You might have heard the term “live engagement” in reference to various live chat and customer support software and wondered, “What exactly does that mean?!”

Live engagement can be a broad term in the SaaS world, but to us, it means any sort of online interaction between a company and a customer, whether that’s through video chat, text chat, screen-sharing, or co-browsing. Sophisticated platforms have a full breadth of live engagement features, which are designed to provide customers with the best possible online experience. If you’re ready to upgrade your online customer support with live engagement, here are the top five things you need to do to get started.

  1. Decide on a live engagement platform. First and foremost, you’ll need to conduct research, view some demos, and read various case studies from current clients. To settle on a live chat software that’s best suited to your company’s needs, first define where your customer service is lacking and the areas that need improvement. If your customers are complaining about long wait times when receiving support or limited hours of operation, consider launching live chat and chatbot services so multiple customers can be assisted simultaneously and during off hours. On average, customers will wait only 60 seconds or less to receive support.
  1. Get to know the product. Launching an unfamiliar live engagement platform can be stressful. When you go live with your chosen software, your team should be totally comfortable operating the back-end features to ensure the most efficient and productive interactions with your customers. Some live engagement providers offer in-person workshops to make the implementation process as seamless as possible. With continuous training for agents, admins, and operators, your whole team will be proficient with the product by the go-live date. According to a study from MarTech, a chatting visitor is worth 4.5x as much as a non-chatting visitor, which is why it’s so important for your support staff to grasp all of the software’s capabilities.
  1. Customize the live engagement experience. Any worthwhile live engagement platform will enable your company to customize the software. This includes designing the customer-facing panels to incorporate your company branding elements and preferred agent photos. You should also be able to tailor the wording on post-engagement surveys, call-back request forms (when no agents are available), and so on. Consistent brand presentation across all platforms increases revenue by up to 23%, while color improves brand recognition by up to 80%. It is essential that your live engagement provider understands how important it is to have consistent branding across all online channels and during live engagements. This understanding can be achieved only by working closely with clients during the configuration period to customize their customer-facing panels, customer follow-ups, and so on.
  1. Ensure that your customers can access the live engagement features from any browser, on any device. By 2021, mobile e-commerce will account for 54% of all online sales. With more than half of consumers doing their online shopping from their phones, it is so important to offer customer support from all online channels, including social media and email. Ideally, live engagement should function across multiple channels, such as web, mobile apps, and store kiosks, and from any browser. You should expect your provider to deliver free upgrades and system updates to improve the service and keep your software up-to-date on new browsers and devices that are continually evolving.
  1. Confirm that the diverse needs of your customers will be met. Many customers opt for online shopping for convenience, but some people don’t have a choice due to lack of mobility or living in a remote location. For customers who would really prefer to visit a store to receive face-to-face assistance or see products in detail but are unable to, you should offer live video chat, which is the closest alternative to an in-person shopping experience. In addition to video chat capabilities, supporting multiple languages to assist customers who are not native English speakers can give you a competitive edge.

What you can expect: satisfied customers

Studies show that 92% of customers feel satisfied after using live engagement, and most businesses are starting to catch on to this fact. The thought of launching a new live-chat platform on your website may seem overwhelming, but the benefits massively outweigh the cost and labor involved. With the right live-engagement software provider, your team will be properly trained and supported throughout the implementation process and thereafter, while ensuring that your customers are receiving the best help available from your brand.

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