Adding a new channel should include a review of the practices and processes already in place for the rest of the customer support tream. And while specific best practices for one company may not best for another these live chat tips should serve as a basis for the framework for any company.

Consistency

 The foremost rule for offering multichannel support is consistency. Customers should see absolutely no difference in messaging from one channel to the other. Processes and policies should be unified across channels. Consistency is the key to a successful multichannel offering. The agents in chat support should be offering the same answers and have access to the same resources as phone and email agents. Inconsistencies create poor customer experiences and are a sure way to cause customer retention to fall.

Security

Security must be handled as both a process and a technology. An important part of the process is to clearly write and enforce policies for handling sensitive data. Customer information such as social security numbers, driver’s license numbers, or other individually identifying information should not be handled over a chat channel. This information would become part of the chat transcript and be at risk of theft or misuse. Offer the customer a secured Web form or take the information over the phone.

Response times

Live Chat is perceived as more urgent than email. The ideal response time is less than 1 minute; preferably response should be immediate. If immediate response is not possible, a message should be sent with the expected wait time (example: “Be with you in 20 seconds”). Wait times can bekept down and peak traffic times handled if multiple simultaneous chats per agent are possible; however, it may be better to have the ability to turn this functionality on or off according to workflow.

More Tips

• If using proactive chat, give the customers the option to accept or decline the invitation for chat so they won’t feel obligated to interact. If it is offered too persistently, customers are likely to abandon the site.
• Personalize the session by using the customer’s name and allowing the agent’s personality to show through during the interaction.
• If long comments are required, break them into smaller chunks and use an ellipse to indicate the continuation of the response in the next post.
  • Example: Turn machine off… Unplug machine… Remove cover…
• Give a short survey at the end to determine if the question was answered satisfactorily.
• If a question occurs on a regular basis, create a canned response or place the information on the Web site or self-service portal.
• Integrate knowledge management and canned responses to support multiple simultaneous sessions.

Obviously this doesn't cover half the practices that will need to be formulated and implemented, but I hope this gets you started.

If you have used a live chat solution already, would you share your discoveries and expertise? Leave a comment and let's get a dialogue going.