8 Reasons to Change Live Chat Provider
Nov 16, 2022 | 9 mins
Are you pouring money down the drain by paying for features you don’t use? Are your customers satisfied with your service? There is a lot to consider, and you should. As with most business software, there is no one-size-fits-all. Evaluating your live chat software is often overlooked but can make a huge impact on your profits.
In this article, you will learn to recognize eight signs you are using the wrong tool for the job.
Before you start window shopping, consult your team and determine which features are essential. Discuss new features to improve workflow and service quality. Get a clear picture of the number of conversations per month and make a prognosis for the coming years. Now you are prepared to assess your situation.
Why Change Live Chat Provider?
1. Expensive Subscription Plans
It seems like a no-brainer. The cost is an obvious consideration in picking your provider. You did your research before purchasing your live chat and got the best price. Think again. A lot can have changed since then, and you don’t want to pay more than necessary.
The monthly fee for a good live chat app may vary a lot. It can depend on the vendor, your plan, the number of conversations, the number of agents, and any extra features you need. Most providers have free plans that come with basic functionality. You can use them to get things rolling without breaking the bank. But, plan for the future. Such free apps might not cut it later on.
You want to use a live chat solution that can grow with you over the coming years. Some providers force an upgrade to accommodate an increase in conversations. You need to subscribe to a more expensive plan, that comes with features you do not need. So, research not only the features of several live chat solutions. Look at their limitations. Better yet: compare them.
Some solutions appear cheap at first, but end up being expensive in the long run due to hidden costs. Have you experienced this yourself? Is your solution costing an arm and a leg? It could be time to change your live chat provider.
2. Lack of Features
Aside from having determined if the price is reasonable, you should now have a clear picture of your provider’s features. Consult your team and analyze which features you need to optimize workflow and service quality. Think about tools that can improve management tasks, operator workflow, and customer experience. Some key features include file sharing, conversation history, team statistics, and team routing.
Those are just a few factors that are fundamental and lead to happier workers and clients. The features available to you in the live chat app will vary based on your subscription plan. Does your supplier lack features to improve customer happiness or employee happiness? Consider changing providers.
3. Poor Message Management
In most cases, customers contact you through email or a chatwidget on your website. However, there is an increase in the use of socials and chat apps for customer service. Apps like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Telegram are gaining popularity. This can leave you with a bundle of communication channels to manage. Would it not make sense to have a single place to track and reply to all messages? Well, there is. We call this a multi-channel or omnichannel platform.
Since all messages are in one place, you can answer without having to switch between several apps. Simplifying tracking tickets, analytics, and facilitating teamwork. It is an absolute necessity to have these days.
You should make sure your provider has the capability for omnichannel communication. Heck, please check this right now. If it doesn’t? Consider changing the provider to one that does support omnichannel communication.
4. Security and Privacy Issues
Verify that your provider protects your data and complies with regulations such as the GDPR in Europe. You don’t want your customers to see warnings about insecure connections and discover that your live chat is blocked by adblockers. Or worse, that your provider sells private data to third parties. These major red flags happen. Make sure they don’t happen to you.
Should you find anything of concern? Contact the provider to report any issues. See what solutions or improvements they come up with. These issues can damage the reputation of your business, so it’s very important to ensure they get fixed. If there’s no improvement and the problems persist, you better change the live chat provider.
5. No or Unreliable Data Analytics
Data analytics has become an important element in live chat apps as a part of your customer support. You can only improve your customer service through the analysis of service procedures with the right data.
Using analytics allows you to see what types of issues are prevalent, how they are solved, and the time that is being spent on them. Another crucial feature of any analytics tool is the ability to track the typical response time. With this knowledge, you and your staff can plan for better service. You can also use this data to gauge the efficiency of your agents.
A company’s analytics might reveal its strengths and faults. Looking at insights about the performance of staff and procedures, you will learn which methods work and which don’t. It has become extremely important in customer support practices to measure impact. You should move on to another provider if your current live chat app has unreliable or no data analytics.
6. Lack of Customization
How the live chat appears on your site is essential. The chat window should fit in with your site’s other design elements like colors, branding, and icons. If the chat box randomly appears on your website, do you think it looks legit in your customers’ view?
The behavior of the chatwidget should also be customizable. Customers are more likely to dismiss a chat window that keeps popping up while browsing. Make sure they don’t get annoyed, as they might even decide to leave your site.
The chat window should match your site’s theme and not be more intrusive than necessary. Are these kinds of customizations limited or completely unsupported? It is better to consider another provider.
7. Mobile-Unfriendly Accessibility
Customers nowadays expect an immediate response when they reach out to you, no matter the time of day. More and more visitors are mobile users, meaning they will prefer to contact your customer service on their smartphones as well. The chances are quite high that this happens outside of regular office hours.
Find out if the live chat you’re currently using has a mobile app or, at least, is mobile-friendly enough. This allows you or your agents to check your messages anywhere. Even when away from your desks.
A mobile app is a great addition to making your customer support service more accessible. If the one you’re using doesn’t support mobile devices, then you should find another provider that can.
8. Lack of Technical Support
Live chat software is on the front line to make a good impression on your visitors and capture valuable leads. Any downtime or technical problems can cost you potential business. Just like your customers expect from you, your provider’s support must have a reliable response time to solve issues with their product.
Have you experienced your current provider being irresponsive or lacking technical support? That’s a sign for you to consider another live chat software with better support. The quicker problems get solved, the better you can provide customer service yourself.
