Have you ever sat down at a restaurant, decided what you wanted to eat, and then as soon as the waiter comes by to take your order he tells you that the restaurant ran out of the main ingredient in your favorite dish on the menu?
Strike one. You expected them to have the food they advertise.
You’re not happy, but you decide there are other things you might be hungry for, so you look again and find something that you can tolerate. Meanwhile, you’ve ordered drinks. However, the drinks are taking a very long time to get to your table. You see the waiter near the adjacent tables and someone who came in after you already has their food. Strike two - you don’t feel like a priority.
You try to flag down the waiter, but now you’ve waited way too long, and you’re hungry, and pissed off, so you tell your server that you’d like to leave. It’s strike three - your patience is gone from waiting too long, and you’re out of there.
Setting the right customer expectations
Just like the experience at a restaurant, online shoppers have expectations when they arrive at your Digital Showroom and use your live chat service.
When car shoppers use your live chat service, they expect:
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To speak with an intelligent human (not a robot).
- To get their questions answered and answered quickly.
- The conversation to be fluid and to end when they want it to end.
- To be able to remain anonymous until they are ready to purchase a vehicle, service, or part.
With all of these expectations, it’s important to make sure that your chat receptionist or dealership representative doesn’t say anything that could harm the relationship they are trying to build, create a sense of distrust in the shopper, or go against any of the expectations listed above.
The following phrases are examples taken from real chat conversations, and it would be unwise for your dealership’s chat team to use them. I have provided some alternative phrases to use instead!
Live chat customer service no-nos
“I don’t know.”
Shoppers want to know they are speaking to an intelligent human being capable of actually answering their questions. You never want to confess that you don’t know something.
Instead, if you need time to answer a question, you should reply with something like, “Give me one minute to look that information up for you” with a guaranteed return of information. OR - if the answer isn’t something you can quickly look up, you should tell a shopper that you have to do some research on that information for them and you can get back to them shortly with the details.
However, you should always make an honest effort to answer any questions you can. Even responding to part of a question in real-time is better than not answering anything at all. The information you give during a chat builds trust, and it’s important to understand that even a partial answer can go a long way in gaining that trust.
“Sorry, that’s not my department.”
You need to keep in mind that people who chat on your website aren’t going to segment their questions - they are going to ask about EVERY department.
If you are considering having BDC reps answer your chats, you need to make sure the group that you hire is trained to respond to questions for any department. Alternatively, you can segment your team, and have some representatives handle sales related chats, while others handle Fixed Ops and Customer Service.
However, if you do decide to segment your chat representatives, there are two important things to keep in mind:
- Make sure your live chat software allows you to transfer chats between multiple departments/agents.
- Remember that shoppers are impatient, and transferring conversations can add time to the chat and delay shoppers' answers. If you are transferring chats, make sure the representative receiving the chat is ready to respond promptly.
Also, if you are hiring a managed chat service to chat on behalf of your dealership, don’t forget to ask how they handle chats for multiple departments! Remember: every car dealer chat provider is different.
“Your message could not be delivered.”
Believe it or not, there are live chat services out there right now that break down because the chats are being transferred to an outsourced call center. And while they are breaking down, they are providing this “Your message could not be delivered” phrase for your shoppers to scoff at with disdain.
Here’s an example from a REAL chat conversation:
You: I was wondering if you had another one...with RWD.
System: The message "I was wondering if you had another one...with RWD." could not be delivered.
System: The message "I was wondering if you had another one...with RWD." could not be delivered.
System: The message "I was wondering if you had another one...with RWD." could not be delivered.
System: The message "I was wondering if you had another one...with RWD." could not be delivered. We are attempting to deliver it again
You: ?
System: The message "?" could not be delivered.
System: The message "?" could not be delivered.
Customer Service: Are you still available to chat?
System: The message "?" could not be delivered.
System: The message "?" could not be delivered. We are attempting to deliver it again
You: Do you have another with RWD?
Customer Service: I’m sorry, I'm in the internet chat department and don't have immediate access to the central office, but I can have someone contact you back on this if you wish?
You: I thought I was still chatting.
You: What's the point of this then?
System: The message "What's the point of this then?" could not be delivered.
System: The message "What's the point of this then?" could not be delivered.
System: The message "What's the point of this then?" could not be delivered.
System: The message "What's the point of this then?" could not be delivered. We are attempting to deliver it again
Customer Service: Would you like me to have someone contact you back on this? It's your call either way.
You: Um......bye.
System: The message "Um......bye." could not be delivered.
System: The message "Um......bye." could not be delivered.
System: The message "Um......bye." could not be delivered.
System: The message "Um......bye." could not be delivered. We are attempting to deliver it again
Unbelievable, isn’t it? Dealers, if your shoppers are receiving this error message, your chat provider needs to address this problem ASAP!
If your customer is experiencing a broken chat system first hand, they aren’t going to expect much from your in-store experience.
“While we contact a representative, please provide us with your email address so that we can send you a transcript of this chat session.”
Shoppers chat because they can remain anonymous until they are comfortable enough with their decision to move forward with a purchase. Once they have their questions answered, they are more willing to provide contact information and start a long-lasting relationship with your dealership.
Therefore, asking for contact information before a shopper has received answers to their questions doesn’t make sense. Why would a potential customer want a transcript sent to them when they don’t even know what the transcript will contain?
You need to think of your live chat service as a customer service tool, not just a lead generation tool. Make the highest priority of chat to answer questions and get your shoppers the information they need to make a decision.
DO NOT request contact information until a shopper has had some of their questions answered and is ready to receive more information or to set up a test drive appointment.
