How to Provide Customer Service Through Live Chat

Live chat is a terrific way to provide online service to customers searching a website who need assistance with products, site navigation or help checking out. It also gives customer service agents a way to interact with customers to meet their needs without having to interface over the phone. While the tone of your voice may be off the hook, online live chat customer service skills are still a must.

Instructions

1. Follow company scripting guidelines and know that all of your online customer service live chat interactions can be monitored at random. More than likely the company you're working for has an online chat script to greet customers and take command of the customer service call. Quality assurance (QA) is monitored randomly and you will be scored based on how well you meet the online customer service guidelines for live chat.

2. Acknowledge the customer when their online live chat request comes into your queue. Be sure to greet them with a friendly and helpful tone according to your company's script for greeting those live chat customers in need. You may have to type in the actual greeting verbatim, or it may be a keyed command depending on your company's policies and software setup.

3. Take command of the online live chat "call" and be sure to ask probing questions. Perhaps they're having trouble finding a product, a promotion, entering a coupon discount or problems checking out with their credit card. Your initial greeting and statements should help you take command of the call and efficiently steer the chat towards an efficient, satisfying solution for the customer.

4. Provide real time, live, online solutions to the customer that you can verify while you continue to chat together to solve their problem in an efficient manner. Be clear and concise with specific commands and verify that they're working towards resolving their service solution with your online, live help.

5. Avoid online "dead air" chat. Just like an actual telephone customer service call, you don't want to leave your live chat customer dangling, wondering if you're still there trying to service them. Be sure to type things such as "Still looking" and "One moment please" along with "Checking on that for you" to let them know you're still online with them, working to resolve their issue.

6. Wait for live feedback. Your online live chat customer may be a slow typist or not at all computer savvy. Be sure to allow them ample time to respond and offer feedback as you take command of the online customer service chat to be sure you're not only meeting their online needs, but exceeding them.

7. Close the online live customer service chat according to company scripting guidelines verbatim. Once the issue has been effectively and efficiently resolved, it's time to professionally and promptly close the online live chat "call" to keep your quality assurance ratings high and get to the next online customer so you can service their live chat request.

Tips & Warnings

• Most companies require that you greet each customer and close each call verbatim to an actual customer service script. Be sure to adhere to that scripting verbatim to keep your QA rating high.

• Never linger or flirt online during live chat as a customer service agent. It can be grounds for dismissal.