In an effort to gauge just where rollouts of Chat for Support were in their lifecycle, Service Strategies conducted a survey titled “Chat as a Support Channel” in December of 2010 The survey highlighted some interesting trends. Of the 109 total responses, only 29 of the respondents were actively using Chat in their support organizations, while five had tried Chat and backed off and 75 had not yet implemented chat.
Of those who have not implemented chat, 57% have not implemented because they are unsure how it would fit into their support model. Of those who have implemented Chat, over 60% would strongly recommend doing it again. Also, the primary motivator for implementing Chat was an improved customer experience, second was Faster Case Resolution and third was support staff efficiency.
This has always puzzled me. Is Chat just not effective? Does implementing Chat NEED to be effective or is it just good to give customers the option? I hate to say this, but it seems like in the world of support with escalations, fires of the day, short resources etc. etc., we in support are often unwilling to try new things. I recall hesitation on eServices, web access… and the list goes on.
So is it just reluctance and short resources or are there problems with Chat in Support? What are your thoughts on the matter?
I believe vendors are still figuring out how to price blended service delivery models as customers push them into new channels. They will soon figure out the right model as they begin to understand the staffing and demand forecasting of providing a multi-channel service.
The traditional call center is changing into multi-media support center, which is able to do phone, email, chat, and social media. But, the charging model is quite unfair. Sometimes they charge same rate on phone and chat session. So the company is still reluctant. BUT, Chat function is essential to a web service either sell or service that make the whole UX complete.