{"id":333,"date":"2021-11-22T06:42:51","date_gmt":"2021-11-22T06:42:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.socialintents.com\/blog\/?p=333"},"modified":"2024-10-18T11:11:23","modified_gmt":"2024-10-18T11:11:23","slug":"live-chat-agent-skills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.socialintents.com\/blog\/live-chat-agent-skills\/","title":{"rendered":"8 Live Chat Agent Skills For World-Class Customer Service"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Are you hiring or training live chat agents for your company? Wondering what skills make an ideal chat support agent?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The quality of your customer service experience has a snowball effect:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Good customer service -> results in positive word of mouth &amp; and higher loyalty. That, in turn, has a huge effect on revenue.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>But bad customer service attracts negative word of mouth and can decrease your revenue significantly.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>And so, it goes without saying &#8211; Providing quality customer service is crucial.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The thing is, not everyone seems to cut out to be a live chat agent, and handle the pressures of supporting customers via live chat.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Below, you\u2019ll find the fundamental live chat agent skills needed to provide that quality customer service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">8 Live Chat Communication Skills That Translate To Great Customer Service<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1. Subject-matter expertise<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Did you know that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.huffpost.com\/entry\/50-important-customer-exp_b_8295772\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">44%<\/a> of customers say they\u2019ve received wrong answers from a customer support executive?!&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Unfortunately, it\u2019s true.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If your live chat agent gives the wrong answer, customers are going to be frustrated and disappointed.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, <strong>the first tip<\/strong> for agents is, to be honest with the customer: Don\u2019t know the answer? Ask customers for some time to figure it out or forward the query to someone who might know it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Of course, customers won\u2019t pat you on the back for being honest; your request might frustrate them. However, it\u2019ll still work better than providing them with the wrong answer.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To keep the customers fully happy, your customer service agent must have the skills to answer all their questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s how you can ensure your agent(s) are subject-matter experts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Arm them with a comprehensive knowledge base.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Walk your agents through your product or service, features, and systems to familiarize them with everything a customer might see and experience. Additionally, update the customer service team first whenever you make any changes to the product or features.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Tell them about all the marketing and sales efforts so that the potential customers don\u2019t catch them off-guard. For example, if someone comes from a discount campaign you\u2019re running and can\u2019t get the discount, they\u2019ll likely contact your live chat agent. In that case, the agent must know about the discount and not be like, \u201cwhat discount?\u201d.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Conduct training sessions and perform mock chats to prepare them.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2. Understanding of brand voice<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Brand voice refers to the personality, tone, and emotion infused into your company\u2019s communications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Your live chat agent(s) must understand it and adapt to it before being allowed to chat with your customers. Otherwise, the individual\u2019s personality might dominate the conversation, which isn\u2019t always suitable for your brand. For example, a bubbly individual must tone it down when working for an insurance company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Tip<\/strong>: Share your customer\/buyer persona file with new agents to help them understand who they\u2019re typically answering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3. Fast response and resolution time<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"634\" height=\"524\" src=\"https:\/\/www.socialintents.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/image1-2.png\" alt=\"live chat agent performance data.\" class=\"wp-image-338\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.socialintents.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/image1-2.png 634w, https:\/\/www.socialintents.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/image1-2-300x248.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 634px) 100vw, 634px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/live-chat-customer-support\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#1 reason<\/a> why customers prefer live chat over any other communication form is \u201cGet my questions answered immediately.\u201d That\u2019s also why \u2018first response time\u2019 and \u2018resolution time\u2019 are two of the most important <a href=\"https:\/\/www.socialintents.com\/blog\/live-chat-metrics\/\">live chat metrics<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Customers expect quick answers from your live chat agent. [The average wait time was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.experiencethisshow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Comm100_Reports_2020Benchmark.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">46 seconds<\/a> in 2019.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(And, of course, they expect accurate answers that help them resolve their problem quickly.)&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Therefore, your live chat agent must have the skills necessary for it. For example, your live chat agent should be able to<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Multitask<\/strong>: One of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.socialintents.com\/blog\/live-chat-for-customer-service\/\">benefits of live chat<\/a> is it cuts support costs by allowing agents to chat with multiple (3-4) customers concurrently. So your agent should be able to chat with multiple people without mixing it up.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Manage time and workload<\/strong>: The agent should optimize for time &amp; workload \u2060and know when not to accept the chat request (i.e., they should know to prioritize properly).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Type fast.<\/strong> You can perhaps include a typing test during recruitment. Anyone with typing speed below 70 wpm doesn\u2019t qualify for the next round, for example.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>A couple of tips for responding quickly:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Use chatbots<\/strong>: Use chatbots to answer FAQs and qualify support queries so that the query reaches the right team\/agent.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Use canned responses<\/strong>: Canned responses allow agents to send pre-written replies. So teach agents how to set them and use them to answer common questions instantly.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">4. Impeccable writing skills<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Essentially, live chatting is written communication. Therefore, your live chat agent\u2019s writing skills matter the most for world-class customer service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s what makes a high-quality live chat message (in typical cases):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>It\u2019s positive:<\/strong> Unless it\u2019s necessary to apologize sincerely, a good agent frames the chat message positively. For example, instead of \u201cOur engineer is not available right now.\u201d, they use \u201cKindly wait for a couple of hours for our engineer to resolve it.\u201d\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>It\u2019s jargon-free<\/strong>: Your customers may not be familiar with the industry-specific words and phrases you use daily. Thus, the message shouldn\u2019t include words the customer even slightly likely won\u2019t know. For example, not everyone understands \u201cagile methodology.\u201d\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>It\u2019s short and simple<\/strong>: Short sentences and simple words are easy to read and understand, making for an excellent live chat experience.