Average response time refers to the time between customer questions and agent responses. For the ideal chat session, responses should be provided within 30 seconds.
Agents should set expectation by providing an estimated wait time for delayed responses.
Response accuracy is paramount to ensuring customer satisfaction and maintaining the overall integrity of the brand.
Best-in-class chat responses should directly answer customer questions, include only one or two ideas per response, and avoid promotional copy.
Customers expect a personalized, brand-appropriate experience, even when using online chat. Ideal online chat conversations need to flow with the appropriate use of scripted versus free form responses.
Questions should be resolved accurately while agents drive to closure. Agents should not rush a chat session to hit efficiency metrics.
Chat users expect instant gratification. As a result, the ideal chat session should keep sentences short and to the point. Responses must directly relate to the customer question.
Writing effective chat communication can be an art. Responses must adhere to most grammatical rules, including capitalization and punctuation. Accurate spelling is critical to support agent credibility. The most important content should appear at the beginning of responses. Formal responses require the use of complete sentences, whereas less formal responses may contain sentence fragments.
Voice and tone should reflect corporate identity and chat should conform to the personality of the site (e.g. informative, professional, innovative). Voice should express the mood or feeling of the conversation (e.g. friendly, upbeat, conversational) in order to humanize the online experience.
Language used should have mass country-wide appeal. Regional slang, clichés and other references should be avoided. Minimize the use of technical terms and acronyms that may not be familiar to readers.