Chat Support Service

Outsource Or Not To Outsource Live Chat Services?

Live chat services have several business benefits, for example, it has proved to be more cost-efficient than other service channels (like the phone). Still, none of this is possible without the necessary human resources to provide customers with personal, timely and accurate support. That is why one of the most critical considerations when implementing live chat is resourcing.

When trying to make sure they can utilize the full potential of live chat services as a channel, companies usually have at least three alternatives. The 1) is to use the same customer support and sales resources they use with phone and email. The 2) is to outsource the chat personnel to a resource company, and the 3) is to adopt a model that combines internal and outsourced resources. Different alternatives have all their advantages and disadvantages which is why it is good to take time to review each option carefully before making a move.

Your Support Team – The Superheroes Of Customer Experience

If you are planning to implement live chat to your public website, in most cases, you can start by simply integrating live chat services as an additional tool for your support team. In the beginning, this, of course, means that people taking care of phone and email support also need to be trained, and you need to allocate the necessary resources for the live chat. However, in the long run, having a live chat on a website usually reduces both phone calls and emails which means that you can put less emphasis on those channels.

Internal chat agents also have the advantage of an excellent knowledge base and easy access to customer data and other teams. When the people taking care of the different type of support requests are the same, it is also easier to maintain the same service quality no matter what the channel of interaction is.

In some situations, like when the product or service you are selling is highly specialized and/or you are handling sensitive customer information, using own customer support resources for handling the chat conversations is also undeniably the best (if not the only) option. For example, to be able to give precise answers to questions related to pharmaceutical drugs you usually need to be a pharmacist or at least have a deep understanding of the topic. Also, you also need to make sure that these live chat services and conversations are handled with care as they contain highly sensitive personal information.