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You don't need live chat on your website

timharek.no

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

#201

Post by conductr »

system2 wrote: post #11

I have a feeling the author does not have enough experience with e-commerce. Adaptation of livechat increased conversion rates and sales and it is visible in the reports. Return rates also go down with livechat. Especially women's products (hair, makeup, shoes) are benefiting from instant answers and change the conversion rates dramatically. Having a human talk to you thru your screen is a game changer in e-commerce.…

The availability of chat isn't what's wrong. It's the implementation. It should just be a static button in the header/footer or where ever. When I need it, I can find it, just like every other link.

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

#202

Post by KIFulgore »

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 agree. A live chat support option, appropriately staffed, is often the most expedient way to get help.

I work configuring contact center software. Chat agents are often more experienced, "tech savvy", and less overloaded than phone agents too. And Chat is harder to ignore than Email, which Agents can just give a token reply to punt it back to the pending queue.

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

#203

Post by conductr »

zulln wrote: post #51
system2 wrote: post #11

I have a feeling the author does not have enough experience with e-commerce. Adaptation of livechat increased conversion rates and sales and it is visible in the reports. Return rates also go down with livechat. Especially women's products (hair, makeup, shoes) are benefiting from instant answers and change the conversion rates dramatically. Having a human talk to you thru your screen is a game changer in e-commerce.…

> I personally use amazon customer support chat myself very often. For what?

It's the best way to do something you can't on the website. As example, I've had to return products that have said they were not returnable or beyond the return date, chat is the easiest way to talk to someone and get it resolved.

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

#204

Post by conductr »

gspencley wrote: post #178

> It reminds me of going to a clothing store and before I’m able to get inside an employee asks me if I need help finding anything. I hate that as much as live chats on websites and it makes me want to leave the store. The worst is when retail employees are paid on commission, then you will get harassed endlessly by different employees asking you if you need assistance when all you're trying to do is look at a damned…

I've learned to just ignore them. Like a beggar asking for change, I just don't make eye contact and keep on with my business. It's awkward in a store but I'm okay with that and it doesn't take long for them to realize I don't need help. The normalization of always-worn-earbuds has been a great enabler of ignoring people in public.

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

#205

Post by csharpminor »

yummypaint wrote: post #38
csharpminor wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agree. At one of my startups we hooked a $350k ARR enterprise customer over webchat. We also received some of the best early UX feedback through webchat. Developers are somewhat different from the general population in that we like to read documentation rather than going to a person for help. But for almost everyone else having someone to answer a question immediately is the preferred experience.

How did you establish that the customer would not have contacted you if not for webchat? If i go to a company's website already intending to contact them i might type in a chat box before i email or call them, but they would have gotten my business regardless.

To answer your question, they told us directly in our first sales meeting (we didn't close the deal over live chat lol). The director we were speaking to said something along the lines of "and to think we probably wouldn't be here if I hadn't written you in chat."

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

#207

Post by RulerOf »

PaulHoule wrote: post #185
pifm_guy wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Ones I've used, as long as you've configured a way to resolve the user, it pops right up in the service side of the chat system. Be scared of those. They typically use client side JavaScript to read a cookie to know which username is active. There is usually no verification of that info, so obviously it could be faked by a malicious client. The docs say that, but it's way too easy to just trust the info rather than…

I could see that being really bad... A 'social engineer' could talk support people into helping them hijack an account.

I would love to watch the inevitable presentation we'll be seeing at some security convention within the next few years.

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

#208

Post by harel »

Perhaps I do not need live chat to sell or market me something. But I am very grateful and appreciative to services that provide support as an existing customer in the form of a live chat. It saves me hold time on the phone, it's more immediate than email, and it usually very efficient.

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

#210

Post by PaulHoule »

JadeNB wrote: post #197
PaulHoule wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I never let call centers get away with asking me for account numbers over and over again without commenting on it; Amdocs and other vendors have had great software for keeping track of customer interactions between multiple people you talk to at a call center for 10+ years now. Management will make the usual excuse ("we can't afford it") but you can turn that around and ask "how can you afford to pay people to ask th…

> I never let call centers get away with asking me for account numbers over and over again without commenting on it; Amdocs and other vendors have had great software for keeping track of customer interactions between multiple people you talk to at a call center for 10+ years now. Management will make the usual excuse ("we can't afford it") but you can turn that around and ask "how can you afford to pay people to ask…

I am polite but firm most of the time with agents, but I do get chances to talk with people who have the authority to change things. Raising a stink and ‘let me talk to your supervisor’ really can lead to tickets getting forwarded to people who can fix the process or at least give agents training in how to avoid or manage ‘lights on nobody home’ situations.

Lately I have been facing a breakdown in business processes with my local electric utility that first disconnected my electricity because one of my tenants made a mistake. I think they finally understand that I have three services at two houses at one address, but I went through two periods since then of getting no electric bill for months (which I won’t let slide because the last time they stopped billing me I got disconnected.) Getting that fixed involved waiting three hours on hold which got me talking to regulators again. The crew building the new deck at the other house has also deferred work because they have been unable to get through to anyone there who can turn the service off temporarily so they can work near where the wire comes in.

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