In the 21st-century digital space, a live chat with a stranger is as good as speaking to a person face-to-face. You can see the popularity of live chat on websites from a business perspective in the following graph.
Source: superoffice.com
Live chat increases conversion rates and boosts customer satisfaction. But not every business gets the same results after implementing live chat on their websites. Why?
If you want your business to be different from the crowd and achieve exceptional growth, check out this list of 15 best practices for a live chat service for websites you can follow immediately.
Looking for Live Chat Software? Check out SoftwareSuggest’s list of the best Live Chat Software solutions.
We have categorized the best practices based on their primary purpose. Let us get started now!
Website and app implementation
Live web chat service is integrated with your website and mobile application, so you need to ensure the technical integration and deployment are foolproof.
1. Security and technical considerations
Here are a few web chat best practices you can implement:
- Page load times are crucial for user experience and SEO. Make sure your live web chat service is not slowing your website down by loading unnecessary files.
- If your website consists of multiple subdomains, check that they do not affect the chat session due to interlinked domains.
- Most systems use Iframes to embed the customer service chatbot into your website. The better way is to use an embedded HTML widget that ensures compatibility with all web browsers.
- Your customer may collect contextual data on your website by adding items to their shopping cart or authenticating themselves onto your portal. We recommend presenting the data to the chat agent during the transition into a live web video chat.
- Being a Data Controller, you need to comply with GDPR and have a DPA (Data Processing Agreement) with any Data Processors, such as chat software providers.
- If you want your website to comply with PCI-DSS, ensure that your live web chat solution is not affected by it. Your chat solution should mask credit card information automatically. Also, train customer service agents to take card payments during a live web video chat or direct the customer to a self-service payment page.
2. Mobile app integration
If your business offers a mobile app to customers, you should provide an in-app live web chat service.
Unlike website integrations, the process of mobile app integration varies depending on how you have built your platform. Let us consider some examples.
- If it’s a PWA (Progressive Web App), there is not much difference from integrating the live chat into a website.
- If your app supports WebViews, you can trigger the live web chat service to display in a WebView. It is similar to a browser loaded up as an overlay in your web app.
- If you used Java, Swift, or other native app technologies to build your app, you need a chat system with an SDK (Software Development Kit) to integrate with your app. You can discuss such aspects with the technical team of your service provider.
3. Support multiple languages
Most web chat software supports the English language by default on the respective website. Some systems support an additional language. But your customers will be delighted if you can support multiple languages in live chat for business websites.
Technically, the simplest way to offer multi-lingual support is by loading different language files or chat scripts in the system. Another way to do it is to provide the user with a dropdown menu having multiple language options. You can also use real-time translation to handle many languages.
4. Use Google Tag Manager
The Google Tag Manager (GTM) is a powerful and free service provided by Google. It allows you to add, update and remove different code tags (JavaScript-based) from your website.
Source: rubydigital.co.za
GTM can help you in the following ways:
- You have to add a code snippet to your website only once and never bother your web developers again to add features to the website.
- You can add 3rd-party chat providers or digital agencies that configure the chat script. But they will still require your authority to publish any changes.
- GTM gives you complete control over which pages, paths, and triggers you want to set on your customers’ journey.
5. Use Google Analytics for tracking
You may already be familiar with Google Analytics (GA), a free and powerful service from Google.
When setting up the live chat on a website, configure GA tracking and verify if it is running without any problems.
Your chat system should send events to GA and help you to see which customer journeys result in a live web video chat. You can also understand the types of outcome tags agents apply to chat sessions, such as product query, support ticket, etc.
Some other advantages of using GA in a live web chat service are:
- You can check which website pages generate the most chat requests for your support team. It helps you to update the FAQ content accordingly.
- You can plan to recruit new contact center agents or optimize your existing workforce after analyzing GA metrics.
Branding and behavior
It concerns the look and feel of your live chat service for websites and ensures a frictionless customer journey.
6. Use proactive chat to align with the customers’ journey
Do you understand the difference between a proactive and a reactive chat?
Well, reactive chat means waiting for a customer to start a webchat. But proactive chat means initiating a conversation with the customer from your end.
You have seen those nudges on web pages that ask you if you need any help regarding a product or service. You can also place such nudges based on analytics data that reveals a lack of conversions on crucial web pages.
You can trigger a proactive chat through different engagement rules. These rules act like criteria based on which your live chatbot may nudge the customer. The rules may be as follows:
- The current location of the customers on the website shows their interest.
- The number of times they visited the website.
- The amount of time they spent on the website
- The scrolling behavior of customers on a webpage speaks a lot about their preferences.
- The customers hover over a specific element for some time.
You can target the following sets of customers with engagement rules:
- Shoppers who overthink about their purchases.
- Returning clients registered on your website.
- Visitors who frequently browse product or service pages.
