Moneypenny shares some live chat best practise tips

ATLANTA, GEORGIA, UNITED STATES, March 12, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ -- According to Moneypenny, use of Live Chat has doubled during the current pandemic, as customers love the immediacy of getting the information they want, without having to wait for a phone call to be answered. In an age of text messages and What’sApp messaging, it’s perhaps natural that customers like the neutrality of communicating through Live Chat, but does this mean that the usual rules of communication etiquette don’t apply? After all, if you can’t see who you are speaking to, does it matter if you don’t say thank you?
Leanne Teburi, Live Chat Operations Manager for Moneypenny, has spent years studying the most effective way to answer and handle Live Chat. She is responsible for training the hundreds of Moneypenny receptionists who handle thousands of Live Chats every day for their clients across multiple business sectors, from real estage, legal and auto sectors to plumbers, vets and many more. Here are Leanne’s top Live Chat etiquette tips.

Say hello
The chances are there’s a real human handling the Live Chat, in fact the majority of Moneypenny Live Chats are handled by real people rather than bots, so the usual greetings will apply. Start with a hello and state why you are using Live Chat and provide as much info as you can.

Ask for a name
As with phone calls, a Live Chat handler should give you their name and this helps to build a rapport and really adds the human element to the chat. Live Chat agents are trained to have great conversations and to mirror the visitor’s tone, so back and forth exchanges of information are encouraged. In normal conversation, we give non-verbal cues to let the other person know you are listening, but over chat, we need to make this a little more obvious.

Quick response
The main advantage of using Live Chat is that you’ll get a quick response. Moneypenny live chat handlers are expected to answer a Live Chat enquiry within 20 seconds and a Live Chat handler can manage three times the number of interactions via Live Chat that they could handle on the phone.

Maintaining the dialogue
Don’t be afraid to type everything you want to ask. Take your time to get across every point. The agent knows you are typing and will wait for you. Similarly, when waiting for the agent to respond, keep an eye on the three dots, or the ‘agent is typing’ message, so you know they are waiting for your response. Make sure you don’t wait too long to respond to questions, as live chat handlers are trained to send a message along the lines of ‘I am still here if you require any further help’ if they haven’t heard from you in two minutes, and if you then don’t reply for a further two minutes, the chat would be ended.

Best time of day to Live Chat
Many businesses, like Moneypenny, offer Live Chat 24/7, so you can use it whenever it suits you. Busy times of the day are 11-3pm and 5-8pm.

Ending the conversation
You wouldn’t put the phone down without a thank you and goodbye, so the same rule applies to Live Chat. Be clear when you are leaving the Live Chat: thank the agent for their time and say goodbye. It’s not polite to hit the ‘end call’ button with no cue that you are leaving. It can also be frustrating for a Live Chat handler if you disappear for a rest break, or to get a cup of tea in the middle of a Live Chat. It’s far better to say you need to take a break and to find out if you can re-connect with them a bit later.

Joanna Swash, Group CEO commented: “We’ve really seen Live Chat take off during the pandemic, as both companies and their customers love the efficiency it provides in sourcing information, or solving problems. We’ve all acclimatised to virtual communications and video calls for example, but we still need to follow the usual etiquette in how we communicate with another human. So many businesses rely on Moneypenny to look after their Live Chats while they are busy concentrating on running their business and they can rely on their Moneypenny receptionist to give their customers the best greeting, in a way that they themselves don’t have the time to do. Live Chat takes our clients from a basic business, to a slick and professional operation, simply by changing the way their comms are handled.”

ENDS

Moneypenny is a leading provider of phone answering services, outsourced switchboard, live chat and customer contact solutions working with businesses of all shapes and sizes, from sole traders right up to multinational corporations. Moneypenny is the only US answering service that offers a virtual dedicated receptionist; briefed by you on your business needs, they will hand pick your perfect receptionist to look after your precious calls acting as part of your extended team exactly as they would if they were based in an office.

Moneypenny has over 1,000 staff based in Atlanta, GA, Charleston, SC and the UK. The company handles over 20 million calls and live chats for 21,000 businesses. Moneypenny is proud to have been part of the ‘100 Best Companies to Work For’ six times.

Moneypenny now includes award-winning VoiceNation and NinjaNumber

VoiceNation
VoiceNation is America’s leading answering service, offering call answering 24 hours a day and bilingual service. It has provided quality answering services clients for more than 18 years.

Ninja Number
Ninja Number provides a virtual phone system which works with business owners’ mobiles to manage their communications and allow them to focus on more important aspects of their business and personal life. Ninja Number use leading-edge technology and artificial intelligence to create a mobile app that will save time and money. With multiple extensions, businesses appear bigger and more professional.
www.moneypenny.com/us/

MJ Greenhalgh
Moneypenny
+1 843-501-2090
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