Best live chat for customer service & support teams

Live chat support is a type of customer service that allows customers to communicate with a support representative in real time via an instant messaging system on a website or app.

There are several benefits to using live chat for customer support and customer service, including:

• Swift assistance: Resolves customer queries quickly, without the delay of email responses.
• Boosts sales: Prevents cart abandonment, increasing the chances of successful purchases.
• Cost-efficient: Agents can handle multiple chats simultaneously, lowering the additional staff requirement.
• Convenience: Provides context about previous interactions and customer details, which helps resolve issues.
• Enhances productivity: Boosts efficiency with features like canned responses, typing previews, and in-chat articles.
• Multilingual support: Offers global assistance with real-time chat translation.
• Collects customer data: The data collected during chats can be used to improve products, services, and customer support processes.

Here are some must-have features of live chat software for support:

• Multi-channel live chat support
• Real-time chat translation
• Chat routing and queuing
• AI chatbot
• In-chat knowledge base
• Productivity enhancers like canned responses and typing preview
• Voice notes, audio calls, screen sharing, and remote support options
• File sharing options
• Integration with CRM and ticketing systems
• Post-chat customer feedback collection
• Live chat mobile app
• Mobile SDK
• Live chat analytics and reporting

The main benefits of using live chat for customer support are:

• Enhanced customer support experience
• Effective customer onboarding and retention
• Building rapport with customers for customer advocacy
• Increased productivity of customer support teams
• Reduced customer support and retention costs
• Competitive edge over competitors
• Valuable insights into customer expectations and identifying gaps in your offerings

Here are some best practices for live chat support:

• Be available: Make sure that live chat support is available during business hours, ideally 24/7. Customers expect quick and efficient support; if they can't get it from you, they will go elsewhere.
• Be responsive: Respond to chat requests promptly and resolve issues quickly. Set expectations for response times and let customers know if you're experiencing high volumes of chat requests.
• Be friendly and professional: Chat representatives should be friendly and professional in their tone and language. Use appropriate greetings, such as "Hello" or "Good morning," and avoid jargon or slang that customers may not understand.
• Be personal: Use the customer's name in the chat to make the interaction more personal and build rapport. Ask questions to understand their needs better and provide personalized support.
• Be clear and concise: Use clear and concise language to avoid confusion and ensure the customer understands the information provided. Avoid using long and complicated sentences.
• Use canned responses wisely: Canned responses can help answer common questions quickly, but they should be used judiciously to avoid sounding robotic or impersonal.
• Follow up: After the chat session, follow up with the customer to ensure their issue has been resolved and ask for feedback on the support experience.
• Monitor performance: Track metrics such as response time, customer satisfaction, and first-contact resolution rate to monitor the performance of your live chat support and identify areas for improvement.

Here's a list of the primary criteria you should consider while choosing live chat software for your website:

• The size of your customer base and your live chat team strength.
  • - If you have a large team with different expertise, make sure the customer service chat software lets you create departments and route incoming chats to the right agents.
  • - If your customer base is huge and you need more team strength to handle a huge influx of chats, check if the software has chatbot builders with AI functionality.
  • - If your customer base is spread across the globe, look for customer support chat software with real-time translation.
• Ease of use and learning time needed. Choose a live chat software with a user-friendly interface that makes it easy for your team to manage chat conversations and for your customers to initiate chats.
• Customization options to match your website's branding and style.
• Integration capabilities with your CRM, helpdesk, inventory software, and anything you'd need while assisting customers.
• Availability of a mobile SDK and a live chat agent mobile app.
• Ensure the live chat software is secure and meets industry data protection and privacy standards.
• Budget.
• Reporting and analytics features to track metrics.

• Choose the right live chat software for your business by evaluating different options.
• Install the live chat software on your website. This typically involves adding a small code to your website's HTML.
• Customize the live chat widget to match your branding and preferences. Also, customize the chat window, greeting messages, and chat buttons.
• Configure the live chat software settings. This includes setting up routing rules for chat requests, creating canned responses for frequently asked questions, and configuring notifications for incoming chat requests.
• Train your support team on how to use the live chat software. Ensure that they understand the software's features and functionality, how to manage chat conversations, and how to handle common customer issues.
• Test the live chat software to ensure it's working correctly. You can do this by initiating chats or asking friends or colleagues to help you test the system.
• Launch the live chat support on your website. Promote the availability of live chat support to your customers through your website, social media, and other communication channels.
• Monitor the performance of your live chat support. Use the reporting and analytics features of the live chat software to track metrics such as response time and customer satisfaction ratings. Use this data to improve your live chat support performance continuously.

Zoho SalesIQ offers a range of features that can help support teams deliver exceptional customer service, such as:

• Real-time visitor tracking provides information about visitors' browsing behavior, allowing you to engage with potential customers proactively.
• Canned responses that enable support teams to respond to frequently asked questions from customers quickly.
• Integrations with popular customer relationship management (CRM) systems, helpdesk software, and other third-party tools.
• Reporting and analytics features that provide insights into chat volume, response times, and customer satisfaction.
• AI-powered chatbots that can handle simple customer queries and provide 24/7 support.
• Mobile app that allows support teams to chat with customers from their smartphones.