Customer Service

11 Customer Service Trends You Should Expect in 2022

February 21, 2022 • EB Call Center • Business Process Outsourcing, Customer Service

Customer service plays an integral role in growing a business, and implementing customer service best practices and good strategies will help your company reach its goals.

According to recent reports, 90% of American consumers consider customer service a primary driving force when deciding whether or not to do business with a company, with 89% of consumers choosing to do business again with the same company after a positive customer experience.

Customer service has evolved through the years, especially now that many companies have gone digital due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With new technological advancements constantly arising, businesses need to stay up-to-date with the latest customer service trends to accommodate consumers’ ever-evolving needs and have a leg up on the competition.

With that in mind, let’s discuss the various customer service trends expected to dominate 2022.

11 Customer Service Trends to Look Forward to this 2022

By exploring new and emerging trends, you could find solutions to address some of the issues your company is facing.

1. More mobile-optimized customer services

Towards the end of the past decade, smartphones have been the preferred medium by customers to conduct business. In fact, mobile accounted for 65% of all e-commerce traffic and 53% of sales in 2019, and the mobile commerce industry is expected to surge at a 25.5% CAGR, hitting $488 billion by 2024.

With the continued rise of mobile, businesses should make their customer services options mobile-optimized. Realizing that mobile is not a trend but the future, companies can calibrate their online customer services to improve their overall performance.

Nowadays, most consumers discover brands, products, and services online. Currently, 58.4% of the global population uses social media, translating to 4.62 billion users, while 91% access social media platforms with smartphones.

Social media is no longer just for the younger generation. These platforms are necessary for businesses more than ever, as they are the new primary tool customers use to engage with companies. Being active on social media can build brand loyalty and trust, providing an avenue for your company to interact with customers regularly and easily.

3. Higher demand for real-time support

The need for immediate response has risen through the years. With smartphones providing consumers everything they want and need at the palm of their hands, having real-time support can prove beneficial to your company.

In terms of satisfaction ratings, real-time support such as live chat is favored by 85% of customers, coming second to phone support with 91%. However, 41% of consumers say they prefer live chatting over phone support (32%), email (23%), and social media support (3%).

4. Added self-service options for customers

Modern consumers tend to be more independent and look for answers before contacting the business. A Statista survey supplements this, with results that show 88% of U.S. consumers expect organizations to have online self-service portals.

Having a FAQ page, community forum, or mobile application set in place can help optimize your operations and urge customers to inquire about your products or services further.

5. Video call integration

Video calling has been around for some time now. However, the pandemic made this fundamental feature essential. During the second quarter of 2021, 38.5% of Internet users worldwide have used video calling apps with their mobile devices in that specific examination period.

With the global health crisis still ravaging the world, this trend is projected to continue even after the pandemic. Now, more than ever, people realize video calling’s potential as a more convenient way of conducting business while companies have the opportunity to address issues remotely.

6. Rise of chatbots and artificial intelligence

Per a Juniper Research study, chatbots could help businesses cut costs by $8 billion every year by 2022. It also projects that between three-quarters and 90% of queries related to healthcare and banking will be resolved by chatbots within a five-year time frame, resulting in up to $0.70 of savings per interaction.

When your company uses a chatbot, you gain round-the-clock support with the automation of solutions to frequently asked questions and the enhancement of the agent experience through the prioritization of customer requests. All that contributes to the reduction of lead response time, thereby enhancing your B2B lead generation.

7. Added focus to personalization

According to a report by Accenture, 91% of customers are more likely to do business with brands that provide offers and recommendations tailored to their preferences. Personalized customer care adds value to customer experience, increasing the chances of consumers’ loyalty and retention.

Hyper-personalization can be achieved by investing in customer relationship management (CRM) tools. Their primary function is to unify and organize all interactions from various touchpoints, giving businesses insight on how to customize each offer for a specific customer.

8. Increased focus on proactive support

The norm for multiple companies has been reactive customer support for the longest time. However, with the business world being more competitive than ever, consumers appreciate companies who practice proactive support—when they take the initiative to follow up or seek feedback from their consumers.

Proactive support urges companies to assess the status of a consumer before they reach out. This allows businesses to identify possible problems and necessary improvements before it materializes. In a survey by Gartner, only 13% of 6,000 customers surveyed received proactive customer support.

