchat experience.

10. Combine customer feedback with website analysis

Last but not least, look at your service and sales or marketing operation as a whole by combining webchat analytics with CRM information and visitor statistics to assess who is visiting your site.

Find out where they come from, what search engine keywords are used, their navigation history and any issues they encountered along the way.

For more information, visit www.puzzel.com