Study: webshop chat employee scores 6.2 in Dutch
A study set up by LiveChat Pro among 98 Dutch webshops with live chat shows shocking results. The average live chat operator of a webshop scores a mediocre 6.2 in the Dutch language.
Also, the general knowledge of the chat employee is not always that high. 12% of the operators cannot answer the question of what the webshop’s VAT number is, while this number can almost always be found on the contact page or in the general terms and conditions of the webshop.
We carried out the study by asking the webshops two questions in a live chat: ‘What is the VAT number of your webshop?’ and ‘What distinguishes your webshop from competitors?’.
57 percent of the studied webshops responded to at least one of the two questions. We looked at the correctness of the language used in live chat. The following components were assessed: spelling, grammar, punctuation, and typing accuracy. Only 11 of the 56 webshops which responded scored a 10 in Dutch. 71% of the webshops used periods and commas incorrectly, 41% does not know grammatical rules, 20% is unable to spell correctly, and 18% of the chat operators makes typographical errors.
We also looked at the response speed in live chats. Of the respondents, 20 percent responded to the question about the VAT number within 30 seconds; nearly 40 percent took 1 minute or longer to respond.
It surprises me how poor the quality of chat operators is. Language errors in communication, whether by e-mail, chat, or phone, give the customer a bad impression. Customers expect a professional appearance from the webshop employee. It appears that webshops insufficiently train their customer service staff.
The average visitor stays in a webshop for no more than a few minutes before surfing somewhere else. Therefore, a webshop must be able to respond within 1 minute. It appears webshops do not have sufficient capacity to respond quickly, or that employees simply struggle to find the answer to the question. If webshops are not able to improve the availability, response speed, and quality of live chat, they should consider outsourcing customer contact through live chat.
The full research report can be requested from us.
A recent survey in July by LiveChat Pro showed that nearly half of the studied sited with a chat function are not available to chat with the visitor during the day.
