Question

Topic: Strategy

Optimial Time Before Live Chat Interaction?

Posted by Anonymous on 8/8/2013 at 8:38 PM ET 500 Points
For those of you have have implemented live chat on your website, a question on implementation.

We use an application called SnapEngage that allows you to proactively open the chat window after a set number of seconds on a page. Prior to that, the visitor can hit the Live Chat button and start a chat if an agent is online). The default setting used by SnapEngage is 15 seconds, unless you add some special code to your site.

Several of our clients have tried different settings for the time before the chat window is displayed. One client found that 30 seconds works well for them. On our site increasing the time to 30 seconds rapidly decreased the number of people engaging in live chat. At 15 seconds, we get more chats, but the quality of the chats on most pages decreases somewhat(in terms of sales lead quality).

I am interested in what others have found to be the optimal time for the user to be on the page before displaying the chat window.
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RESPONSES

  • Posted on 8/8/2013 at 9:12 PM Accepted
    I don't have direct experience with this myself, but I suspect the optimal time-delay will depend to a large extent on how engaging the page copy is. If it's very engaging, a visitor might want 30-45 seconds to digest the content before you interrupt him/her. If it's less engaging, 15 seconds might be better.

    I'll be interested to see what others have to say. I suspect there are a number of factors to consider, and the answer will probably be different for different product/service categories, different websites, different pages within a website, etc.
  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 8/8/2013 at 9:30 PM Accepted
    Some relevant articles:
    https://econsultancy.com/us/blog/10644-stats-do-consumers-appreciate-live-c...
    https://blogs.oracle.com/cx/entry/best_practices_for_incorporating_live
    https://www.vivocha.com/2012/11/live-chat-best-practice/
    https://hosted.comm100.com/knowledgebase/Live-Chat-Best-Practices-Top-10_A8...
  • Posted by Moriarty on 8/9/2013 at 2:50 AM Accepted
    There are no given or set times. Your customers will not be their customers - and will have different needs. This is the problem that has puzzled marketers for generations: nothing seems to work twice!

    My point is to test the response rates. And test it against those who are buyers. At what point do you get the most sales?

    Does your website copy help or hinder this interaction? Many may be put off by the sudden appearance of a chat box. Sometimes a chat box opens as they scroll down.

    Another direction of thought is where are your leads (customers/visitors) coming from? Do they even want a chat box, or would an email newsletter be more effective at getting long-term leads.

    After all, this isn't about live chat or websites. **You are in business to make your customers' websites effective - and that means sales**. Whatever drives them makes them better be it chat, newsletters or any number of other strategies. Furthermore, you need to understand what's going on in your visitors' minds when they're wandering around your sites.

    Let me know what you think.
  • Posted by HispanicMarketingLibrary on 8/10/2013 at 6:31 AM Member
    Since there are some many variables, one being engaging content as mgoodman pointed out, the only way is to actually test different times.

    Personally, I try to get as much information as possible before engaging in a live chat or otherwise contacting (e.g., by phone) an agent.

    Dr. T
  • Posted by Moriarty on 8/13/2013 at 4:26 AM Member
    Steve, apologies for not getting back to you. It seems I've missed three or four important chats this week - I guess it's part of me being on the wrong side of the planet.

    Now it doesn't surprise me that you say "which leads me to believe many people are not actually testing this, but just running with whatever out of the box setting their live chat application uses".

    There are very few people who test at all, let alone test the right things.

    I'm glad that you've actually tested this yourself and that this is not your only part of the funnel. More to the point is to estimate the ROI on the chats you're getting. Do you need telling this? Nope. I just thought I'd mention it. Two per week sounds dire, but poor leads are wasteful and may not give you much more in terms of real sales - ie. two good leads per week.

    What about just having a stationary chat box tucked away in a corner? Have you tested this aspect?
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