We’ve all heard of web chat service and most of us have used it as a consumer. But you may be wondering, what exactly are chat intelligence rules, how do they work and why are they important.
Customer Expectations are Higher than Ever
The online channel has grown into a popular communication channel due to significant advancements made in technology, predictive search and the ability of social media to affect customer sentiments. The expectation of consumers from the online channel to provide good customer service has increased due to advancements in internet, smart phones, tablet PCs, PCs etc. Companies face the challenge of meeting the high expectations of online consumers while reigning in their costs.
According to the investment banking and securities firm, Goldman Sachs, worldwide retail web sales will reach nearly $1 trillion by 2013. According to Forrester Research, online retail sales in the U.S. will hit $250 billion by 2014. They also estimated that online retail sales will grow 10% per year from 2010 to 2015. This is a growing area that companies need to understand and capitalize on.
What are Chat Intelligence Rules?
Chat intelligence rules can help companies uniquely segregate, focus, and engage key website visitors and prospective customers showing disposition towards making a purchase. If companies can correctly predict customers’ needs and desires then they can deliver excellent customer service at reduced costs.
Chat intelligence rules help businesses establish good customer relations by segregating and targeting high-value customers who have been identified based on certain criteria. The intelligent rules filter out key prospective customers whom have greater propensity to make a purchase from the website. Some of the criteria include:
- Keyword searches on a search engine
- Specific geo-graphic regions
- Website searches for a specific service or product.
- Having specific items in the shopping chart
- Visitor’s path through the website
- Return visits
- Membership groups
- And more….
The intelligence rules can then be used to route the flow of specific website visitors to those chat agents who are highly skilled and trained to handle such type of customers. Businesses can also integrate chat intelligence features into automated chat invitations so that chat invitations can be made automatically when specific criteria are satisfied.
Why Chat Intelligence Rules are Important
Live chat intelligence rules can help businesses provide greater value and service to its customers by correctly predicting the needs and requirements of its customers. The customers can be proactively engaged and offered help based on their requirements. The different criteria defined in the chat intelligence rules can help to focus the proactive chat interactions to a specific group identified as ‘hot leads’ on the business websites.
Proactive chat invitations to this targeted group on the business website increases the chances of making a sale and improve conversion rates. It also increases the changes of providing a better, more targeted experience.
Proactive chat invitations that are extended to quality leads identified through various intelligent rules can help online retailers increase online sales, average order value and overall customer experience. Even shopping cart abandonment rates can be effectively brought down by targeting customers showing consistent behavior of abandoning shopping carts.
Customer retention can be increased by extending complimentary products at crucial points while sales assistance can be provided during the crucial checkout process.
Chat intelligence rules lead to better engagement and interaction with the prospective customers who show greater propensity to make a purchase when assistance is provided to them. By triggering targeted online chat interactions, businesses can increase the chances of completing those ‘incomplete’ sales that might be abandoned.
Proactive chat invitations based on chat intelligence rules at various crucial stages of the customer engagement lifecycle can help reduce revenue loss and lead to better conversion rates. Better customer experience can be ensured since these online interactions are targeted and based on intelligence derived from various criteria set in rules.
As you can see, chat services are quickly becoming a must-have for organizations doing business online. Online revenue is growing year over year, customers are demanding better service, and properly utilizing chat intelligence rules is another way you can make sure you are providing a great customer experience while improving your bottom line.
