In the sales and customer service field, making the customer like you is crucial to providing good service. It’s already a challenge to make someone like you in person.
But when all you have is a computer screen to make a solid connection with your client, it becomes even trickier. Thankfully, it is possible to make your customers like you in 90 seconds or less when dealing with then through online chat! Just follow these guidelines:
Make sure they see a face
People are much more receptive and comfortable if they can see the face of who they are talking to online. If a potential customer is live chatting with you online and they do not see a profile image, their trust level will be low. By showing the customer who they are speaking with, you can build trust instantly. People like people, they don’t like faceless internet entities.
Make sure your live chat software has the capability, like LiveHelpNow, to set up a profile image. Set up your chat icon as a smiling face and add a name to the chat. Honestly, the name and picture does not have to be your customer service agent’s true face and name. The picture just serves as a reminder to the customer that they are speaking with a real person.
Be quick to respond
The faster you are able to respond to a person’s concerns, the quicker you can make them like you. Today more than ever people want instant gratification. People become irritable when they have to wait. This is especially true if they are trying to resolve an important or time sensitive issue. And unfortunately, perceived wait times feel longer to the customer than actual wait times. This is why it’s extremely important that you reply to the customer’s concerns as fast as possible.
Maintaining quick response time can be difficult if your agents are doing their best to juggle multiple conversations at once. Having a good ticketing system in place to help organize and prioritize chats. The faster your customers receive support, the happier they will be.
Be useful
However, being quick to respond does nothing to make the customer like you if your responses are garbage. Customers hate when support agents ask too many questions without providing solutions. Nothing angers a customer more than having to specify who they are, where they are from, all the details of their account, what the problem is, what they had for lunch, etc… only to have the agent unable to help them or advise them to contact a different department. If you cannot provide an immediate solution as a live chat agent, you must at least provide immediate reassurance that the customer’s issues will be taken seriously and solved in a timely manner.
This all comes down to how well the support staff is trained. Customer support staff needs to be knowledgeable in your all of company’s products and services. Proper initial training and follow up training of your support staff is necessary if you want your customer service team to function like a well oiled machine. Keeping your employees well trained and happy is the best way to ensure great customer service.
Don’t be overly formal
The worst thing you can do is confuse your customers with verbose language. You do not want to alienate or bore your customers by employing words that they can’t understand. If your customer thinks that you are trying to sound smarter or more educated than them, they will not like you. This is a lethal customer service mistake. Responding with paragraph long answers when a few words would do the trick will waste the customer’s time, and make them upset. Make sure that you keep it clear and concise. When in doubt, remember the old Navy Principle KISS – keep it simple, stupid.
Use correct grammar and spelling
Though you don’t want to be overly formal, you don’t want to be too relaxed in your messaging either. Make sure you maintain correct spelling and grammar in your communication. Spelling mistakes will make your business look unprofessional. Do not use slang or inappropriate jargon. It is important for the customer to understand what you are saying. Customers will like you when they can easily comprehend your words and meaning.
If you follow these tips, your customers will like you over online chat. And once your customers like you, they are more likely to come back with return business. We hope you make the most out of every chat!
