4 Reasons Why Businesses Must Embrace Real Time Chat Over Support Tickets
Real-time chat based support is important. In fact, a recent report has revealed that almost 50% of users prefer to contact businesses through social media while at the same time, expecting a response within 60 minutes. One of the many annoying instances customers experience is when they need assistance, only to receive auto replies confirming “your ticket has been created”. Why can’t actual people simply reply and assist them? It doesn’t even have to be a human. Often times queries are relatively simple which can be handled through some level of automation. The last thing they’d want is to be emailed back with a “ticket id”. It gives the feeling that the company has optimized for their convenience as opposed to customer experience. So let’s explore the importance and advantages of responding to your customers through social media channels and leveraging platforms like Zelp.
Customers on the move are more comfortable chatting than emailing
If your business is one which receives queries from customers on the go, for instance hotels, airlines etc., then this is a case which cries out for real time communication. These customers are more likely to have access to social media apps as compared to emails. Do you really expect them to shoot out an email from the airport while they are in the middle of a troubling situation? Of course not! It’s a whole lot easier to open up Twitter and start a DM.
Speak to customers as humans, not tickets
Whether it’s using emojis to get your point across, or having an informal conversation, real time messaging enables more natural and personal exchanges. This opens up multiple ways to control the overall mood and tone of the conversation which can have an impact on how the customer perceives your support experience.
Customers hate to wait. They expect a quick resolution
We can all agree tickets and emails are not the most time-efficient means of communication. Customers today want to be served quickly. They just don’t have the time to quote ticket IDs and wait for replies. They expect communications which are swift, friendly, personal and gets them the answers to their questions. A response time within seconds is everything, which is why a platform with real time messaging capabilities is crucial.
Major social media companies have embraced customer support delivery through their platforms
It is a known fact that both Twitter and Facebook have recognized that they must cater to the use case of customer support over their platforms. They have even introduced features to enable automation using bots. With conversational chat, and platform specific support, a lot of processes can be automated. These bots can make sure that by the time your agents start solving a problem, they are most likely going to have enough context around the issue. This saves valuable time and by extension can lead to better customer experience and financial savings.
At the end of the day, customers want to be treated as humans, not tickets. These reasons should highlight, why in today’s world, it is important to prioritize the customer experience over anything else. Simply feeling good about having an organized ticketing system gets you nowhere. Services like Zelp provide this kind of a platform with a unified real time chat-like interface for Twitter and Facebook, and at the same time strike a balance with organizing your support team. Try Zelp today and increase your customer satisfaction and see what you’ve been missing out on.
