5 top tips for using live chat

It’s now commonplace for businesses to use a live chat service on their website or social media site. Not only is it an excellent experience for the customer to have instant communication with a company that interests them, but also it can hugely benefit the company itself. Live chat software can be a much more effective customer service tool, saving the brand both time and money in the long run, as well as keeping the customer happy.

If you want to use live chat to its fullest potential and deliver a memorable live chat service, check out these 5 top tips:

  1. Introduce yourself. You wouldn’t pick up the phone and not introduce yourself, so why is live chat any different? By simply telling the customer your name, you instantly make the interaction more personal.
  2. Speed. Speed is important when it comes to live chat, as it is one of the main reasons customers prefer it over other forms of customer service. They want an answer to a question now, and unless you reply quickly, you may lose them.
  3. Don’t use jargon. The concepts behind some products or services can be complex to some customers, so distil these topics as though you’re talking to someone younger than you.
  4.  Making the access to chat easy. Customers are coming to you because they have a problem, so don’t give them another problem by making it difficult to figure out how they can get in touch.
  5. Knowledge base. Having a knowledge base on hand where you can direct customers with links can be a really helpful and time saving tool. It may save you time in the long run to have a library of helpful guides for customers to make use of.

By Kim Siever

I am a copywriter and copyeditor. I blog on writing and social media tips mostly, but I sometimes throw in my thoughts about running a small business. Follow me on Twitter at @hotpepper.