Today visitors preferring live chat tools is not a common sight, as different data evidently indicates the influential shift. Customers visit a particular website with the intention to find solutions for their specific problem. However, the expectations are a different thing. Whatever the objective of clicking the live chat icon on the website of your favorite brand, what customer support team should understand is not all customers are same, but each comes with his/her own character, personality, and mood. And it is the job of a professional support agent to clearly identify the goals and expectations of the customer and interact accordingly only to provide an exceptional customer service and acquire additional business for the company at the same time.

Each expectation from the customer will call for a different technique to cater the moment perfectly, some in-need customers may be looking to acquire a quick solution for their problem, while others may ask for a first time interaction resolution.

As for This Blog Post, we are going to see how agents can use their skills smartly for customer who love to talk to polite and friendly customer support reps.

How to sound more human and friendly over a live chat conversation?

Now the most obvious question pops here: we aren’t communicating through a phone call, so how to gauge if the live chat conversation is polite and user-friendly? The ‘friendly conversation’ aspect is the most glaring and simple one customers tend to catch within the initial seconds of the phone call. The agent’s tone, usage of words, patience level, enthusiasm to answer, listening skills etc. all combine to help customers perceive if the agent was friendly during the conversation. It might sound surprising, but the same aspects applies over the live chat conversations as well, only this time there are fingers snapping in replacement of the agent’s voice.

Use terms like ‘Thank You’, ‘Sure’, ‘Please’, etc. in the same manner as used over the phone call. Similarly, ask the customer to wait as you would on a phone call, in case the need arise for the customer to hold on waiting time. While if the pause could most probably extend, provide the visitor an estimated ‘waiting time’, similar to the ‘hold time’. Not only the choice of word but also the punctuation used along is critically important, as it conducts your conversational tone to the customer. For instance, use the exclamation mark whenever there is a positive information, a new offer, upscale benefits, etc. involved for the customer, for example

“That’s awesome!”, “Glad to hear that!”, “In my opinion the new pair of summer collection T-shirts would go well with your personality!”.

Using the appropriate punctuation indicates your tone and interest in communicating with the website visitor.

The right word usage also helps you in apologizing in case the customer has experienced any sort of trouble at the hands of the company, brand, or even the agent. A simple ‘Sorry for the inconvenience’, ‘my apologies for that’ etc. displays the element of genuine accountability from the agent to the customer. Furthermore, use the customer’s name is the message to add a more personalized feel. While concluding the conversation, messages like ‘Have a great day’, ‘Please let me know in case of any concerns’ etc. Throw a powerful positive impact leaving the customer on a high note.

Top helpdesk live chat softwares have ample customizable features that allow the agents to create their own canned messages. You can add the above messages in the canned messages in order to save a considerable time and effort.

The point of using all the above messages is to apply appropriately to different kinds of live chats, and facilitate a friendly conversation that is a revenue-driven move in itself. After all, a polite and friendly live chat conversation is the foremost initiative towards acquiring the customer trust and hence, a long-lasting relationship with the company.