Our expert’s 8 key success factors will help you step up your live chat game.
PaintPass Social Media Coordinator Trista Leclair knows a thing or two dozen about how live chat can enhance customers’ virtual shopping experience. We mined the depths of Trista’s expertise for 8 key factors that can successfully convert live chats into more online sales and satisfied (or better, repeat!) customers.
1. Get on a first-name basis: “Create a connection by asking for the customer’s name. Getting on a first-name basis immediately humanizes the experience, builds rapport and is the first step to establishing trust,” Trista says. “Hearing and seeing our names delights our brains and draws our attention to the importance of what is being said. Once you have the customer’s name, update their profile on the platform and save it.
2. Ask questions to better understand the customer’s project: “You really need to build the project from scratch. Asking the customer detailed questions will ensure you are providing them with the correct information and best advice for their project.”
3. Save time with canned responses to repeat questions: “You’ll find that you will get some questions over and over again. Save your responses so that you can use them again in future chats.”
4. Manage expectations: “Give customers an estimated response time. For example, if you need a few moments to respond, ask them politely to hold on for 60 seconds while you retrieve that information. Don’t leave them hanging or disappear without explanation.”
5. Send the customer links to suggested colors or products: “This will take them directly to that specific page on the website, so you are in essence taking their hand and leading them to making a purchase,” Trista says. “Most live chat platforms will allow the chat window to remain open even while the customer travels between various pages on your website.”
6. Encourage the customer to share their ideas: “Invite them to upload photos of their space or screenshots of their Pinterest inspirations. Our live chat allows the customer to quickly and easily share pictures so that we can gather a better understanding of their project. In return, we can share new images that might further spark their creativity.”
7. Facilitate what we like to call a “warm transfer”: “If the live chat results in needing to send the customer to a physical store location, then an expert hand-off can make all the difference in retaining their business. Connect with an in-store team member and share as much information as possible about your live chat so that they are fully apprised of the customer’s situation. The in-store team member should be able to demonstrate that they are up to speed about the earlier interaction so that the customer does not need to explain every detail a second time,” she says. “We strongly believe in presenting yourselves as ‘one team’ to the customer, not the online team versus the off-line team.”
8. Lastly, if you want more chats, eliminate pre-chat surveys: “An example of a pre-chat survey is asking the customer to input their name, phone number or email prior to engaging in live chat. This is often a turn-off for customers and will reduce the number of incoming chats. At the same time, it can be a suitable solution if your live chat team is overwhelmed and wants to better manage the volume of chats. If you have the resources and want to engage as many chats as possible, you are better off removing any barriers or requests that complicate matters for the customer.”
Are you optimizing live chat as part of your e-commerce strategy, or would like to learn more about turning customer engagement into more online sales? Our team is always looking to connect with other retailers to share ideas, contact us today!
Looking for tips to keep your online presence relevant, grow your online paint sales and reach more customers? Check out our other blog posts.