Live Chat Questions

Being a consumer, service provider, as well as a writer involved in live chat is fascinating. From time to time questions pop up that deserves over a simple yes or no response. I have a mate who is training to provide customer support for a national cable company. The other night they were speaking about the company's approach to delivering customer support. As they talked, the system used by her employer came up. Their system is to the point & clear, when providing customer support all employees must follow a pre written script.

Not all company's follow this system. Lots of others depend on the training & professionalism of their staff to reply to customers as they feel is appropriate. Both approaches have pros & cons. The focus of this article is not to advocate for approach over the other, but to clarify what can be a hot topic in boardrooms & break rooms similar.

For example, if the larger companies using live chat maintain a staff dedicated to providing information, every call received is answered at what might be called level. Here calls are screened with simple issues resolved using scripted responses. If there is not an appropriate scripted answer or the necessity of the caller is beyond the scope of the level operator, the call may be transferred to level. Management level staff who can ad-lib a response usually handle level calls.

For most companies that use scripted responses their decision is based on economic issues. Things like maximizing efficiency, worker time per call, & managing the quality of information given a customer. In lots of cases, there is a built in backup system.

added layer of legal protection.

Other businesses pick to make use of the live or ad-lib response. In lots of cases, these are firms where the owner does everything. In these instances, He or he does not need a script they are the script. On the other hand, a firm may have a dedicated technical assistance line. Except for the most basic types of questions, technical assistance cannot be scripted.

 last consideration for any business must be the query of legal liability. Regrettably, they live in a litigious world. There's individuals who will go out of their way to discover a way to sue. Erroneous information provided them by a representative of the company lends itself to potential legal implications. Some businesses belief that having a scripted approach serves as an

Scripted

Now for the professionals & cons of each system:

  Saves money
  Is more efficient
  Assures control over information shared

Pros

Cons

  Impersonal
  Can miss the reason for a call
  Can lead to high worker turnover

Pros

Ad-Lib

Cons

  More personalized
  Offers staff satisfaction
  May increase sales

As I have tried to point out there is no single approach that is better than the other is. The important issue is that whichever approach your business makes use of that you provide sufficient support to those responding to live chat inquiries.

  Burnout
  Usually not 24/7
  May lead to dropped calls

Peter Howell currently manages the Marketing Operations of Provide Live Help http://www.providelivehelp.com, the developers of a State of the Art live chat.