You don't need live chat on your website • Hacker News Board

Re: You don't need live chat on your website

#81

Post by Sakos » Thu, Dec 08, 2022, 10:07 AM UTC

dyates wrote: post #76

Live chat windows that pop-up automatically and hassle you once you've spent X seconds looking at a website are annoying, much like email subscription modals. But when I've been actually looking for support and made the choice to click on the chat button, I've generally had a great experience, so long as it's connected me to a human rather than a menu of chatbot options. It's asynchronous enough that I can keep doing…

I've seen a live chat implementation that starts as a chat bot, but switches you to a person after a few clicks and you can't find what you need. I felt that was a perfect compromise.

Re: You don't need live chat on your website

#82

Post by DiggyJohnson » Thu, Dec 08, 2022, 10:13 AM UTC

eitland wrote: post #57

jimbob45 wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are they better than a well-stocked FAQ with a search function?

> "well-stocked FAQ" Do you have examples? When I think of FAQs, IIRC almost all the time it seems like they wrote it before release and never upgraded it with actual questions.

NearlyFreeSpeech has an incredible FAQ: https://www.nearlyfreespeech.net/about/faq

Re: You don't need live chat on your website

#83

Post by denton-scratch » Thu, Dec 08, 2022, 10:16 AM UTC

ajsnigrutin wrote: post #70

princevegeta89 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fuck those chat bubbles that automatically open when I visit websites. "Hi, Thank you for visiting. Please look around and let us know if you have any questions" I'm gonna really reach out to you if I run into questions but don't automatically expand the chatbox and ruin my experience here. I vividly remember car dealership websites being the worst of them all. They all use the same software more or less and it is ju…

Yep, especially on the first page you ever visit, and it covers 60% of the contents. Also, you usually have to close the "subcribe to our newsletter" popup first, to even see the chat window, covering the content you're interested in. Then you scroll half a screen down, and a new popup with a survey, asking you how much you like their page. Basically, they actively try to discourage you from seeing the content you ac…

Well, I guess this is what happens when a business operation is placed under the control of marketing.

It's a very old-fashioned attitude; back in the early noughties, many companies thought of the web as essentially an advertising billboard, so the website was placed under the marketing team. That's counterproductive, if the website is actually a core business operation.

Re: You don't need live chat on your website

#84

Post by kevsim » Thu, Dec 08, 2022, 10:20 AM UTC

gwbas1c wrote: post #26

The problem isn't live chat, it's nagging . A lot of the chat bubbles that I see flash in the corner, and make the title of the page flash as well; with lots of annoying bleeps and bloops. I also find that sales is very trend driven. Currently they're trendy, but I hope that sales websites learn that you can't just stick things in people's faces all the time.

I think this is the default for services like Intercom and you can't stop it [0]. It's super annoying.

0: https://www.intercom.com/help/en/articles/5053699-how-do-i-s...

Re: You don't need live chat on your website

#85

Post by denton-scratch » Thu, Dec 08, 2022, 10:22 AM UTC

mschuster91 wrote: post #54

onion2k wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They were astounded by the quick response time, which is simply not possible with contact forms. I'm intrigued. Why isn't it possible with a contact form? The mechanism for routing a message to you could be literally identical whether it's a chat box or a form. You could get the exact same notification on your system. It'd take you the same amount of time to respond. The only difference I can see is that what you rep…

> I'm intrigued. Why isn't it possible with a contact form? - E-mail always has a round-trip latency attached, even the best systems will have at least a minute, and you have to do insane amounts of work to keep up with "deliverability" as automated anti-spam systems can and will detect high frequency of incoming emails and downgrade your score, not to mention you have to deal with bullshit like contacting providers…

> "do not reply below this line"

If you're going to use email for customer interactions, then respect the conventions of email. I will reply below whatever line I choose. If your software doesn't support that, then answer the phone.

Re: You don't need live chat on your website

#86

Post by luckylion » Thu, Dec 08, 2022, 10:26 AM UTC

butler14 wrote: post #72

Shout out to supermetrics.com who have great live chat, and almost always resolve my issue within 5mins And relatedly amazon who actually have a useful chatbot (i don't have much positive to say about amazon these days but 1 click purchase and chatbot implementation is still very strong)

Is Amazon pretending their chatbot is an actual person? That would explain my experience with them. It's either that or somebody who barely speaks English but is only given a 1995-technology translation of my messages and can only respond with 15 pre-written text-blocks.

Re: You don't need live chat on your website

#87

Post by mafiaboi » Thu, Dec 08, 2022, 10:27 AM UTC

You can leverage the current users by opening up the chat to any user or the member of the website/app. They can bring their messages to any other website as well.

In this way, your visitor community could help you manage customer relations and also talk about your product live.

Re: You don't need live chat on your website

#88

Post by osrec » Thu, Dec 08, 2022, 10:28 AM UTC

I personally love live chats, both as a user and a developer. Yes, the pop-ups can be annoying, but still the overall experience has been really good for me.

I especially like how chats are asynchronous, yet feel immediate. And you can think about what you want to say, much like an email, without feeling like you might need to wait 3 days for a response.

Re: You don't need live chat on your website

#89

Post by wink » Thu, Dec 08, 2022, 10:30 AM UTC

mafiaboi wrote: post #87

You can leverage the current users by opening up the chat to any user or the member of the website/app. They can bring their messages to any other website as well. In this way, your visitor community could help you manage customer relations and also talk about your product live.

You're describing every customer forum with answers like "I reinstalled Windows and that fixed the problem!!!"

Re: You don't need live chat on your website

#90

Post by luckylion » Thu, Dec 08, 2022, 10:31 AM UTC

NeoTar wrote: post #59

nathias wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This could be an email, but of course the business doesn't want this as it would create a record of interaction. Whenever I had to use live chat it was a tactic to wear you down.

A decent amount of the time I've been asked at the end of a live-chat if I would like a transcript emailed to me.

I just now chatted with Amazon, and not only do they not send (or ask to send) a transcript, they even clear the chat once the agent has left so you can't even save it yourself.

I can't imagine any other reason but "we don't want the customer to be able to have a record".