Ahead of social media, emails and mobile Apps, chat is the fastest growing communication channel in contact centres. Immediate and more personal, it gives customers instant replies to their questions and is more cost effective for call centres. If you don’t already have agents dedicated to manning chat services, here are the reasons why you should.

That’s what your customers want

Delivering call centre services which will set you apart from your competitors vastly relies on you meeting your customers’ needs. One of them is that they want to get answers quickly, and this is why chat has become so popular. It also allows greater interaction and agents and customers can clear misunderstandings or make decisions on the spot. What might take days to resolve by email while a party waits for the other to reply could take 15 minutes in a chat.

Customers also like it because it is less absorbing than a phone call. While they are waiting for a reply to their message they can continue browsing other sites, have a cup of tea, etc., which they prefer to being kept in a phone loop.

You can influence customers more

An American survey by Forrester Research recently revealed a fascinating insight into online shopping when half of the interviewed customers indicated that being able to consult with a sales advisor immediately would make the difference between abandoning a basket and committing to a purchase.

Chatting also allows customers to step back and think about the product or solution offered without having to interrupt the contact centre agent or ask them to wait, which can encourage them to complete a purchase too.

It will make your agents more productive

And we all know what that means:…. Savings.

Well-trained agents will be able to handle several chats at the same time, whereas it would be unthinkable to ask a customer to wait on the phone while they talk to another customer.

Chat enables intelligent automatisation. For example, it is estimated that up to 80% of queries handled by technical support contact centres are the same. They could therefore have ready-made answers which could be pasted into the chat screen, saving them typing them in each time.

So, are you convinced? If not, or to talk about outsourcing your contact centre, give us a call on 0800 230 000 to discuss your needs.