Sales Enablement

The Basics: 3 Reasons Why Online Live Help Works

June 10, 2021
June 10, 2021

If it’s not already apparent, consumers are increasingly expecting live support. Online live help software, such as support live chat and video chat are being adopted more and more across industries to enable better support and experience for their customers. But why is online live help such as live support chat so effective at resolving customer queries? Well, let’s find out.

1. Time

“Waste your money and you’re only out of money, but waste your time and you’ve lost a part of your life.” Michael LeBoeuf

With that said, none of us want to waste our time, especially when it comes to support. When we’ve paid for a product or service, guess what, we want it to work. So when it doesn’t you can be pretty sure there is already anger that your time is being wasted to resolve it. Alas, things do not always work how they should, so providing your customers the most expedient way of accessing the support they need to fix the issue is advisable. Online live help through live chat allows customers to instantly engage with an operator. The nature of text also makes it harder to just lose it because you’ve heard Adele for the last 30 minutes whilst being on hold.

Live chat means that customers can access your support agents quickly, allowing them to get started resolving the issue. As all conversations are transcribed, there is no need for hours of sifting through conversation tapes to find out what’s going on. Text analysis tools can be implemented to understand key issues being raised with your support team. Using these to regularly update FAQ’s means that all customers benefit from better support options, even those that don’t utilise online live help.

2. Show me

If you have technophobe friends or family, I’m sure you’re familiar with the issues that phone or email instructions can throw up. Things such as checking the cabling on a router, or restarting a Sky box can become quite challenging and stressful for a customer. Complex instructions are naturally difficult but essential for a support agent to define the cause of the problem with technical issues.

Here online live help really can add a lot of value. Support agents can use the chat window to send through pictures of the cabling, ports, device buttons and then use this as a point of reference with which to guide the customer through the process. The fact that the instructions remain, in written form on the customers screen enables them to re-check the instructions if there are multiple steps, and also not feel under pressure when completing the checks as they may if they’re aware they are on the phone to an agent waiting for them to complete.

3. Cost

1 agent can handle 1 phone call. In live chat situations, an agent can handle between 1-6 chats, depending on the level of complexity required and time between instructions. From a business perspective, this makes a great saving over running a similar support function using phone operatives.

Online live help through chat also allows effective and simple routing between escalation points. Should the issue not be able to be resolved by front line support, this conversation can be transferred, complete with full chat history to second or third tier support lines. Shared technical experts can also be asked to join the chat as an overseer so that multiple support agents can look at the task, but work across a number of running cases. In the event that the support issue cannot be resolved, having a full transcript allows a quick and accurate issue history with which to raise a support ticket for the issue to continue its troubleshooting.

So there are three reasons online live help can be an extremely effective tool in your support offerings. The online customer now expects to be able to engage with you on their preferred method, meaning phone, email, social and online live help. However, customers that are actively invited to a conversation who may otherwise traditionally use the phone can easily be won over by live chat following a positive experience. As live chat usage goes up, and implementations of chat across various industries continues to increase, more and more consumers will come to expect an online live help offering alongside the traditional models. Live chat as a support tool can be highly effective for both business and customers, where is your company at on their online live help journey? Considering a solution? One you’ve implemented working well? Have any questions about how chat can help you? Get in touch or leave a comment below.

This blog post is part of our series of posts entitled “The Basics of Live Chat”, written to explain a little more about live chat. If you already have live chat implemented on your site, take a look at our Live Chat Best Practice Guide for tips on how to improve its performance.

Subscribe to Expert Insights

The best source of information for customer service, sales tips, guides, and industry best practices. Join us.

Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

By clicking the ‘Subscribe’ button you confirm that you have read and understood our Privacy Policy

Get the content now

The best source of information for customer service, sales tips, guides, and industry best practices. Join us.

Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

By clicking the Get the content now button you confirm that you have read and understood our Privacy Policy

In case you hadn't noticed chat is very much our thing.

So why not put us through our conversational paces and get in touch?