6 Ways to Customize Your Live Chat and Boost Sales
Did you know that you have the power to radically improve the customer experience by utilizing your live chat’s visual customization tools?
It may seem like such a small thing, but our research and development team asked thousands of online shoppers what mattered most to them when engaging live chat agents.
An astounding number of customers said that they appreciated a sharp and visually-appealing look to the live chat window.
Customizing the look and feel of your live chat bar, icon, window, and more do more than catching the eye. Dialing in your live chat design makes your brand look more inviting and helpful.
Because of this, we’ve built a quick guide to help you continue the positive customer experience by customizing your live chat tool.
6 Ways to Customize Your Live Chat Window
If you’re having doubts about where to start, here are a few ideas on what you can improve first. From the chat icon to audio notifications — every detail counts.
#1. Chat Icon
While your customer navigates a page on your site, a chat icon lies non-intrusively off to the side, inviting the customer to ask questions of a live agent.
Your ability to customize this chat icon with different colors, text/greetings, and shapes allow you to experiment with the perfect design.
While you don’t want to annoy your customers with your chat icon and bar, you also don’t want to make your chat feature hard to find should your customers have questions.
For a little seasonal variety, some live chat platforms allow you to change your icon to a holiday graphic, such as a Christmas gift or a Halloween jack-o-lantern. These customizable details endear your customer to your brand — a key ingredient to eCommerce brand sentiment.
#2. Bar and Background
Attached to your chat icon is the chat bar. The bar gives the appearance of a chat window available on demand. You should customize your bar with an inviting message and adjust the colors tastefully.
Lastly, use your customization tools to adjust the icon and bar positioning on your page. You don’t want to infringe upon featured products on your page, but as noted above, you want your customers to see that you have live chat agents on standby to assist them.
#3. Chat Window
When a customer decides that they need assistance, customizing the chat window can further enhance the customer experience.
Reputable live chat solutions can easily allow you to add your own brand colors and wallpapers.
For easy-on-the-eyes viewing, try different text and background shades of color until you find the desired look. Customers also appreciate when the live agent’s chat bubble is a different color from their own chat bubble.
And speaking of the live agent, consider adding a tiny agent bio at the top of the chat window. This feature will help the customer feel that they are talking to a real person (because they are).
#4. Maximized vs Minimized View
From a technical standpoint, your chat window is the maximized view. After customizing the chat window visuals, you should make sure that the minimized view — icon and bar — appears seamless to users.
Any abrupt visual changes between the maximized and minimized views (other than a drop-down or pop-up action) could negatively surprise your customers. When it comes to customizing your front-facing live chat tool, it needs to look and feel appealing to your customers — not disruptive.
#5. Desktop vs Mobile
With the right platform, you can alter the look of your live chat icon, bar, and window for desktop and mobile users.
Some chat software platforms do not allow you the ability to adjust the size and visuals between these two web page designs. It would be best if you found the software that keeps your customers in mind as they navigate your website and take advantage of live chat agent assistance.
For one, your mobile visuals can more easily impede the UX design on your mobile site. By making the necessary adjustments, the customer experience remains pleasant regardless of how they access your eCommerce store.
#6. Audio Notifications
In addition to visual variety, many live chat platforms grant you the ability to play with different sounds notifying the customer that an agent has responded to their request.
The haptic component to audio notifications helps the customer know that communication remains live. When they type their message, hearing a pleasant sound confirms that their message went through.
Since customers are sometimes multitasking during a live chat session — like continuing to shop online — audio notifications inform the customer to return to the live chat window.
Ideally, you assign two different sounds: one for the customer message and the other for the agent reply.
Final thoughts
It is not cheap or simple to build a thriving online store. When something as simple as a live chat icon shape or color negatively impacts your eCommerce sales, it can make you feel that you wasted too much time and money on other fancy website features.
Thankfully, that is not the case. Taking a small chunk of time to play with the visuals of your live chat tool may be all you need to see your sales continue to rise. If your current live chat software platform does not offer these customizable tools, it may be time to look for a new provider.
