Customer Service Chat: Benefits, Scripts, and Tips

Excellent customer service is a priority for all businesses today. All customers wish to feel valued and have their voices heard by businesses. 

By doing this, companies can increase their customer satisfaction by leaps and bounds and drive their customer engagement strategy.

A great way to ramp up your customer support is by providing live chat customer service.

A live chat feature enables your business to talk to potential leads, existing customers, and other website visitors in real-time to address their concerns more effectively. It’s an alternative to phone support and follows a text-based format.

A support team consisting of service agents may drive the conversation. On the other hand, some businesses opt for live chat software-driven by automated bots. (But studies show that 70% of customers prefer interacting with live chat agents (i.e., real humans) than bots.)

So, why should you include customer service chat in your customer service team strategy?

Keep reading to find out!

The Benefits of Customer Service Chat

Did you know that 79% of consumers prefer live chat because they provide instant responses? Live chat also has a high consumer satisfaction rate of 92%.

• Improves customer experience: With live chat, customers are given control of their chat experience. It almost acts as a self-service form of customer support to drive the chat conversation and get the answers they want faster. This can positively boost the customer experience!
• Builds your business’s brand and reputation: A company that is willing to invest in chat tools and effective messaging with customers shows that they care. By providing excellent customer service, you can take your brand’s perception to the next level.
• Helps with customer acquisition and onboarding: If a potential lead is on your site and looking to clarify something before making a purchase, they can get the answers quicker through live chat compared to email support. This not only improves the customer service experience but can also drive your sales funnel and conversions at a much faster rate.
• Can give you an edge over the competition: 63% of consumers who used live chat on a website are likely to return to that site. This means if you offer free live chat and your competitors don’t, you’ll likely have a competitive advantage over them. 
• Provides a direct communication channel with customers in the mode they prefer: For 41% of consumers, live chat is a preferred channel for contacting support teams. Online chat is a convenient and direct mode of communication that is a win-win for both the customer and the business! Instead of being placed on hold during phone calls, customers can connect directly with your business. 

Popular Live/Customer Service Chat Scripts

As you work on building your live chat strategy, it’s a good idea to have a go-to script that your support agents can refer to. Customer service scripts are also required to be designed if you opt for automation via chatbots.

Here are some examples of chat scripts you can use in your live chat service: 

Greetings

• Hello! Welcome to “business name,” and thank you for visiting our website. How can we assist you?
• Hello, thank you for using “business name” service. What can I help you with today?
• Welcome back, “customer name.” We’re delighted to see you again! What can we do for you today?

Following up on sales

• Hello “customer name,” I will need your contact details to update the process. Kindly provide your phone number and email.
• Hi, “customer name.” Would you like to know more about the pricing for “product or service name”? If you want, I can provide more information.
• Good morning “customer name.” What brings you to our site? Let us know what you’re looking for so we can serve you better.

Apologies

• We apologize for any inconvenience you have faced. We will take care of the “issue/problem” as a top priority. Please give us some time to get back to you.
• We’re very sorry, but the “offer name” is over for that particular region.
• May I request you to go through the “solutions/redirect” as a better option for the “issue”? We can better serve you there and help you resolve this.

Thanking the customer for waiting

• We are very sorry, but all our support agents are currently engaged. Please hold for “x” minutes, and we’ll be with you as soon as possible.
• We appreciate your patience for holding and apologize for the wait time. How can I be of assistance?
• Thank you for staying connected! We value your patience and will be with you in “x” minutes.

Ending the conversation

• Thank you so much for using “business name’s” chat service! We hope to hear from you soon! Have a lovely day.
• Thank you for visiting our website and connecting with us! Have a great day.
• We are so glad to be of help. If you have any additional questions, please reach back out to us.

The Top Tips for Customer Service Chat

As a best practice, you should always be on the lookout for different areas of improvement for your business.

This is also the case with your customer service chat.

Integrate the following tips into your customer support and helpdesk features to ace your service strategy:

• Always introduce yourself: Remember, customer service chats are not transactional but interaction-based. When a support agent introduces themselves, they make things personal and immediately help the customer feel more at home.
• Pay attention to grammar and spelling: When interacting in a professional setting, nailing the language is absolutely essential. Customers want quality conversations with businesses, and having poor grammar, spelling, or punctuation can change their perception of you. Before you hit send on any message, reread what you write and ensure it’s professional and error-free.
• Know your product and company by heart: When your support agents interact with a customer, they represent your brand and company. It’s essential to be equipped with all the necessary knowledge base (be it product offerings, pricing, and more) so they can quickly resolve the customer’s issues and provide maximum satisfaction.
• Keep your response times minimal: 60% of customers don’t want to wait more than 60 seconds for a response on live chat. The real-time nature of live chat is what drives its popularity. Aim to keep response times as low as possible!
• Use simple language and avoid technical jargon: Avoid using technical terms and keep your language simple. Communication is a two-way relationship, and it’s essential to put yourself in your customer’s shoes and understand where they’re coming from. For example, a new customer or potential lead may not be aware of your brand’s products. To avoid any misunderstandings, keep your language simple and conversational. 

Improve Your Customer Service with STAFFVIRTUAL

Bringing a personalized touch into your customer engagement strategy is necessary to nail customer satisfaction. Personalization and quick response times also improve customers’ overall experience.

Does your business need help to accomplish this?

This is where STAFFVIRTUAL comes in.

You can outsource your business’s customer support to our teams today, ensuring quality support and a dedicated team of customer agents to resolve your customers’ queries.

Additionally, STAFFVIRTUAL offers back-office and payroll outsourcing and IT support, thus helping you take your entire customer service strategy to the next level!

With STAFFVIRTUAL, you can find the perfect outsourcing solution for your business today!

Contact us to get started right away.