Here are two best practices you can follow when designing nudges for a live chat on a website:
- Personalization: Your invitation to chat should appear friendly and not as a spam pop-up window that the customer will ignore straight away.
- Do not rush it: Give the customer some time and space after entering the page. You should not send multiple consecutive chat invitations, as it will spoil their browsing experience.
CallHippo, a leading cloud-based VoIP service provider, uses the perfect nudge to strike a conversation with visitors. It also shows a profile pic and the name of the live chat agent so that customers know they would be talking to a human. Check it out below.
Source: callhippo.com
So always try to find the right balance between helpful and intrusive when optimizing a live chat service for websites.
7. Design your chat window for the best UX
A seamless user experience (UX) can go a long way in delighting your potential or existing customers. So your web chat system should be easy-to-use and fully responsive across all types of devices.
When setting up live chat on website, you should opt for a design that fits your website theme and does not interfere with the on-site experiences of customers.
There are infinite possibilities to how customer service chatbots can look. We recommend you consult with your graphic design team to ensure the web chat system aligns with your brand and website theme.
The whole idea of the elegant design is to tell potential chat users that your customer support system is the best, and they need not worry about it.
Another live chat best practice is to place the chat window/widget at the right spot. You may wonder whether it should be on the lower left or right-hand side. Well, the latter is the correct position.
Let us tell you the logic of placing your chat window in the lower right corner of your website. It reduces the visual load when customers use a live web chat service.
So it is time to migrate from a clumsy pop-out chat window to a well-designed chat bubble. Do it today!
8. Manage queues to achieve lower waiting times
Sometimes you will end up dealing with a high volume of chat inquiries, especially during a festive season. There will be sudden spikes in traffic, and it will not be possible to accept all chat requests promptly.
In such circumstances, some websites hide the chat widget altogether. We strongly discourage such live chat practice.
Let us assume you are a customer with a question that needs urgent answering. If you do not see the option of live chat on a website, you will move to another communication channel, such as email or phone. It shifts the problem to another part of the contact center. The same customer will hit the business on multiple channels, thus overloading the customer support machinery.
The best thing to do during high workloads is to let customers wait. Tell them the reason for the delayed response.
An ideal live video chat for a website should have the following settings enabled to manage a queue:
- Dynamic in-queue messaging that alters based on time in the waiting queue.
- Show customers their position in the waiting queue instead of an estimated wait time. The latter is unreliable and may further irritate your customers when the waiting time inevitably changes.
- Give your customers the option to change their queued chat into an email or call back. But tell them that other channels may take longer to get a response.
- Some live chat solutions will allow you to broadcast a message to all active or queued chats so that you can relay real-time information in a single click.
9. Set up out-of-hours workflows
Some businesses offer a 24/7 live web chat service, but most operate within business hours.
There are three options to solve the above problem:
- A contact form: A contact form can replace the chat widget, and if a customer has a query, you will receive an email about it. It helps in lead generation but could irritate customers expecting a prompt response.
- Hidden chat widget: You may hide the live chatbot so that no customer can contact you after working hours. It is the most practical option because there is no point in keeping the chat widget if you cannot attend to customers in real-time.
- Outsourcing: Some companies outsource their live web chat service to teams of specialist contact agents. They will manage your webchats and respond on your behalf. You can also ask your contact center partner to integrate their system with your lead management software. They take care of all the leads while your focus is on the big picture.
You should also set up a workflow where your chat system blocks chats sent outside business hours. For example, your business closes at 6 pm, and a customer loaded your web page at 5.45 pm when chat was available. However, the customer sends a chat request only at 6.15 pm. So you should put a system in place that lets users know the opening hours are over.
Conversational agents and chatbots
Virtual conversational agents, aka AI chatbots, have become popular alongside a live web chat service. They help reduce the workload of a live chat agent through automated responses. So let us understand a best practice that can help you make the most out of the technology.
10. Deploy customer service chatbots sensibly
You should deploy a chatbot only if you have understood all aspects of the implementation. Do not use technology as it is without looking at the big picture or tailoring it to your needs.
There are instances where chatbots can end up annoying customers. If a customer is asking a specific query, the chatbot may continue giving AI-powered responses without helping the customer in any way
Here are some best practices and steps to consider when deploying a chatbot:
- The first step in deploying a live chatbot is to thoroughly understand and prioritize the different types of conversations you want the bot to handle automatically. You can gather the related data by reviewing chat transcripts, emails, and call recordings.
- Chatbots understand the intent of users in the chat message. So we recommend placing ready-to-use suggestions in the form of buttons. Users will happily click on them instead of typing a query.
- Most chatbots hand off the conversation to a human agent at some point. This hand-off is not as simple as it sounds. A conversational interface is different from a website’s point-and-click GUI (Graphical User Interface). A best practice is to use a pre-chat form if the objective is to collect data before a conversation.
- You should integrate chatbots with existing data sources in your system. So the bots can fetch valuable data and provide relevant information to the user. For example, customer service chatbots can show order status from an e-commerce CRM system without needing a human agent.