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>It\u2019s human<\/strong>: The best agents use interjections (\u2018Ohh,\u2019 \u2018Phew,\u2019 \u2018Woops\u2019), contractions (\u2018you are\u2019 -> \u2018you\u2019re\u2019), and emojis to make chat look like a regular human interaction. Moreover, they address the chatter by their name or \u201cyou\u201d to make it a human-to-human conversation and not a robotic press release.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>It\u2019s grammatically correct<\/strong>: Apart from being factually correct, the best live chat messages are also grammatically correct. So make sure your agent won\u2019t make spelling, punctuation, or styling mistakes while chatting with a customer.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Overall, your live chat agent should ensure each message is positive, jargon-free, short, human, and grammatically accurate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">5. Empathy<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Empathy<\/em> is a common characteristic in best live chat agents. In fact, the best ones have and use all three types of empathy during conversations:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Cognitive Empathy<\/strong>: They understand what the customer feels.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Emotional Empathy<\/strong>: They can connect with the customer.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Compassionate Empathy<\/strong>: They not only answer the queries but also ensure the customer isn\u2019t distressed.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The best agents listen to (or read, in this case) customers\u2019 queries properly and respond appropriately. For example, empathetic agents use sentences like<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>\u201cI\u2019m so sorry you have to deal with this&#8230;\u201d for apologizing sincerely.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u201cIf I am understanding it correctly&#8230;\u201d to clarify.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u201cThank you for bringing this to our attention\u201d to acknowledge.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u201cI\u2019ll do everything from my side to sort this out sooner\u201d to ensure the customers know they are a priority.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u201cIt\u2019s almost done. It\u2019ll be ready in 10 minutes\u201d to update the customer in case they are worrying.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u201cI appreciate your&#8230;\u201d to thank the customer for their patience, understanding, etc.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">6. Ask for feedback<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The best live chat agents understand the value of feedback \u2060\u2014 that how it helps improve faster. Therefore, they are always keen on getting feedback from customers as well as peers and seniors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the end of the chat, professional agents thank the customer for allowing to be of service and ask them to fill the post-chat <a href=\"https:\/\/www.socialintents.com\/feedback.html\">feedback survey<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"730\" height=\"962\" src=\"https:\/\/www.socialintents.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/image2-2.png\" alt=\"Live chat agent feedback survey.\" class=\"wp-image-340\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.socialintents.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/image2-2.png 730w, https:\/\/www.socialintents.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/image2-2-228x300.png 228w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 730px) 100vw, 730px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>And, of course, they work on improving themselves based on the feedback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">7. Understanding of the live chat software<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>One skill a live chat agent must have is mastery over the live chat software. They should know:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Where to find chat requests.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How to accept chat requests.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How to route chat to relevant team or agent.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How to set and send canned responses.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How to ban spammy visitors from chatting.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How to export chat transcripts.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In the case of small businesses, even: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.socialintents.com\/blog\/add-live-chat-website\/\">how to add live chat<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>You\u2019ll have to familiarize the agent with the live chat app you use. In case you are a Social Intents user, it\u2019s fairly easy for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.socialintents.com\/\">Social Intents<\/a> integrates with Slack or MS Teams for an efficient and effective business-side live chat experience. Therefore, you just need to show the chat agents your internal communication system (Slack or MS Teams), and they\u2019ll also understand most functions of the live chat interface.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">8. Understanding of other fundamental etiquettes<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The above mentioned are skills a typical live chat agent must possess. On top of that, they should have an understanding of general <a href=\"https:\/\/www.socialintents.com\/blog\/live-chat-etiquette-rules-for-modern-support-teams\/\">live chat support etiquettes<\/a>, such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Start with a friendly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.socialintents.com\/blog\/live-chat-welcome-messages\/\">greeting message<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Introduce themselves. For example, \u201cHey [First Name]! It\u2019s [Name] from [Company] [Team]. I\u2019ll be assisting you with your [Problem Category] problem(s) today.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Say \u201cThank you\u201d often.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Show respect.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Answer every question.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Respect customer\u2019s privacy and be non-intrusive<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Keep the promises, etc.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Conclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>A world-class live chat agent is<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>a subject-matter expert,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>great at adapting a different communication style,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>maestro at written communication or communication in general,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>efficient with time,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>empathetic,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>open to feedback,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>and tech-savvy enough to handle the live chat software without IT help.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Does your live chat agent or candidate possess all these skills? If yes, awesome! If they don\u2019t, no worries. Initially, they need only one skill: the learning skill. If they are open to learning, you can train them and make them the best live chat agent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Are you hiring or training live chat agents for your company? Wondering what skills make an ideal chat support agent? The quality of your customer service experience has a snowball effect: And so, it goes without saying &#8211; Providing quality customer service is crucial.&nbsp; The thing is, not everyone seems to cut out to be [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":334,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"twitter_aToyMjAxNjc5OTEyOw==_2201679912":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-customer-service"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.socialintents.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.socialintents.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.socialintents.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.socialintents.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.socialintents.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=333"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.socialintents.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2769,"href":"https:\/\/www.socialintents.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333\/revisions\/2769"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.socialintents.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.socialintents.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.socialintents.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.socialintents.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}