Big and small businesses rely on their chat and call agents to bring their customers closer to their services. The agents serve as the company’s voice and face to talk and cater to consumer queries. That said, outsourcing their staff is one of the best ways to improve customer service without incurring high costs.
Take advantage of great opportunities by outsourcing live chat for your business. Learn how talented individuals from other regions can satisfy your customers’ queries.
What’s the Deal with Outsourcing Live Chat?
Live chat is using a messaging app built into a business website. The live chat boxes appear in the bottom right corner of websites to start a conversation.
An outsource agent can run automated messages to encourage customers to ask questions about a service or product. Instead of waiting hours, customers get answers immediately.
Race Against Time
Assisting the customer is necessary since all customers require answers to their questions before deciding. If you can send instant responses, then you can generate better leads. Live chat support generates sales leads and shows customers that your business is open 24/7. A chance to increase customer loyalty as well!
To support, Live Chat Statistics 2022 found that 51% of customers are more likely to make another purchase if a business provides live chat support.
- The conversion rate of a business can increase by 3.87 percent just by offering a live chat service.
- Customers who had a positive live chat experience were more likely to purchase (42.38 percent).
- A return on investment or ROI of 105% is due to proactive chat.
- Most customers (79%) would rather have a live chat with a representative.
Offer live chat on your website for a leg up on the competition.
Filling In The Void
The need for infrastructure to manage an in-house team is another daunting challenge for businesses. Your in-house support team may need more space and technology.
There may also be a need for more budget to train your teams or to buy the best live chat software to improve your business. Infrastructure issues may prompt a company to outsource live chat.
Inspecting the Reliability of Outsourcing Companies
Outsourcing options abound. Choosing the best service provider is challenging, and you must beware of poor service providers. That’s why we’ve listed how to find a reliable outsourcing company:
Tools and Technology
As said previously, if you know that you lack infrastructure, you can set your expectations if you outsource your live chat to a third-party agent. Before judging live chat outsourcing options based on their infrastructure, identify your needs.
Use this quick checklist to determine if the service provider meets your infrastructure needs.
- Know how much storable live chat data is for your business daily, weekly, and monthly.
- As an enterprise, check if they have a large bulk chat team.
- Determine how many outsourced live chat operators will your small business get.
- If they outsource support request automation, ask (a great way to judge their service costs)
- Check if they’ll provide support and salespeople.
- This checklist will identify your live chat service needs and evaluate their infrastructure.
Choose a service provider with access to reliable, cutting-edge technology.
Real Experience
You can judge a service provider by how long they’ve been in business and how well they’ve done in the past.
- Check how many customers they’ve worked with and how many projects they’ve completed. It can help you determine if a service provider is the best business partner on the market.
Reviews About Them
Even if the provider has years of experience, it’s essential to see what they’ve offered customers. Check online reviews to determine their competence and customer satisfaction.
Glassdoor and Google reviews allow customers to leave feedback. You can also check reviews on social media. Note that some online reviews are unreliable.
Many service providers create service and support pages on Facebook and Twitter to allow customers to contact them in any way. Check their support pages for:
- Are the company punctual in resolving issues?
- Are they responsive to feedback and complaints?
- Are support sources updated regularly?
It’s essential to choose a webchat outsourcing service provider with the technical skills and project experience you need. It is crucial for getting the agreed-upon services done. If you assess that they meet your requirements, reach out to them.
Culture Understanding
Your brand represents a work/service culture. Your service provider needs to know everything about your company’s culture.
- Cultural knowledge makes it easier for you to talk to each other.
- How you speak to each other can affect how quickly your project gets done, so ensure you and your service provider are always on the same page.
That’s the only way to maintain brand messaging and deliver what you promised throughout the customer’s lifecycle. You must:
- Contact your preferred outsourcing company first.
- Share your service concerns and brand messaging mismatches.
- Once you understand these steps, you’ll know if you’re striking the right cultural balance with the provider.
Willingness To Learn
Plato once said that the beginning of wisdom is the realization that there are things that one does not know. Ali Krieger said improvement is always possible. Find providers who love learning.
Well-trained support operators can help you improve customers’ support experience and ensure they have a whole and successful support experience.
So, it would help if you asked your outsourcing provider how often they train their live chat operators. They could regularly attend training sessions and catch up with the latest customer service trends. Besides that, regular training sessions help operators to:
- Learn about problems that keep coming up and how to solve them faster.
- Move around the live chat tool more quickly and answer questions better.
- Learn to offer customers a solution on the spot and before they ask for it.
Talk To A Company
Hiring a third-party agent is similar to hiring a full-time employee. Writing down your needs will help you be specific, making it easier to find suitable candidates. In writing about it:
Tell Them What Your Business Is All About
- What do you do?
- What are your goals and plans?
- What are your style and brand?
- How do you make money?
- Who do you want to collaborate with?
- Why do people buy from you?
Say The Skills You Need
- Name the programs you use.
- List the skills that are important to sell to and help your customers.
- Tell the times and the languages. If you want or hope for support in more than one language, be clear about what languages you need.
- How available do you want the agents to be?
A Win-win Situation
Customers will see your live chat provider as a representation of your company. You have to bring them on like you would anyone else:
- Give a big picture.
- Set Clear Expectations
- Encourage Buddy System.
- Be gradual and safe.
Your business needs more than email or phone support at the office today. Hitting more than two birds with one stone is having a team that can immediately contact prospects, understand their pain points, and offers a solution during the chat.
Salman is a prolific environmental writer, and has authored more than 500 articles in reputed journals, magazines and websites. He is proactively engaged in creating mass awareness on renewable energy, waste management, sustainability and conservation all over the world.
Salman can be reached on salman@cleantechloops.com
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