9. Establishing omnichannel

According to a study, businesses with omnichannel customer engagement strategies retain 89% of their clients, contrary to the 33% rate of establishments with underdeveloped omnichannel customer engagement.

By definition, an omnichannel is a lead nurturing and user engagement approach that unifies all existing social media channels of a business, streamlining all its processes to result in consistent service.

10. Increased outsourced customer service work

With the pandemic’s unpredictability on businesses, companies enlisted the help of third parties to accommodate the sudden shift in their work volume. This makes outsourcing a new commodity for enterprises looking to accomplish and achieve quality work.

Outsourcing has been around for decades. However, with COVID-19 causing delays and shutdowns to industries across the globe, outsourcing has been helpful for those seeking a sudden workforce injection without sacrificing output quality. Based on research, 300,000 jobs are outsourced by the U.S. yearly, with 70% of the reason being a significant cut in cost.

11. Small Businesses Communicate With Their Outsourced Teams Daily for Maximum Results (UpCity)

To maintain consistent, open communication, 53% of U.S. and Canadian small businesses reported that they correspond with their outsourced teams on a daily basis. This allows them to ensure that day-to-day tasks are running smoothly and that roadblocks are quickly resolved. Overall, businesses still want to contribute their input to outsourced projects.

For Consistent Customer Service Today and Beyond

Customer service has evolved exponentially through the years due to the ever-changing trends in the business world. As such, your company needs to keep up and formulate new plans that would fit the wants and needs of your customers. Let this serve as a guide when considering customer service best practices that correlate with your company’s vision and help your business meet its goals.

If you’re looking for a trusted company to help you enhance your overall customer service with these practices in mind, consider Executive Boutique Call Center. Our team ensures that you have the best customer experience possible with our pool of highly skilled agents and state-of-the-art technology. Check out our various services, or contact us today to learn more.

How to Confront Without Rocking the Boat

October 4, 2019 • Daelyn Fortney • Customer Service

Working in a customer service job is one of the most stressful jobs someone can be in, because you’re dealing with — you guessed it — people. Not just people, but oftentimes disgruntled people. People who aren’t very kind. Sometimes, there are moments where we might have to confront someone, but we don’t want to do it to the point where it blows up in our faces and creates a bigger problem, right? So here’s what we’ve come up with on how to confront someone, but without rocking the boat:

Make an observation, then ask a question. This is probably one of the easiest and non-confrontational ways to confront someone about something. You telling them what you have noticed and perceived is a great way of avoiding labels and diagnosis, and asking the follow up question gives them a gentle push towards an explanation and open dialogue: “I’m noticing ______. I’m wondering if _______.”

Being direct doesn’t have to mean being rude. Direct conversation is probably one of the most valuable forms, but also one that gets a bad rap as being “rude” and “blunt.” The fact of the matter is, you can be direct without coming off as a stuck-up know it all. Always start your conversation with a compliment; it not only disarms the person you’re confronting, but also lowers their walls and opens them up for what you’re about to say. The words coming out of your mouth need to be either neutral, or positively associated words — so avoid words like “never,” “lazy,” “disappointed,” etc. Direct communication also means walking into the conversation with a solution already on hand, relaxed body language, and a smile. Your goal is to talk about the important parts without sounding like you’re condemning the other person.

Understanding your own emotions is just as important as acknowledging the other person’s emotions. If you find that you’re in a high-emotions situations, and you can’t seem to allow yourself a deep breath, then it’s okay to get a rain check on the conversation. If you cannot fight back the anger or the tears (sometimes they come hand-in-hand), then you cannot confront the situation in a healthy and professional way. There is no shame in taking a step back.

No one is a real fan of confrontation, but if it’s done in a calm, cool, and collected manner, then the experience really isn’t as scary as most people think. The goal is to be open and accepting of the other person; have a discussion, not an argument.

5 Underrated Customer Service Tips

August 8, 2019 • Daelyn Fortney • Customer Service

If there’s one job that’s harder than it looks, it’s customer service. Anything that involves dealing with other people who may or may not have high emotions is hard, but being a good customer service worker? It’s tough – but rewarding to help others needing your product or service. So, whether you’re an HR rep, or a salesperson, here are our five underrated customer service tips:

Always practice empathy. It’s something we take for granted because it comes naturally in certain situations, but it can be very hard to do when you’re faced with a rude customer. Be empathetic to what the customer or client is telling you – or possibly screaming at you – because there is most likely a way you can help them without it getting too nasty. Sometimes you can’t, but that isn’t your fault. Just remember to always give them the benefit of the doubt, and do your best to put yourself in their shoes. Empathy gets you a long way.

