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by TELUS International - May 26, 2015

Best Practices: Online Chat Sales
Boosting customer service and sales ROI

Benchmarking study | White paper

OVERVIEW

When it comes to shopping, the web offers convenience, choice and information. As a result, consumers continue to move more of their shopping online, or make in-store purchase decisions that are “web-influenced” first. Online retail sales in the U.S. are forecast to grow to $250 billion by 2014. This presents a tremendous opportunity for companies with a web presence to grow their customer base and provide top-notch customer service and sales within the online environment itself.

It’s not surprising that online chat is gaining more attention as a growing customer service delivery method—especially with evidence of significantly increased sales ROI as well as some of the highest customer satisfaction (CSAT) scores over phone or in-store purchases. What is surprising, however, is that a number of leading online companies do not offer chat, especially chat for sales, despite growing consumer preference for it. And when chat is offered, the overall customer experience can be improved.

To validate best practices for online chat sales and to help companies maximize online sales and customer service, TELUS International commissioned a benchmarking study using an independent consulting firm, SPOT Consulting. Sixty in-depth web chat sessions were conducted with six Fortune 500 companies to analyze the qualitative metrics of an ideal online chat sales session. The results were scored against three major criteria that contribute to the total customer experience:

1) Agent skills
2) Chat system features
3) Communications style

Results, conclusions and recommendations for best-in-class sales chat are detailed in this white paper.


To read the full whitepaper visit TELUS International and download the white paper here: http://www.telusinternational.com/online_chat_whitepaper/?f=/industries/Benchmark%20Study_Chat%20Best%20Practices_Feb2011_TELUS%20Intl.pdf