Article

David Clark
David Clark 20 December 2019

How to Choose A Live Chat Support Outsourcing Company

Are you struggling to provide personalised chat support to your customers? Are you looking to save marketing costs, increase conversions and sales, and build a long-term relationship with customers?

Then, it is the right time to employ chat support for your business. Chat provides real-time convenience and gratification to your customers. Outsourcing live chat support services can free up your time to focus on your core activities and also save costs.   

Why do you want live chat support? 

Live chat support allows you to give quick answers to questions about your products, solve customer problems faster and assure your customers that you’re there when they need you. It is very effective in improving both customer service and loyalty. Here is some date to help you get a better understanding of how much customers appreciate live chat:  

 

Live chat had the highest customer satisfaction levels at 41%, as compared to 32% for traditional phone support and only 23% for email support.  

Why should you consider live chat support outsourcing? 

There are many benefits to outsourcing live chat support. It’s not always an easy decision as you’re putting part of your business into someone’s hands. On the other hand, it can be a huge time saver (not to talk about cost). In my opinion, these are the main reasons why it’s a good idea to outsource live chat: 

  • Outsourced chat provider can hire staff faster since they specialise in it.
  • It’s cheaper to hire live chat agents through a contractor than hiring  employees.  
  • The right outsourcing partner can increase the quality of your support and reduce time to first response.
  • Having live chat is not enough, there is an entire strategy to think about. It’s much more effective to let a specialised company do it for you. You can always internalise the processes, but at least at the start, let someone take care of it for you.
  • Ensure you’re always online, also outside working hours 

Overall, I think the main benefit is that it gives you peace of mind. Live chat can be a powerful tool, but you need to get it right and the best way to do so is by finding a reliable partner. 

Before you get started, ask the outsourcing company the following questions: 

  • Where are your agents based?
  • What's your agent training process?
  • What does your setup process consist of ?
  • What’s your customer satisfaction ratio, speed of response?
  • Do your agents have KPI and how are these measured?
  • How are your agents monitored?
  • What happens if they don't know the answer to a question?
  • How do I get the leads / customer service enquiries?
  • What reporting do you offer?
  • What level of customisation do you offer?
  • Do you have experience in my industry?
  • What clients do you currently work with?
  • Can I get copies of all the transcripts? 

Live chat support offers an amazing opportunity to create inspiring conversations that deliver tactile value to your business. Whichever partner you choose, I wish you the best of the luck with your journey - it's a huge step to be a more customer centric business. 

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