As the world changes with the digitalization, more traditional operators have gotten involved in adopting new tools and practices to keep up with the new requirements. Especially cities and municipalities have been positively active in this development, compared to more sales-driven operators. Even though their websites focus mainly on the customer service, chat has taken a great role in improving the municipal services.
We have gathered six biggest benefits the chat brings to the municipal websites. The same benefits are naturally valid on any other customer service focused website.
1. Quickness and real-time
“The best thing about the chat is the quickness” states both the chat customer service representatives and citizens of city of Kuopio. In best cases, customers get the answers to their questions in 10-15 seconds after the chat has started. This has exceeded expectations on both sides, although the chat as a channel is more real-time and questions are more urgent to begin with, compared to e-mail and phone.
So are for example camps in the summer and swimming schools in the late spring, schools or hobbies beginning in the autumn or for example telling about the power outages are subjects, in which people want to get and do get a quick answer through chat.
2. Extending the service hours
If the customers are being served only in office hours by phone, by e-mail or by means of a possible information desk, stays often those website visitors, who look for information after their own workdays in the fend for themselves on the evenings and on weekends. By means of chat we get a simple channel for customer service also for these hours, if not by the own team so then outsourced.
3. Finding the answers among thousands of websites
Often just websites for towns and cities function as a wide source of information for example for hobby activities, social and health services and for contact details. However that right information is not always found or for some reason people can’t look for it or don’t figure out how to look for it. In that case the chat-window, which pops up on the website is an easy place to ask for that missing information. Whereas chat customer service representative can in her familiar surroundings lead to the right place with a link or co-browsing, just like a salesperson in a grocery store leads the customers to the right shelf.
4. Chat tells what is missing from the websites and what people really want to know
In citizens communication the majority of the answers is found among that great source of information on the websites. However if something essential is missing or hasn’t been updated is often the chat the first way to show it. In addition to that is chat a low-threshold channel to questions, which people may have not necessary even realized to think about on the other side of the desk.
5. Effectiveness
Through chat it is able to handle even 4-5 discussions at a time. So is the customer services effectiveness totally in its own category compared to the time which is used on writing the e-mails or to it that by phone you can serve just one person at a time. Characteristic for chat is also it, that when the discussion begins by the customer service representantive, has the customer already written his thing clearly and as the first message to the chat and it is possible to get right on it.
6. An alternative channel
Chat is not probably in the near future going to replace the phone or e-mail as a customer service channel totally, but it is definitely going to increase its status. Especially for young people chat is a natural way to interact, but for all it is extremely simple channel to take care of your own business even between the workday.
A brilliant customer experience develops, when you get help with your problem quickly, with expertise and gladly with a smile, no matter if the issue is taken care of by the own personal, as outsourced, by phone, on chat or even at the place. However we think that it is good to have chat in addition to everything else, through it people ask a little bit different things and at its best it reduces customer services overall workload.
Do you want to know more about how the chat works especially in citizens communication? Ask for more information from chat!