You’re human, too, so show them! Identifying with the customer is one of the greatest ways to build their trust in you and your company. Express your similarities; if they like cats, mention your pet, or if they like a specific movie or movie genre, mention one you like, too. Too many customer service situations are approached with an automated system, and the splash of humanity gives them that breath of fresh air they so crave.

Be honest. It’s easy to try and talk your way out of answering something you don’t know, but nine times out of ten, the customers can tell when you’re doing it, and then begin to distrust you. If you don’t know the answer to something, own up to it. “I don’t know” is an acceptable thing to say in these situations.

Be accessible. It’s not something that everyone likes to do, but it gives you an added bonus when talking to a customer when you give them your contact information. That’s e-mail, phone, and some people even give them their personal number! (If that’s something you would like to do, just make sure you set up boundaries as to when they can and cannot call. They’ll understand.) Making yourself available at the customer’s disposal is another great trust-building habit you should cling to.

Use positive language. The trick is to avoid negatives — can’t, won’t, isn’t, etc — when dealing with a customer. It’s not about what you can’t do, it’s about what you can! So, for example of negative: “I can’t get your shipment to you until Friday,” versus an example of positive: “I can have your shipment to you as soon as Friday!” The mood shift is what sells it.

In customer service, there are so many different tips and guidelines on how to do the job and do it well — add your favorite tips in the comments!

Customer Service Vs. Customer Experience – What’s the Difference?

May 10, 2019 • Jimmy Rodela • Customer Service

Customer Service and Customer Experience have become synonymous to businesses nowadays. We often perceive the two words to mean the same and use them interchangeably.

However, they are not the same thing.

Customer Service is just a part of a bigger picture, a small piece of the puzzle, while Customer Experience is the sum of the entire customer journey.

Customer Service Defined

Between customer experience and customer service, the latter is probably the more familiar term, but it is also the more narrowly scoped.

Customer Service can be described as the advice or assistance a company gives to its customers. It is centered on human interaction and directly supporting customers.

It is provided to increase customer satisfaction. Being able to answer queries, educating prospects that result to them choosing the right product, how best to use the product, troubleshooting any issues, and making sure every purchase transaction runs smooth, are some of the ways to achieve customer satisfaction.

What is Customer Experience?

Customer Experience, on the other hand, goes above and beyond customer service. It is the total journey of a customer’s interaction with a brand – from research, to knowing the product, to shopping and purchasing, to actually using the product and following up with the brand afterward.

It is the entire customer lifecycle, the sum of all interactions where customer service is a vital part of.

Customer experience measures how customers feel about a company overall and include the emotional, physical, psychological connection customers have with a brand.

Customer Service vs. Customer Experience

The main difference between customer service and customer experience is that the former is reactive. It is often only used when a customer has an issue. Otherwise, if all is well and there are no questions about the product or service, there is no need to get in touch with customer service.

Customer Experience is the exact opposite. It is in every way proactive and aims to reach every single customer. The main point to customer experience is to build a personal connection and establish meaningful relationships with your customers.

This is better illustrated by a customer interaction that actually happened with Zappos, an online shoe and clothing retailer in Las Vegas. Zappos, imbibes the true meaning of customer experience and prides itself in making every customer interaction extraordinary.

Ryo, a Zappos agent, received a call from a woman who wanted to return the boots she bought for her father, who had since died. Not only did he give her a refund, but he also said that she didn’t have to return the boots and that she was free to give it away if she wanted to.

One would think that the service provided is already excellent. But Ryo did not stop there – he took an extra step and even sent her sympathy flowers. And this extra mile that he took makes an unforgettable and heartwarming customer experience.

The significant difference is that where customer service aims to be ready when a customer reaches out to them, customer experience, already anticipates the customer’s needs and gives it to them without them having to ask or say so. It is also exceeding customer expectations and making them feel special.

What’s Next?

Need that extra support to help you achieve memorable customer experiences? What better way than to outsource your customer support services to the Philippines?

