Live customer support allows you to talk directly to customers more easily than ever before. And the great news about this is that customers like chatting. They want their issues to be solved in a personal manner and they love to be made to feel special. Mastering the art of conversation is a sure-fire way to not only convert more leads but keep your customers coming back for more when providing a humanized customer experience.
Whether it’s remotely via live support or in person, there are some universal rules to apply when talking to your customers:
First Impressions Are Everything
Do not underestimate the importance of your greetings. Use their name and be polite and respectful. You can also personalize your greetings depending on where the customer is on your website. For example, if a customer is surfing on your Help Centre, you could start by asking him if he has any question about your product. If another customer is on the pricing page, you may want to ask if he would like to know more information about particular plans.
Smart Tip:
With Xeno, you can automate this process thanks to the Auto-Message feature. That way, you can define personalized messages to be send to a visitor under specific conditions.
What’s in a Name
Calling a customer by his name is a great way of bonding with a customer whilst remaining professional. It makes the conversation personal, which builds trust. The more the client trusts you the more likely they are to make a purchase and recommend you to others.
Listen
It’s important you take the time to understand each customer’s need before you offer them a solution. This saves time in the long run and increases customer satisfaction as they don’t have to repeat themselves. It can also help to make them feel special. Which is one of the top factors for increasing customer service. In a survey by McKinsey 70% of customers said they would be turned off from a sale if they were not treated well.
Most customers like chatting, so they won’t have a problem telling you want they want. Don’t be afraid to ask questions if you don’t understand and rephrase their query back to them to check you get it.
Tone
The tone is dependent on the nature of your business and what your brand voice is. But there are certain ways of talking to customers that are more effective for customer satisfaction than others. A casual yet professional tone is great for live chat because it puts your leads and customers at ease whilst still showing them respect. It can help to pay attention to how your customers talk to you, and match this where appropriate.
Please Say “Thank You”
It may seem a little obvious, but even in a casual conversation between friends, manners go a long way. It’s almost impossible to seem too polite. So, use “pleases” and “thankyous” as much as possible during your dialog. Doing this shows that you respect your customer and value their time.
Empathy
Emotional intelligence can be the difference between a good customer experience and a great one. Be sure to look at your customers situation from their point of view as much as possible and communicate this with them. For instance, if they are having troubles receiving emails, say that “this must be very frustrating” and that you understand how important emails are to their business. This is an effective way of providing a humanized customer experience that cannot be achieved with a chatbot.
Keep it Simple
Try to remember that a lot of customers will not know a lot about your product and your industry. Avoid jargon and technical terms and stick to everyday language.
Talk is Cheap
So, that’s it. A lot of this is simple stuff that we use every day in our interactions. But it helps to be reminded that it can also be applied during live customer support. An app such as Xeno shows you exactly where your customers are on your website so that you can tailor your greetings. It also helps you to consolidate and organize all your conversations in one place. That allows you to focus on the art of conversation and making customers happy, instead of getting bogged down with admin. The cherry on top is that you can get all of this for free.
