Integrating Live Chat on WordPress: Elevate Your Customer Service Game

When you run an ecommerce store, you need to deliver the best possible experience. Your site needs to run flawlessly and be easy to use. If your customers do encounter issues, you need to make sure they can find a solution. You can start with a good knowledge base, but nothing beats providing live chat.

Don’t have the team to handle this task? You can consider outsourcing your call center if you need the extra people. Alternatively, you can consider training a chatbot to augment your support department.

In this article, we’ll look at how you can incorporate live chat on your WordPress site to improve service.

Why Live Chat Matters

Live chat is a convenient way for your customers to get the answers they need. They can easily contact your team without leaving your site.

You benefit because you can engage with your customers easily. You can resolve issues quickly and even guide them through the purchasing process. If you incorporate a simple chatbot, you can also provide 24/7 support at a reasonable price.

The Top 4 Plugins for WordPress

If you want good results, you need to choose the right tools. Here are the top four plugins for your WordPress site.

1.   Tawk.to

This tool is free and very popular. It’s easy to use and offers features like:

• Automated triggers
• Chat monitoring
• Easy integration with CRM systems
• Unlimited agents and chats
• Supporting multiple languages

2.   LiveChat

This premium plugin offers a polished and user-friendly dashboard. It has advanced features like:

• Ticketing systems
• Chat analytics
• Mobile apps
• Integration with various CRM and email marketing tools

Your support team can access queries via their mobile phones.

3.   Zendesk Chat

This plugin integrates with the Zendesk suite of tools. It’s easy to use and very popular with features including:

• Visitor tracking
• Real-time monitoring
• Customizable chat widgets
• Analytics

4.   WP Live Chat Support

Are you running a small business? Then this might be the one to choose. It’s cost-effective and won’t bloat your site. The features for the free version include:

• Customizable chat boxes
• Online messaging
• Desktop notifications

Want more features? Upgrade to the premium version.

Step-by-Step Guide to Integrating Live Chat on WordPress

The advantage of WordPress is that it works with a great deal of plugins. Whichever one you choose, the installation process is simple.

Install and Activate the Plugin

Sign into your dashboard and go to the “Plugins” section. Click on the “Add New” button and look for the plugin you want to add. When you find it, click the “Install Now” button, followed by “Activate.”

Configure the Plugin Settings

You should now see a new menu item on your dashboard. Click on it and configure the settings according to your needs. For example, agent profiles, chat availability, and triggers.

Depending on the company, you may need to link your site to your account. If so, they’ll normally send a widget code.

Customize the Chat Widget

You need to make sure that the widget fits in with your branding. Most plugins will let you customize your chat box by changing the colors, fonts, and position. When you’ve done that, you might also consider adding an automated greeting to encourage customers to engage with you.

Set Up Automated Responses and Triggers

Consider the different stages in the customer journey and program trigger points accordingly. For example, you can greet visitors after they’ve been on your site for a while or if they come back.

You can also offer assistance if the client seems stuck on a particular process. Say, for example, that your visitor has been on the checkout page for more than two minutes; you can create an automated message asking if they need help.

This proactive approach can prevent cart abandonment and create a favorable impression on clients.

Test the Live Chat Functionality

You don’t want to publish the plugin before you test it. Make sure that it works as it should and that the automated responses and triggers activate. Also, check the backend to make sure your agents receive the alerts they should.

5 Best Practices for Using Live Chat

Your plugin is now live and working well. How can you improve service delivery and get the most from this tool?

1.   Provide Timely Responses

The whole reason that people use live chat is that it provides instant answers. You should respond within a minute at the most. You can incorporate a chatbot to provide quick answers to simple questions. For anything more complex, your bot should escalate the queries.

2.   Train Your Agents

Your human agents need to be able to answer complex questions. They also need to understand how to deal with frustrated clients.

Your bot will deal with easy queries, so your team needs to have excellent product knowledge and communication skills. They’ll also need to be empathetic and patient.

You can provide your agents with canned responses to speed up their response times.

3.   Use Chat Analytics to Improve Service

Most of these plugins offer a range of analytics tools. Take full advantage of this to get valuable insights into your customer behavior. When you review your progress, you’ll pick up areas for improvement. You need this to improve your service strategy.

4.   Offer Multichannel Support

Your customers must be able to contact you via several channels. Make it easy for them to transition from one form to another.

5.   Monitor and Optimize Performance

Is your service delivery ever perfect? It’s best to treat improvement as an ongoing process. Your customer’s expectations change over time, making it essential to make adjustments here.

Do you need a larger human support team? If you’re receiving more complex queries, you may need to hire more consultants. You may also need to train your existing team more.

Conclusion

Integrating the right live chat plugin into your WordPress site improves the customer experience. It allows your clients to get the answers they need quickly and easily. The right tool also gives you valuable insights that allow you to further improve your service.