Chat has to be part of your omni-channel support strategy. Or does it?
Don’t get us wrong, at Customer X Solutions we believe that Chat can be an effective support and delivery mechanism as your customers navigate your systems, processes, and digital tools. But before you try to replicate your Phone, Web, and App strategies with a Chat channel, we recommend that you step back and clarify the desired outcomes.
We break our Chat assessment down into three distinct buckets:
(1) COMPANY MOTIVATION
The Hope: It will save money.
The Reality: On paper Chat will always look like it is succeeding because the Chat leader will assume that every Chat was a call that never happened with a lower cost to serve.
Chat is often expected to deliver quick access to common support questions via a Chat Bot and a cheaper cost to serve as any live Chat agent interactions are handled by lower skilled agents who copy/paste responses and handle multiple customers simultaneously. Companies will justify Chat investment by pointing out that Chat Bots work 24-hours and live Chat agents can be outsourced to places where cheaper English-capable agents operate with less concern that foreign accents will impact customer satisfaction. We find that Chat is often very good for predictable tasks and customer education, but also can result in frustration when the scope gets expanded beyond high-quality/low-emotion inquiries.
(2) CUSTOMER MOTIVATION
The Hope: Faster answers without long hold times.
The Reality: Not every issue is handled well in Chat.
Many customers choose Chat because they are trying to self-solve and expect a quick answer or a link to where they can find the answer without needing to engage a Phone agent. Chat provides the customer an advantage of having a written receipt of the conversation details, so customers do not have to take notes or rely on their memory. Sometimes the customers will be using Chat while also on hold to speak to a Phone agent in a pyrrhic attempt to beat the queuing system. Our experience shows that bad Chat experiences result in lower satisfaction for subsequent Phone conversations, less customer willingness to consider upsell opportunities, and future customer avoidance of Chat because the customer distrusts Chat capabilities.
(3) SUPPORT EFFECTIVENESS
The Hope: Chat will contain customers and become the preferred first channel of choice.
The Reality: Data is rarely available to assess whether use of Chat results in long-term changes to customer behavior or if Chat use improves customer outcomes.
Chat-specific measures are not planned or tracked in advance as Chat effectiveness is judged using methods already in place for Phone support. Rarely do we exhibit the patience to delay launching Chat features until we know we can measure the results. Do customers who have successful Chat episodes attempt Chat for future support needs? Are customers who have an unsuccessful Chat more likely to call Phone support in the future? How is long-term satisfaction and churn impacted by Chat effectiveness? Is the reason that no one knows these answers because Chat was shoved into the support model without a strategic plan?
Strategic Opportunity
Is your Chat strategy based on the belief that it is a cheap direct replacement for live Phone agents? Is your Chat helping you deepen your relationships with your customers? Are you trying to use Chat for use cases that are beyond the reasonable capabilities of the channel? Have you aligned your measurement approach to answer these questions?
Before you expand or abandon your Chat deployment, you should clarify whether your operational approach is strategically aligned with the problems you are hoping Chat will solve.
This post was submitted by Lorne Wood, a CCNG member who helps fellow members and leaders revolutionize their contact center operations with expert recommendations and transformative solutions.
