Role of Quality Control and Training in a Live Chat Service – Part 3

Lack of Product/Service Knowledge:
For a Live Chat Agent assigned to any role in an online business, it is essential to know the business model inside out and all of the products/services offered on the website.

If, on part of the Live Chat Agent, there is a lack of Product/Service Knowledge it could lead to two problems. The key problem is, of course, providing incorrect information to potential customers. Misinformation can cause what we call critical damage i.e. is losing customers. Delay in responding to the potential customer is the second problem.

When a Live Chat Agent is not well-versed with the Product/Service Knowledge of the website, then a delay in responding to visitor questions is inevitable. This can irritate and drive away many web visitors, who are usually looking for quick answers.

Training is the most important part of product/service knowledge. Below are a few things that we here at WebGreeter have implemented to provide the best product and service knowledge in the industry:

1. Use of Audio-visual Training Material:
- Different people learn in different ways. Some people remember what has been through when they just listen to them, others have to see a graphical representation to learn. Using presentations and giving out handouts would be ideal in this practice. Having handouts also helps operators to have reference material which they can go back to and consult if there are any misunderstandings, or to confirm what needs to be done.
- The training material should be made in a way to help Live Chat Operators learn what their roles are. Different online businesses have different needs and hence different roles for Live Chat Operators. In some companies, they have more of a Customer Service role, while in others they might have Level 1 Tech support roles.
- Sample scenarios – When you can show a graphical representation of how the chat flow can go, it could help make them understand how to handle different situations

2. Testing:
Experts believe that a good fix for all of these problems is to test, test, and do some more tests on Live Chat Agents before they are made to provide Live Chat Service on any business. It is not enough that you provide the training without making sure what has been learned.

3. Qualification:
After you have done your best in training and then testing these operators it is important to qualify them. We here at WebGreeter only certify operators that score 95% or above in their quizzers. Final stage qualification is having our clients test them in a real-time situation. They would act as visitors and chat with our operators, and when our clients are satisfied with the quality of support service provided to them, these operators will be allowed to go live on our client's websites.
 
4. Random Quality Control:
This has already been explained earlier in the article series but just to summarize, we will pick random chats for random operators for each client and provide feedback accordingly. Ongoing quality control is crucial for providing the best solution for Live Chat Service out there.

For more on Live Chat Quality Control, call us at (877) 771 - 6067

2011-01-11T10:37:32