At Executive Boutique, we share your passion for providing the best customer experience possible. Our agents have the training, experience, and willingness to make your customers happy.

If you would like to find out more, contact us today!

4 Tips for Dealing with Angry Customers

April 9, 2019 • Daelyn Fortney • Customer Service

Dissatisfied customers are par for the course when you work in a customer service role. However, you should note that each unhappy customer is an opportunity to maintain or even improve your customer base. Your response will determine whether the customer will spread bad publicity of your business or rave about your stellar customer service. When confronted with an angry customer, here are some things you can do to help resolve the situation:

Don’t evaluate whether the customer has a right to be angry.

When a customer calls and is unhappy with a product or service, it’s commonplace for the service representative to internally evaluate whether they think the customer is justified in their anger. The problem with this is that the only thing this thinking can do is frustrate you more if you don’t agree with their feelings.

Try not to do this and instead focus on the fact that the customer does have the privilege to be irate. If you listen carefully to their expression of their anger, you might be able to figure out the root of their concerns. This will help you resolve the complaint much more easily than internally judging the caller.

Be patient.

When the customer is at their height of expressing their emotions, be patient and listen to their concerns. Don’t interrupt them, as this will likely make them angrier and simply fuel the fire. Wait for the wave of emotion to pass and then interject with reassurances that you care about their business and are there to help. If the customer hits you with another wave of intensity, complete this process again. Wait for the customer to calm down before approaching the issue at hand.

Repeat the customer’s concerns back to them.

After you’ve thoroughly listened to the customer’s issues, reiterate the highlighted priorities that you believe you’ve heard from their perspective. This will help you figure out which aspects of the problem to tackle first and reassure the customer that you are on the same page with them.

Own the issue.

It doesn’t matter what happened before the customer came to you. Who created the problem isn’t important to your immediate task of providing excellent service. When confronted with an emotional customer, let them know that you own the problem and will work hard to achieve the best results possible for them.

Customer service is not an easy job, especially when faced with a combative customer. It’s important to remember that you can handle that kind of situation, even if it is overwhelming and sometimes confusing.

Call us today to find out how we can help you optimize productivity and deliver a better customer experience and provide outsourced customer service.

How to Choose a Customer Service Call Center

March 13, 2019 • EB Call Center • Customer Service

More and more, organizations looking for a way to provide their clients with customer service around the clock without the prohibitive expense of hiring an onsite staff to process inbound inquiries are turning to Philippines-based call centers to meet their demand. Executive Boutique offers this indispensable resource at an outstanding value, allowing you to make more out of every dollar you invest in meeting the needs of your customer base.

Choose Cost-Effectiveness

Thanks to our innovative business model, we can provide unbeatable pricing on inbound call management services. Our pricing is entirely determined by the level of technical knowledge your typical inquiries require, and you can select a pricing model that fits the number of agents you need on call at peak hours, the specialized information our team will need to know, and the kind of services they will be expected to provide your clients.

While our rates are flexible based on the individual needs of your business, we focus on providing you with a clear picture of the projected costs, including labor expenses, equipment usage, and other related charges. In contrast with many of our competitors, our company structure enables us to eliminate startup fees and other hidden costs, and our support team can offer you a no-obligation quote tailored to your needs.

Choose Caller-Friendliness

At Executive Boutique, everything we do is aimed at guaranteeing your customers a directly comparable quality of service as provided by an onsite call center. We have chosen the Philippines as a base of operations because the territory’s schools and universities primarily teach in English, including American-preferred pronunciation and word usage. Every customer service agent we hire has been stringently screened for the highest caliber verbal and written communication skills available, as well as minimal noticeable accent.

Along with selecting from the top talent pool within the third-largest Anglophone nation in the world, we also make a special effort to bring you the right staff for your specific needs. We have sample voices from our team members available for you to listen to before you commit to a service plan, and we can also schedule a time for you to speak to our agents directly so you can evaluate their suitability to represent your business.

Choose Reliability

Our quality of service is second to none in the international call center marketplace. Our state of the art VoIP telephone system is engineered to deliver outstanding call quality as well as high transmission rates (under 200ms) for a seamless listening experience. Our lines are open to your customers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and the experience is nearly impossible to distinguish from conventional calling services. Of course, you can always schedule a live demonstration of our services before committing to a contract.

