The BPO industry has taken giant strides on a global level. What started as a basic form of tech support on call has become a full-fledged industry that serves various sectors and holds technological advancements never seen before.
The presence of multichannel communication in modern-day BPOs has allowed them to improve their results and help other businesses get the most out of their marketing and sales campaigns. For example, one of the many channels that brands consider to streamline their customer service department is live chat support outsourcing.
We are here to talk more about live chats and how it manages to become one of the most effective communication channels. Let’s get going!
Live Chat Support: The Basics
Live chat support wasn’t a new phenomenon in 2021. Various e-commerce brands, IT companies, and other service-based companies had already implemented the same around half a decade back. However, these systems used automated chatbots instead of human agents. This made communication very restrictive and limited in a single direction.
However, modern-day chat support has evolved much higher than we had seen back then. The most extensive use of live chat support outsourcing has been in the e-commerce industry. Although E-commerce is one of the most significant sources for the sheer volume of customers, calls, and chats, e-commerce is one of the most significant sources.
Both e-commerce and telecom, two of the most significant sectors that need live chat support outsourcing, have massive teams of human agents set up to manage their multi-communication network. Live chats make the entire equation simpler, more concise, and more effective, especially for minor support requirements.
It is also possible for agents to attend to multiple customers simultaneously since the conversation is on a messaging platform. However, on-call support is still the preferred mode of communication for tech support outsourcing since it adds a personal touch.
Live Chats vs. Messaging Platforms: The Difference
While both messaging and live chat platforms perform the same functionality, there are minute differences that new and small businesses tend to overlook. The most noticeable difference between the two is that once the agents are done dealing with the customer, the chat history is deleted unless accessed later.
On the other hand, messaging platforms, like social media messaging and WhatsApp, aren’t ideally designed for business communications. So, just like in the case of personal messages, business chats with customers are also stored in the app itself and can be backed up. However, the chat is not lost until you delete it without a backup.
Why Is Live Chat Support Important for Your Business?
Live chats have become a widely preferred medium for call center companies in the USA. So, let’s take a look at them!
· Live Chats Are Good for Businesses
When the world is recovering from the effects of the pandemic, live chats have managed to be an amazing support system for calls. It has managed to make up for the massive surge in demand and can handle a more significant number of customers in one go.
So, as a result, live chat support outsourcing lets your agents assist a greater number of people in one go. Secondly, the service quality of the agents for the customers is better with live chats since they get more time to think before they act or suggest anything.
· Live Chats Improve Customer Satisfaction
Live chat support outsourcing is best known for its customer support prowess. However, various reasons enhance the customer satisfaction level of live chats, which we will discuss in this pointer.
Firstly, the wait time for live chats is far more impressive than on-call support. This is because on-call support agents can take up one call at a time, while chat support executives can handle multiple customers simultaneously. With this, the customer wait time is far more impressive, leading to an overall gain in customer experience.
Second, it is easier for chat support executives to pull out past interaction history for references. While this is possible even with on-call support, the reports of the previous calls are submitted by the agent itself, so the actual situation of the previous instance cannot be brought back unless a call recording is stored.
Third, modern live support platforms and tools are very advanced and can incorporate AI-powered bots, transfer files, URLs, etc. So, with such offerings, live chat support outsourcing turns out to be the best communication platform for maximum customer satisfaction.
· Live Chats Are Cost-friendly
While we know that the entire BPO sector is considered a cost-effective alternative to handling in-house teams, live chats are even better. This is because live chats don’t need repetitive investments but do away with one-time investments.
Moreover, given that a single agent can handle multiple customers simultaneously, you will need to invest a lot less. For example, if your live chat support agent can handle three chats at once, you will need three times the lesser number of agents, resulting in 66% cost savings.
· Live Chats Offer Quick Resolution
It is easier for live chat agents to offer quick resolution compared to calls. In addition, the availability and usability of resources, knowledge bases, etc., are more seamless through live chats. So, quite naturally, customer satisfaction is reached very easily, and the agents can assist and troubleshoot the issues in a much better and quicker way.
· Live Chats Are Convenient for the Customers
Live chats are very convenient for customers. It works like an on-the-go point for the customers to quickly get the assistance they need. The negligible wait time and quicker problem resolution make live chat support outsourcing relevant to almost every customer query.
Finishing Up
Live chat for outsourcing outbound marketing and inbound tech support has been a breakthrough in the BPO industry. In fact, it is even considered to offer the same level of customer satisfaction as on-call support.
All of these are offered at a much smaller investment and setup cost. So, irrespective of the industry in which chat support holds a prominent role in the business process. What started as common in e-commerce gradually took up the charge of being one of the most customer-satisfactory communication mediums.
