Maximize your sales and support potential during the holidays

“Tis the season to be chatty…”

The holidays are approaching fast and while some of us are preparing to survive the crowded malls and airports, others are flocking to your website. Some are seeking gift purchases, others are getting those last minute work projects completed before the year’s end.

You will want to ensure that your live chat strategy is tuned up for the coming surge in site traffic so that you can crush those conversion rates and end of year goals while continuing to deliver the top notch customer experiences that you already do. We’ve created this holiday checklist to serve as a guide for you and your team to ensure that “all systems are go” before the holiday launch.

The Live Chat Holiday Checklist

Step #1: Staff accordingly

An influx in site traffic leads to more chat demand. You might want to consider beefing up your chat team to assist with the holiday rush. Using analytics from previous years, you can get a rough idea of what volume of chats you can expect and hire/staff agents accordingly.

The new SnapEngage Capacity Report is a very powerful feature that will allow you to maximize staffing efficiency and provide better insights to use to help allocate your resources. Businesses that strive to provide quality customer experiences must plan and staff accordingly to ensure that all customer inquiries are addressed in a timely manner. Read more about the Capacity Report here.

Step #2: Set up new channels

Today, live chat is about much more than just a chat box on your website. Make yourself available wherever your customers are with the new Channels tab! Channels allows you to connect your SnapEngage account to Facebook Messenger, SMS-to-Chat, and WeChat. When connected, your visitors can chat with you wherever they are without the need to visit your site. Your organization has never been more reachable! For more tips on SMS-to-Chat best practices, check out this guest blog post.

Step #3: Update your chat box design

For the folks who end up chatting with agents from your website, give your chat buttons and windows a holiday facelift with the Design Studio! The Design Studio allows you to create the opportunity to unify your entire customer experience and match your brand. With so many more eyes looking at your site around the holidays, wow visitors with a chat design that is truly unique to your organization.

In addition to adding a new chat box design, start using Auto-Translate chat to speak with customers and site visitors around the world. You can now speak your customer’s language without extra staff or coding. Auto-Translate works seamlessly across your website, Facebook Messenger, and SMS-to-chat. 

Step #4: Prepare holiday-specific shortcuts

We’ve said it time and time again… In the live chat environment, response time is paramount! One easy way to help reduce agents’ average response time is to configure shortcuts for common responses.

Try to work with your agent team to identify frequently asked questions, such as ‘What are your holiday hours?’ or ‘What is your holiday return policy?’ . Once you’ve identified trends and FAQs, create shortcuts to cut down on agents’ typing/response times. Don’t forget to include quick and friendly holiday greetings if appropriate (i.e. “Happy Holidays! How may I help you today?”). This step may seem insignificant, but every keystroke saved is valuable time that can be spent making more sales or assisting more customers.

Step #5: Tune up proactive chat rules

Haven’t touched your proactive chat triggers in a while? We never advise a set-it-and-forget-it approach to proactive chats (or any chat messaging strategy, for that matter). You definitely want to rethink your proactive chat strategy as you prepare for periods of high traffic volumes on your site. Consider creating specific messages on certain product pages and be sure to add a little holiday flair. Remember, site visitors are more likely to engage in a conversation if your proactive chat messages take on a more human approach and tone.

What’s next?

Remember, a successful holiday season comes down to more than just headcount and enabling all of your communication channels. You will want to ensure that your newer agents continue to deliver excellent product knowledge and employ a communication style consistent with that of your organization.

Be sure to allow ample time for training on the chat platform and teaching best practices so that your new agents are well-prepared for the holiday rush. This is especially important if you hire seasonal and/or part-time teams who may be less familiar with your product and brand.

Need training assistance during the busy holiday season? Whether you’re a brand new client or have been with us for years, the SnapEngage Implementation team is here to provide additional agent and admin/supervisor training services. Use the button below to schedule a call and learn more about how we can help you achieve your goals during the holidays (and beyond).