We take every step to offer a service that delivers the ease of use that an onsite call center provides. Your agents can be assigned area codes and callback numbers from any locale you prefer, meaning that your customers and prospects should never be able to tell the difference between our international call center and conventional inbound call services. The result is a reliable option that keeps you in constant contact with your clientele for less.

Our multifaceted approach to call center outsourcing is more than a cost-saving alternative, but a powerful tool you can use to amplify the effectiveness of your onsite staff. Contact Executive Boutique today to learn more about outsourced customer service in the Philippines and what we can do for your business.

Why Excellent Customer Service Matters

January 24, 2019 • EB Call Center • Customer Service

It goes without saying that people love great customer service. Still, some businesses settle for “good” service rather than going that extra mile for their customers. The difference between “good” and “great” service is that, in the former, businesses are only doing the bare minimum to keep their customer satisfied. In the latter, they are going above and beyond minimum expectations to ensure their customer stays happy and coming back for more. Some wonder why going that extra step matters – here are a few reasons to always do your best by your customers:

It reflects on your entire business

Everything regarding your business’s structure and functioning reflects on different aspects of the business itself. If you have good customer service, your customers will assume you have good products. The same principle goes for if you have bad customer service, and can pertain to aspects like returns, shipping, and other services. Even if your products are of quality, bad customer service will make a customer less likely to patronize your business. It leads them to believe that if they run into an issue, they won’t be guaranteed to receive the help they need.

It’s a marketable asset

From a marketing standpoint, excellent customer service is a great angle. It’s something you can brag about in your advertisements, raising your business’s likelihood of bringing in new customers. People love to hear that a business has top notch customer service, and if it can help you with effective marketing, it’s worth the extra effort. This works best when real-life customers talk about the quality of your customer service, so don’t be afraid to ask for public testimonials and reviews.

It shows that you care

When you take time to effectively take care of your customer’s problems, it shows that you care about them. This shouldn’t be put-on either, because your customers are the most important part of your business. Without customers, you have no cash flow. Without cash flow, your business fails. On a brighter note, customers who feel cared for are likely to become repeat customers and refer others to your business. When you show that you care about your customers, your business grows.

Customer service plays a lead role in the development and maintenance of your business. From the front-desk representative they meet at your location, to the service agent on the phone processing a refund, every interaction with your customer base matters. Make sure to leave a positive impact that they will remember!

If you are thinking of outsource your customer service to the Philippines, contact us today at 1-888-700-9555. You may also send us an email at info@ebcallcenter.com.

How an Outbound Call Center Can Benefit Your Business

December 18, 2018 • EB Call Center • Customer Service

Exceptional customer care is the cornerstone to any successful business. Happy customers and the profits they generate are the very reason your company strives to market some of the best products and services. But how do you achieve a large and loyal customer base if you simply don’t have the economic resources or manpower to make it happen?

Many organizations achieve their goals of nourishing customer relationships and boosting sales by partnering with a reputable outbound call center.

Gain a competitive edge with outbound call center services

Outbound call centers do much more than telemarketing, cold calling or upselling to existing clients. Some of the top outsourcing providers offer a host of scalable services, including appointment scheduling, customer feedback and surveys, data verification, lead generation and sales.

Many upwardly-mobile businesses are shifting toward customer-centric practices and reaping the plentiful benefits of outsourcing.

Consider the following advantages of partnering with an outbound call center.

Excellent customer service is financially viable

Fledgling businesses rarely have the funds necessary to ensure their customer service is 5-star from start to finish. Call centers have highly trained representatives who do more than just follow a script. These are agents who act as an extension of your brand and know how to build a positive rapport with potential and existing customers. They also have specialized knowledge in various industries and are adept at resolving a number of technical queries. Philippine business process outosuring call centers are able to provide superior services at significantly lower costs compared to hiring in-house personnel in the US, Europe or Australia. Not only do you have access to experienced agents at a fraction of the cost, you also save on training, overhead and technological infrastructure expenses.

Access to skilled, tech-savvy manpower

Access to a major talent pool of college educated, tech-savvy professionals is one of the main reasons why Philippine outbound call centers are thriving. Filipinos are entrenched in American culture, allowing them to relate to many customers, and grew up speaking English. Each representative is hand-selected based on his or her area of expertise to ensure your project or campaign is streamlined and productive.

