Top 11 Live Chat Best Practices for 2024 (& What to Avoid)

In the era of instant gratification, people expect customer support to be instantaneous and personalized. Simultaneously customers want a human touch to their interactions. So, when it comes down to it, your two quick-fix options are chatbots and live chats.

With chatbot vs live chat, the former is quick but pales in comparison to live chat’s personal touch. Being on top of live chat best practices can ensure that your customers are tended to personally AND quickly. Research shows that as much as 57% of customers would switch to a competitor after three to four negative digital experiences and 27% wouldn’t tolerate more than two. 

As you see, there isn’t much room for trial and error. So how do you strike that perfect balance of quality and agility in your live chat interactions? By implementing live chat best practices that optimize your people, processes and practices to make every interaction a memorable one.

What is live chat? 

Live chat is a messaging app embedded on a brand’s website, app or third-party platforms like WhatsApp, which delivers real-time communication to users regarding their orders and issues. Compared to other digital customer service channels like email and chatbots, live chat is more personalized and synchronous, making it the preferred communication tool for 42% of customers.

Growing demand has given rise to live chat software - online communication tools that let you chat with your customers or website/app users in real time. Live chat support can be used to solve user issues, provide after-sales service, quick troubleshooting information, etc., boosting customer satisfaction and retention.

Some key features of live chat include: 

• Real-time communication with human agents 
• Easy in-app or in-website access 
• Multi-session handling 
• Synchronous communication 
• Text-based or voice-based interactions  
• Integration with CRM systems 
• Customizable interface

When implemented alongside an understanding of live chat best practices, this tool offers the digital convenience of email, the speed of chatbots and the personalization of human touch.

Why are live chat best practices important?

There’s no doubt that live chat is a popular support tool. The global live chat market is projected to grow at 7.84% CAGR and reach a total size of USD 1363 million by 2027. Yet, just having it doesn’t mean you’re doing it right. You will be surprised to know that 21% of live chat queries go unanswered, according to the G2 report cited above. Having a live chat best practices checklist helps avoid these pitfalls and sets you up for success.

Live chat best practices establish tactical and operational aspects such as where to place your live chat widget and how to handle different customer service scenarios. This way, every chat interaction becomes a memorable experience for customers and a conversion opportunity for agents.

These practices acquaint your support agents with the skills and chat etiquette expected by the modern customer, preventing minor errors from blowing up into customer churn, and improving overall customer satisfaction, trust and loyalty.

Top 11 live chat best practices & things to avoid

Without further ado, let’s get into the top live chat best practices that will give you a leg up in the industry.  

1. Find the right live chat software

The right tool kit sets you up for success right from the get-go. To be able to provide a great live chat experience, find software that meets your needs. For instance, you may want a live chat tool that is simple to use, supports your omnichannel customer service goals, offers a chatbot option and comes with top-notch data security.   

Do: Vet leading live chat software rigorously by taking trials or discussing your unique requirements with their sales teams.  

Avoid: Choosing a live chat tool just because it is popular or used by a competitor. Every business has different goals and what’s right for them may not be right for you.  

2. Fix a reasonable response time

As stated, live chat is only effective if it meets customer needs, which often boils down to quick and effective resolutions to their problems. On average, the wait time on live chat is about two minutes but, in some industries, like media, users won’t wait more than 40 seconds! If you operate in such demanding domains, empowering users with self-serve options for at least some or even part of the issue reduces the pressure on your live chat agents.

Do: Consider getting a chatbot feature to automate the initial response before an agent jumps in. The handover from chatbot to agent should be seamless and contextual so the user isn’t asked to give their information over and over. 

Avoid: Setting unrealistic targets for agents is a surefire recipe for agent burnout. Be strategic about how many chats an agent can handle without neglecting customers. You could also send an estimated wait time to customers using an autoresponder so that they at least know how long they must be patient. 

3. Balance personalization and professionalism 

It’s true that customers expect human responses that are empathetic and personalized. At the same time, responses should sound professional and on-brand. Striking that balance between customer empathy and professionalism is tricky, to say the least.

Besides imparting customer service training, you can leverage certain features in live chat software to help your agents tread the fine line between staying professional and being empathetic during interactions. 

• Route cases based on agent skills: A skill-based routing system that directs customers to the best agent. For instance, a query on tech support for a specific product could be routed only to the agents who are well-versed with the product.  
• Arm agents with a unified inbox: A channel-agnostic interface that unifies all messages into a single screen for agents can streamline response, cut time and boost consistent responses. 
• Surface visitor profiles during chats: Providing complete context to agents about a client’s history, preferences and other details aids personalization and allows agents to tailor their responses.  

Do: Make your customers feel heard and valued. Personalization, such as using their name, or verifying a last purchase, can help strike a chord.   

Avoid: Getting too personal or casual. For instance, using acronyms like NP or BRB have no place in a professional conversation. Get the full list of customer service phrases to use & avoid.  

Example:

Do: Hey (Customer Name)! How can I help you today? 

Avoid: Hey bud! ‘Sup?

4. Standardize your customer service tone of voice  

There’s a lot that can get lost in translation, especially over a chat. Having a standardized communication language or brand voice will not only ease this, but also help set a brand image across the board.   

Do: Set a standard of what is acceptable and in line with your brand guidelines. For instance, you may insist that agents do a quick spelling and grammar check before sending responses. Or you could buy a live chat tool with integrated grammar checkers like Sprinklr’s agent assist capability. 

Avoid: Allowing agents to stray too far from the script, especially for complex problem-solving, placating angry customers and handling sensitive issues. 

