Over the last few months, TE Wire & Cable team has been working meticulously on making our customers internet experience more valuable and enjoyable. In the next few weeks we are preparing to roll out our brand new website. Out of many useful features and the vast plethora of information on our old website, I want one feature to make its way to the new website.
It is our online help chat.
At the time of implementing the chat feature, it was meant to be a 30-day trial. I figured it wouldn’t last long. Being the biggest skeptic, I didn’t put the "burden" (there really is none) of managing it on anyone but myself. Over the past few months I began to change my mind about the feature and started to embrace online chat’s ability to provide our thermocouple wire customers with immediate help. Currently, we receive about two chats per day so it’s a manageable task, even for me. When looking at call volume versus chat volume there really is no comparison as our call volume is much higher.
However, there are multiple benefits of providing this to customers, so we think chat is here to stay.
My 25-minute drive home (in New Jersey traffic) gives me plenty of time to think, and I pondered these five benefits long and hard along the way:
- Instant: Online Chat support allows our telephone shy customers to converse with us instantly rather than wait for email reply. Same as a phone call but better; you only have to give me your name and email. We ask for your email in case our operators (me) forget to put their away messages on during lunch or sales meetings.
- Convenient: You can talk to us while eating your lunch! Not surprising, most of my chats are during your lunch time. I would much rather provide you with this convenience than make you delay your healthy lunch.
- Helpful: If you're a new visitor to our website, some of the products and the technical jargon can confuse you. With online chat, we can follow what page you are looking at and help you find answer faster.
- Quick: Chat allows us to send you information instantaneously. It could be tracking information or an answer to specific product information. Let’s agree that we don’t always write down our phone conversations and, even if we do, sometimes that long UPS number can be troublesome. With instant chat, you can quickly copy and save the transcript for future reference.
- Live: All TE Wire chats are run by a live, experienced sales person. This allows them to help in your buying process, resolve your issues and provide technical support. Above all, it allows you to get the answers to product questions in a timely manner. A recent Zopim study of 80,000+ chats shows that on average customers get their answers in less than 65 seconds. Skip being put on hold and start chatting!
Next time you are visiting www.tewire.com please click the ‘Chat Here’ and chat with us! We won’t mind if you have a mouthful of lunch. Promise.