Customers Prefer Live Chat for Online Support
Recently, AnswerDash published an infographic – the Customer Experience Champ – which provided consumer ratings on different touchpoint channels. According to AnswerDash, consumers rate their customer experience satisfaction for online customer support as follows:
Live Chat is Growing as a Preferred Communication Channel with Customers for Support
Live chat continues to grow as a communication channel. And, based on the AnswerDash data, consumers seem to prefer it for specific needs like online customer service support.
But, what makes a good chat agent and how to do you evaluate job candidates for potential live agent chat roles. The cost of a wrong hire can be significant according to the AnswerDash data. 52% of consumers will abandon an online purchase if they can’t receive a quick answer.
What Skills Does a Successful Chat Agent Need to Have?
Successful live chat performance requires your chat agent to:
- Understand how to navigate your computer system and chat application
- Correctly enter data, type messages, and send accurate information to the customer
- Strong service orientation that shows tactful, thorough, and attentive responses to the customer
- Ability to manage the flow of multiple incoming chats in a timely fashion
What Skills Should Be Measured and Assessed when Hiring a Chat Agent?
Based on FurstPerson’s research and experience developing hiring profiles and talent selection tools to evaluate job candidates for companies that hire chat agents, your hiring process should be able to measure:
- Problem-solving/learning ability/decision-making
- Communication skills, particularly written communication
- Interpersonal and relationship-building skills
- Personal characteristics related to conscientiousness and composure
- Initiative, adaptability, and interpersonal style
By measuring these abilities, skills, and behaviors, you’ll improve the probability that candidates you hire for live chat agent roles will deliver a positive customer experience.
Topics: Contact Center Hiring