5. Train your agents 

Agent training cannot be emphasized enough when it comes to live chat best practices. No matter how experienced your customer service agent may be, training them to match your company standards is imperative. Apart from agent training and coaching on how to use the live chat tool and answer basic queries, train agents on the importance of using the HEARD (hear, empathize, apologize, resolve and diagnose) technique, as well as the tonality you want them to take.

Do: Consider using role-play techniques to train your agents in atypical queries. 

Avoid: When providing feedback to agents, use data-backed parameters such as response speed, accuracy, opening line or closing line effectiveness to ensure objectivity in feedback. You can use AI-powered live chat software like Sprinklr for automated scoring that provides pointed feedback to agents on their strengths and areas of improvement.

Did You Know? 
A majority, i.e. 64% of customers will choose voice or live chat as their preferred messaging channel to engage with a business. Getting your agents up to speed with how to do this best through personalization, contextual plug-ins and the right tools can help with quick resolutions.

6. Ensure authentication & data security  

Online data breaches are becoming increasingly common and live chat is susceptible to it. If your data security is faulty, there’s a risk of losing customer trust in your brand. We have data to back our claim. 25% of customers will abandon their shopping carts if they think the site is unsafe to share their payment data with. This is just one of the reasons why it is imperative to implement and emphasize data security and customer authentication in your live chat.  

Do: Pick live chat software that boasts integrated data security features, such as two-factor authentication, role-based access and IP restrictions. Take customer authentication seriously. Verify identity via tactics like OTP validation, security chat links and single sign-on. 

Avoid: Volunteering sensitive information from your end or leaving customer data unprotected without verification.

7. Empower agents to drive sales  

Live chat is not just a tool for customer grievance redressal but can also be a powerful tool for driving sales and reducing shopping cart abandonment. Agents who are trained in live chat conversational selling techniques may be able to identify customer touchpoints that can be converted into a checkout.   

Do: Train agents to use live chat for proactive engagement with customers. For instance, any customer showing signs of hesitation can be offered assistance or even a discount to finish the purchase. 

Avoid: Using aggressive sales tactics can be counterproductive. Be empathetic to the customer's needs and provide helpful suggestions instead of hard selling. 

Example:  

Do: Hi [Customer Name], I noticed you were looking at [Product]. Do you have any doubts I can clarify to help you make a decision?  

Avoid: Hurry! Complete your purchase now or you’ll miss out! 

8. Use canned responses smartly 

A thoroughly untapped live chat best practice is using canned responses to cut down response time and provide instant answers for common queries. Having a library of predefined canned responses comes in handy when tackling multiple requests at once. Yet, don’t forget about personalization. Insist that your agents tweak these responses as needed.   

Do: Find creative ways to integrate canned responses for maximum effectiveness. For instance, leveraging keyboard shortcuts or macros can cut down response time.   

Avoid: Missing out on updating canned responses. This could make your answers outdated and erroneous.

9. Be proactive with your service

Proactive customer service involves predicting a customer’s need in advance and addressing it before they reach out to your live chat. For instance, live chat software that has predictive AI technology may be able to guess a customer’s intent based on their onsite behavior and then use personalized prompts to keep them moving. A customer who has added multiple items into their cart but has not purchased any might just do so if they are shown an irresistible discount on live chat.    

Do: Use proactive prompts and contextual cards in your live chat widget to make product announcements or share critical updates that may be of interest to your website/app visitors.   

Avoid: Waiting for customers to express dissatisfaction to provide discounts or deals or bombarding them with too many prompts that interrupt their experience. 

10. Gather insights from past chats 

Leverage analytics to gain insight into how well your live chat best practices are working for you and where there is room for improvement. Audits on your agents’ responses can help you fine-tune your agent productivity, agent training and eventually your customer experience.  

Do: Some customer service analytics software come with built-in features to help with reporting. Sprinklr, for instance, analyzes 100% of customer-agent conversations for a thorough analysis of what works and what doesn’t.   

Avoid: Having a pure resolution approach. Instead, gather feedback from customers and use it to up your game. Let’s talk more about this in our next live chat best practice. 

11. Collect feedback and follow up 

Apart from relying on drawing up your own insights, checking in directly with the customer may be a useful live chat best practice to implement. Using a short customer survey or even just a simple rating, you can directly gauge customer sentiment. It is also good practice to reach out a while after resolving the issue to understand how well the resolution worked or if you could have done anything better.   

Do: Keep your feedback survey short so as to increase the response rate. If you’re looking for inspiration, go through our compilation of common customer satisfaction survey templates (+ examples).  

Avoid: Hounding customers with follow-up for your own benefit. If they are unresponsive over chat, try email or incorporate the feature into your subsequent chat.   

Pro Tip: Sprinklr offers unified, scalable surveys across 35+ platforms that are automatically customized based on the channel where they are offered. Use Sprinklr to minimize your development efforts and maintain consistency in all your surveys.

How to slash your live chat handling time by 35%

With proven live chat best practices under your belt, you are ready to delight your customers and prospects with a quick and personalized support experience. However, considering volatile market shifts, emerging technologies and evolving customer needs, you need more than just tips and tricks to make live chat work for you as a customer support channel.  

An agile, adaptive technology solution like Sprinklr Live Chat can deliver a responsive rather than a simple reactive support strategy. With customer-centricity and AI built into its core, Sprinklr strives to keep you ahead of trends with functionalities like: 

• Integration across websites, apps and in-store kiosks with a light-weight script 
• 24/7 availability with chatbots and automated appointment booking 
• Video commerce and product announcements 
• Agent productivity tools like canned responses and automated workflows 
• Customer self-service options for quicker resolutions 

And do so much more, all under one roof WHILE saving costs. Sounds too good to be true? Try our software in tandem with these live chat best practices before you dismiss that statement!