Agent training, workloads, and scheduling
A good web chat software alone cannot get you the desired results. The success of a live web chat service also depends on the agents using the system. So proper training of your agents is one of the significant web chat best practices.
Workload management and scheduling are the next steps after agent training. We will take a closer look at these aspects of live chat.
11. Review agent skills and agent recruiting policies
Agent recruiting is not just about asking a predetermined set of questions to prospective candidates in an interview.
You have to look for specific qualities when hiring new agents. For example, look for a live chat agent who is comfortable with digital messaging. Nowadays, the traditional skill of call handling is not enough!
Besides, you may have just introduced live web video chat as a new option in your omnichannel contact center software. Encourage your agents to understand the new feature.
Live chat simulation assessment: The future of agent recruitment
An ideal chat agent should have the ability to handle multiple conversations at a time without sacrificing quality. You can discover it through a live chat simulation assessment.
During the assessment, you provide applicants with many realistic customer support queries. You can assess their ability to provide a suitable response on time.
Here is a snapshot of Harver, a software that simulates live chats with customers:
Source: harver.com
Such initiatives can reduce the overall cost and time of training. It also helps experienced agents spread the knowledge of live chat best practices throughout the organization.
12. Pump in the excitement by using gamification
Live chat on website and other contact center jobs can get boring quickly. You can fuel in some excitement by encouraging friendly competition between agents.
Set up a monthly competition to laud the best performing agent. You can rate the agents by measuring the following metrics:
- Most positive feedback from customers.
- Most numbers of chats handled.
- Most numbers of sales assistance.
- Fastest average accepted time.
Amazon vouchers work well as prizes for such competitions. You can also think of other exciting incentives for the winning live chat agents.
And needless to say, encourage the runner-ups to perform well next time!
Measuring the performance of a live web chat service
As we mentioned at the start of the blog, you cannot leave the live web chat service on autopilot mode. You have to track and optimize the different variables of live chat consistently.
13. Define your long-term objectives
The best way to optimize live chat on a website is to align it with a well-defined objective. It could either be a sales objective, like improving sales in the festive season, or a customer service goal such as improving first-time resolution rates.
Here is a list of recommended KPIs you should track in your software:
- Customer satisfaction: It sounds pretty obvious, but some contact centers do not prioritize it! You can set up a post-chat survey or send the survey to the customer after the interaction in an email/SMS. There are high chances that satisfied visitors may convert into regular buyers. So do not skip this KPI.
- Increase in sales or leads: You can track sales and potential customer leads. But it is significant to attribute them correctly. You can do so by using post-chat outcome tagging, CRM integration, or Google Analytics integration.
- Customer waiting time in queue: Incident management, chat broadcasts, and in-queue messaging minimize the overall waiting time for customers.
- Average Handling Time (AHT): Use tools such as co-browsing and canned messages to help agents understand and solve customer issues in real-time. It reduces the AHT to a great extent.
- Interaction abandonment rate: An abandoned chat may indicate an unhappy customer. Such customers may escalate their issues on another channel (email, phone, or social media platform). So track this KPI closely and take steps accordingly.
The list is not an exhaustive one. Your software will have different KPIs, and you should decide how to use them to your advantage.
Ensuring long-term live webchat success
We recommend the following best practices to delight your customers with the best web chat experience in the long term:
14. Adopt an omnichannel approach to customer service
The multichannel approach is becoming obsolete over time. So you can no longer treat every communication channel as a separate set of processes.
Adopting an omnichannel approach allows customers to speak to you on their preferred channel. It also means you can handle customer contacts either using a single CRM system or various systems integrated using APIs.
Thus, you can build a single-agent workspace along with a unified set of reporting flows through omnichannel solutions. So, implement it in your business today if you have not done it yet.
15. Implement co-browsing and screen sharing in live chat
Sometimes, a live chat agent has to explain to visitors how to navigate the website or portal during a chat session. Co-browsing can come in handy during such situations.
In co-browsing, agents no longer need to do Zoom scheduling or send screenshots back and forth. Your agents can join the customer securely and guide them through the website smoothly.
Summing it up
So you have a list of 15 actionable best practices to implement in a live chat on the website.
But remember that nothing is permanent in customer service. Even the best practices we have recommended may evolve in the future. We will keep you updated with such changes so that you can apply the tweaks in your live web chat service.
We would like to conclude the blog by advising you to put yourself in the shoes of your customers before making any decision. It will make you a better entrepreneur one day!
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Supriya is a highly skilled content writer with over 8 years of experience in the SaaS domain. She believes in curating engaging, informative, and SEO-friendly content to simplify highly technical concepts. With an expansive portfolio of long-format blogs, newsletters, whitepapers, and case studies, Supriya is dedicated to staying in touch with emerging SaaS trends to produce relevant and reliable content.
