Enhancing Customer Satisfaction Using Proactive Chat Support Strategies

SixEleven

Communication is inevitably the bloodline among businesses. It connects them with their customers. An expert tone should be the bridge for the connection to be properly established. One that empathizes with customers and increases the profits for businesses. This is where the magic of proactive chat support comes into play.

Chat Support indeed helps companies retain their valued customers. But how should proactive chat support be established? In this blog, we will explore the strategies that make chat support a great weapon for retaining loyal customers. 

Understanding Chat Support

Chat Support is a way of connecting customer concerns to businesses through instant messaging. Unlike voice messaging, this type of communication requires expertise in writing. Any writing error can cause misunderstanding on the side of the customer.

An agent should identify the tone of the conversation without hearing any voice. Doing that requires the expertise of an experienced and knowledgeable agent.

When the agent communicates through instant messaging, there is no visible reaction a customer can notice. However, talented agents have their way of expressing and garnering the expected customer response. 

This is possible by establishing the setting that happens before the conversation. As the proverb says, the first impression always lasts.

Effective Pre-Chat Engagement

So now, the only thing that separates businesses from customers is that: they have no idea who to talk to. No one can provide them with the resolution that they need. Thanks to the power of chat support. Their concern is just one message away.

Businesses employ strategies to connect with their customers. One thing they can utilize is the expertise of Chat Support Agents. These professionals have a knack for communicating through the keyboards, with their talent in conveying expression through readable texts.

To build a connection between agents and customers, there should be an establishment of a rapport. This is an intuitive process that effortlessly connects the one who expresses to the one who listens. To do this, the agent should profile the customer. Profiling is a step in which the agent should learn what the customer is feeling.

Profiling is a challenging task if it is done by a beginner agent. Though this is the case, this skill can be learned through time through experience. The way it is done begins when the chat just started. An agent can identify the usage of words if there is an emotion that is associated. Then, this is where the real magic starts.

Real-Time Assistance During Chats

After the agent learns the real intention of why the customer reached out, the magic starts. Usually, the agent will ask for the exact details of the concern. After the customer provides the details, the agent will then do either of two things.

First, if the customer is angry, as implied in how they converse, the agent will empathize with them. The agent will do this by putting themselves in the shoes of the customer. This requires patience and skill, as one wrong word can affect the flow of the conversation.

Second, when a customer’s tone is passive, the agent can acknowledge their concern. Even if the conversation is calmer than the first one, this setting still requires patience and skill. There is a tendency for the customer will ask questions repeatedly. This requires a professional response that will not detract from the customer experience.

Leveraging Customer Data

Skilled agents have their way of anticipating what happens next in the conversation. One way of doing this is utilizing a recorded note of the past conversation. This is available to the tools provided by a BPO company.

Reading through the recorded notes will allow the agent to know the situation before the conversation. Though the anticipated response may not be always accurate, the notes will give the agent cues on how to execute an appropriate response.

Another way to anticipate the customer response is through observing past communication. Instant messaging can still have the flavor of communication that is happening when agents and customers talk with each other through the keyboard. The only difference is no voice can be heard. Despite that, the agent can still profile the customer based on the words that are used during the conversation.

Measuring Success

And this is the moment when the agent can use their intuition to fit in with the conversation. Though there is no definite metric or KPI for this, successful agents are good at this skill. 

Some BPO firms use Artificial Intelligence to keep track of those chats that create customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction. This may cost financial resources, but at the other business angle, it is cost-efficient. Using Artificial Intelligence can provide a more accurate metric and can provide feedback to the agent for only a short time.

Well, there is still no substitute for a conversation that has a human touch. The type of chats that are craftily done by skilled agents. These are conversations where empathy can be felt, where agents walk through the customer’s shoes.

Wrap Up

Effective Chat Support requires strategies that empower customer experience. Pre-chat engagement is a crucial way to start, using observation tools like profiling. After it’s all good, the magic is applied to the entire conversation’s flow. This may require timing but with the right execution and skill based on experience, this can be done successfully.

Artificial Intelligence can also help. Tools like this expedite the effectiveness of a particular conversation, such as in Chat Support. 

Still, any customer can feel the difference. Human conversations on the keyboard still make a difference.

To learn more about Chat Support, and if you are a keyboard magician, feel free to join us!

AboutSixEleven

SixEleven is the first Davao-Based solution-oriented contact center designed to provide quality services in Sales, Marketing and Customer Support in the Philippines.