Many companies have been focused on the Customer Experience for the past several years, and have made some significant investments and vast improvements in the communications channel they have been using for a very long time:  the telephone. The same types of advances that happened for the phone were then applied to servicing the customer via email.  With the telephone and email interactions streamlined, what’s next?

Customers desire the ability to decide when and how they will communicate with your company. With the trend toward near real-time communication, is it possible that companies are ready to deploy Web chat and the larger question is--are you ready to support it?

As an executive responsible for contact center operations, you need to think about creating a blueprint for Web chat success. To start off, you should be asking yourself the following questions to determine if your company is ready for Web chat:

• Does my competition offer Web chat?
• Is our product or service oriented toward customers who are more likely to use newer methods of technology?
• If I offer Web chat will we be viewed as innovative in our market space?
• Can Web chat provide a method to up-sell or cross-sell solutions that our customers want in a non- threatening manner?
• What are the benefits of Web chat?  
• What are the ROI opportunities?
• What do I look for in a Web chat solution?

I recently delivered a presentation that further explores the creation of a Blueprint for Success  for Web chat that should help you get on track.

I would love to hear feedback from some of the companies that are using Web chat already.  What kind  of difference has it made in regards to customer satisfaction? Has it increased your revenue? What type of volume do you see in relation to your calls and emails? 

Stay tuned for the next blog, where I will outline seven steps to guarantee a successful implementation! 

Janet Thalacker

Web Chat Enthusiast

Inside Strategic Consultant