Live chat is a must if you want to make your online store even more awesome. However, the person that will man your live chat must be awesome, too. Basically, live chat agents are three types - helpers, sellers and hybrids (half helper, half seller, of course). The first type will gladly assist you when you need to buy something from the store, the second type's work is to convert visitors to customers. The third type, well, he does both. No mater the type, every live chat agents should know how to talk to a client. However, we are here for the rookies. These are our 15 tips for the beginner live chat agent:

1. Think "People first" - this is a philosophy that every live chat (or customer service as a whole) agent should follow. Treat the customer with respect and see if you can do that little extra thing he wants. Even if it would cost you a bit more. Small things won't take big chunks of your time but will lead you a great way towards professionalism;

2. Mind the language - a good advice is to mirror the language of the customer, because this will make him comfortable, thus easy to communicate. While we say "mirror" we don't mean you should scream to the angry customers or imitate their dialects. We mean you should speak formal if the customer speaks to you in formal language, and if the speak more casual - you should, too;

3. Always be informed - most companies have a policy about how to handle difficult customers or at least how to handle complaints about products. However, these policies can't cover every situation possible, nothing can. So, what you need to do if you want to be ready for everything - read. Find information about customer service agents handling difficult situations, follow blogs on the topic, collect experiences etc. Get as much information as possible;

4. Keep track of you customers - this is a must if you don't want to have troubles. Keep track about every customer you speak with - his attitude, his problem, is he a returning customer or it's his first time on the site. Check out the keywords they searched that lead them to your website and everything else that might be useful the next time this customers contacts you;

5. Get in the conversation - most of the times, customer service agents of a company have their own place where they can exchange experience and stories about interesting cases and customers. Get in there, speak with the more experienced agents, share the questions and customers you found difficult and ask them for advice;

To be continued...

More articles about live chat:

1. 4 Factors To Consider When Implementing Live Chat Support

2. 8 Benefits Of Live Chat Support

3. 4 Reasons Live Chat Has the Potential to Make Your Business Successful