Ease of analyzing metrics

CRM tools used by outbound call service centers are critical for measuring important metrics, from call durations to hang ups and success rates. This precise reporting helps businesses follow performance statistics in real time and change strategies to foster optimum results.

Better technology enhances the customer experience

Small and medium-sized businesses can also benefit from cutting-edge technology, which means their customers can interact with agents 24 hours a day, through various platforms, no matter what the time zone – all at affordable rates. Modern call centers have Automated Call Distribution, Cloud Routing and the technological infrastructure in place to efficiently handle large volumes of customer traffic.

Executive Boutique Call Center has rigorous recruitment and training standards for all prospective agents and offers outbound call center services to companies around the globe. Call us today to find out how we can help you optimize productivity and deliver a better customer experience and provide outsourced customer service.

Why Companies Should Outsource Customer Service

December 13, 2018 • EB Call Center • Customer Service

When people speak about your company, what do they say?

Would they say they love your products and the service you provide, or do they just see you as another company?

Hopefully it’s the former… we’ll rephrase this… it should be the former. Customers pay attention to the care you give, if it’s personable and efficient it makes an impact. This is also true for sub-par customer service, it makes an impact, but not the type you want.

One route thousands of companies in the United States have taken toward customer service excellence is the outsourcing of these operations. Outsourcing customer service yields many benefits, and each company that decides to do so does for their own reason. Most companies are happy with making this decision, with 78% of businesses worldwide feeling positive about their outsourcing partnership.

Why are all these businesses happy with their decision?

They Are Saving Money

This is a given. “Cost-cutting” is the top reason for outsourcing among companies that currently partner with an outsourcing company. But there are many areas that we don’t typically think of when we calculate costs. Costs incurred from renewing subscriptions to cloud services or printing new training materials are no longer a part of the picture. Not only will you save money, but you’ll make money too. According to a study conducted by American Express, 2 out of 3 consumers are willing to pay more for exceptional customer service.

They Are Saving Time

Your employees should wear many hats, but there’s such thing as too many hats. You can free up your employees’ time to perform other, more important tasks, while your outsourcing partner can handle those time-consuming customer service issues. Providing top notch customer service requires constant re-evaluation of practices, and when adjustments are made, the staff will require more training on any new procedures.

They Have Access to Top Talent

Hiring employees that meet your company’s needs and standards takes time, anyone who’s been on Indeed and seen the same job posted every week knows that much. When you outsource your customer service operations, you give yourself access to a wide range of talent.

Their Operations Have Become Efficient

With after hours support services, live chat, and services like Automated Call Distribution (ACD), it’s safe to say that outsourcing customer service means that they’ll be more efficient. In the event of power outages or cyber attacks, you can take comfort in knowing your customer’s information is stored safely in a cloud, set up by your outsourcing partner.

They Have Access to Top Industry Tools

Technology is growing ever-more important in today’s business climate, and having access to software and equipment that’s reliable is key to maintaining a successful customer service operation. Not every company wants to spend the money on setting up equipment or paying companies for disruptive on-site installation or take the time to set up live chat services on every one of the office computers. Partnering with an outsourcing company means that your company will keep up with the times, and your customers will never have to deal with faulty systems and choppy connections.

Streamlining your customer service operations could revitalize your company, and any organization struggling to keep pace in the current consumer environment could use a second wind. Here at Executive Boutique Call Center, we have the means, talent, and technology to breathe life into your customer service operation.

Statistics Show You Need Live Chat, But You Also Need To Do It Right!

December 11, 2018 • EB Call Center • Customer Service

If Live Chat isn’t part of your customer service support, then you’re missing out on valuable opportunities to improve. Online messenger used to be seen as a “nice add-on,” but today’s B2B buyers and consumers come to expect Live Chat as part of a comprehensive customer service department. Responsiveness is now easier than ever with Executive Boutique’s outsourced Live Chat, available to your clientele 24/7.

Live Chat Statistics

Research tells us Live Chat is too good to pass up:

Low-Cost Customer Service: Live Chat customer service is 17-30% cheaper than a phone call, allowing agents to help three or more customers at one time, according to Forrester Research.
More Effective Lead Generation: Live Chat increases conversions by 20% or more, with a 300% ROI rate for the average sales team (American Marketing Association). Up to 77% of customers won’t buy from a site that doesn’t offer Live Chat support.
Improved Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty: Live Chat has the highest customer satisfaction levels at 73%, compared to 61% for email support and 44% for phone support (eDigital Research). Live Chat gives 90% of customers confidence that they can get help from the brands they’ve chosen if necessary (Oracle). In fact, 63% of customers say they’re more likely to return to a site that offers Live Chat.
Meeting Customer Expectations: 42% of customers say they prefer Live Chat to email, social media, or forums. They like the ability to multitask and shop while having their questions answered (JD Power & Associates).

These days we’re all so busy. People like that they can have their questions answered, without being put on hold or transferring from queue to queue. Offering Live Chat lets you serve more customers, making the most of your time. The average Chat inquiry is answered in 42 seconds, thus reducing the amount of time a customer has to consider investing time and money elsewhere. With online support, you can offer a personal touch, which is particularly crucial when customers have items in their shopping carts.

Live Chat Represents Top Caliber Customer Service – When Done Right

As with anything, there is a right way and a wrong way to approach Live Chat. One study found that 21% of Live Chat support requests go ignored. In order to be successful with Live Chat, you need to:

Give Live Chat the attention it deserves. Live Chat requires its own specialized training that may differ from phone or email support training. Using pre-written templates, cheat sheets, FAQ’s, and going over patterns in Live Chat inquiries will improve your customer service in this unique department.
Prioritize your communications with the busy Live Chat cohort. While you may have 10 hours to respond to an email, you can’t let a chat request go more than a few minutes before users abandon your site. Failing to answer Live Chat inquiries will lose business and customer loyalty. Live Chat needs go beyond 9-5, with support 24/7.
Be prepared for traffic spikes. Agents can handle multiple interactions at once, but peak seasons can cause floods in demand. Having enough trained agents prepared to handle increased requests ensures seamless operation.
Be proactive. Don’t wait for prospects to contact you. Have automated technology in place to greet website visitors when they first arrive on the site, when they visit key conversion pages, after a set amount of time browsing the site, or once items have been added to the shopping cart.
Connect your Live Chat correspondences with your in-house CRM. Ultimately, Live Chat should fit into the bigger picture of lead nurturing, conversions, and loyalty. Get each customer’s contact information and keep record of your interactions to understand the customer life cycle and maximize your relationship. Following up after a Live Chat experience kicks your service level up a notch.

Should You Outsource Live Chat?

When you outsource Live Chat, you cut right to the chase with the best customer service representatives, industry-leading processes, and state-of-the-art technology. Top reasons to consider outsourcing Live Chat include:

You are looking to reduce costs associated with customer service.
You don’t have the time or staff to handle FAQ answering.
You have internal resources, but your team’s time is better spent doing what they’re already good at.
Test the waters to see if Live Chat is right for your business, using a flexible team of trained experts.
You know you need Live Chat to succeed, but don’t have the expertise to reach its full potential.
You have an in-house team, but their hours and willingness to work holidays/weekends/overnights is limited.

Your dedicated staff from Executive Boutique gets trained to know your business inside and out, acting as an extension of your in-house team. Our agents have the operational skills to service a number of requests any time, day or night for peak efficiency. Outsourcing Live Chat gives this channel the specialized training it deserves, but at a lower cost. You can scale up with additional employees during busy times or scale back down when times are slow. You don’t have to worry about hiring, firing, employee benefits packages, or scheduling hassles. Instead, you can have confidence that your Live Chat team is operating seamlessly in the background at all times. Contact Executive Boutique to learn more about outsourcing your live chat services to our Cebu City, Philippines business process outsourcing call center.

Additional resources:

AMA, How B2B Marketers are Leveraging Live Chat to Increase Sales, https://www.ama.org/Documents/how-b2b-marketers-leveraging-live-chat-increase-sales.pdf
e-Digital Research, Customer Service Benchmark, http://www.edigitalresearch.cowww.edigitalresearch.com/pdf/sample-benchmarks/Customer%20Service%20Benchmark%20March%202014.pdf
Oracle, Cross-Channel Commerce: A Consumer Research Study, http://www.oracle.com/us/products/applications/commerce/atg/cross-channel-commerce-survey-333315.pdf