Live chat has emerged as a game-changer in customer support enabling real-time interactions that deepen customer engagement, boost loyalty, and elevate experiences.
It’s crucial to monitor its corresponding impact on the customer experience to increase its effectiveness and ensure smooth operation.
Tracking and measuring live chat metrics enables businesses to point out areas for improvement, optimize resources and refine strategies for productivity.
This blog article will discuss various live chat metrics and benchmarks to help you provide effective customer support.
What are live chat metrics?
Live chat metrics are performance indicators used to measure the efficiency and effectiveness of live chat as a customer support tool. These measures help businesses identify areas of improvement on live chat.
These live chat KPIs help businesses monitor live chat performance, identify pitfalls, and improve customer experience.
Importance of measuring live chat metrics
Tracking live chat metrics improves customer engagement and is crucial for effective customer service.
According to a survey by Nice, live chat is rated as the top digital channel for customers’ self-service (52%), followed by email (47%).
Live chat metrics help businesses monitor the effectiveness of live chat on their websites, agent performance, and customer experience.
Below are the benefits of live chat metrics to businesses:
Helps in performance evaluation
Live chat performance metrics provide an understanding of the output of your agent and live chat team.
They indicate how effectively and efficiently your agents respond to customer queries and how quick the response is.
Pinpoints areas of improvement
Live chat performance benchmarks and KPIs for support allow you to identify areas of improvement in your business.
Measuring live chat metrics and analyzing trends help you get tips for improvements on live chat to keep your business on track.
Enhances customer satisfaction
When customers feel heard and supported quickly, they are more likely to leave positive feedback.
By addressing areas of dissatisfaction, businesses can improve customer loyalty and enhance brand perception.
Optimizes resource allocation
Live chat metrics like peak chat time and number of chats per agent can help you understand the workload of your support agents and allow for effective resource allocation.
This helps you minimize employee burnout and ensure your agents are always available by efficient routing and staffing.
Assists in training and development
Live chat metrics also provide insight into agent skill level and efficiency.
Tracking agent level metric helps you initiate training in areas such as problem-solving, communication skills, and product knowledge, which enhances your support agent development.
Boosts sales and conversions
Measuring and tracking ecommerce live chat metrics can be a tool for boosting sales.
According to SuperOffice, live chat leads to an increase of 48% in revenue per chat hour and a 40% increase in conversion rate.
By monitoring conversion rates in chat interactions, you can effectively assess and process your sales tactics.
Improves productivity and efficiency
Live chat metrics such as average resolution time and average queue time provide insights into the productivity and efficiency of your support agents.
They help you measure agent efficiency and identify areas of improvement or reallocation of resources.
Top live chat performance KPIs you need to track
Let’s dive into the most essential live chat metrics you can employ to gain insights into your live chat support strategy.
First contact resolution rate (FCR)
This live chat KPI helps you understand your agent’s ability to respond to a question the first time a customer reaches your brand’s website.
A high first contact resolution rate indicates that customers are getting their responses swiftly without having to repeat the same concern.
How to measure:
You can easily measure your FCR rate by using this formula:
How to improve FCR
- Assign chats directly to agents with the appropriate skills to ensure faster resolutions and eliminate the need to transfer tickets between team members.
- Embed a knowledge base link in the live chat widget so that agents can quickly find information to accurately resolve issues.
- Enhance collaboration with other agents to work toward a solution.
Average resolution time
This live chat metric refers to the amount of time it takes for a support agent to end a conversation successfully.
A low average resolution time indicates that less time was spent to resolve the issue, reflecting efficiency and satisfaction. In contrast, a high handle time indicates that customers are waiting for resolution.
How to measure:
To get the average response time, you need to:
- Measure the resolution time: The time between when a customer sends the first question and the first agent’s reply.
- Measure the total number of customer questions: The sum of all received customer questions.
How to improve ART
- Compile effective canned responses and enable typing preview to help agents provide quick and accurate responses.
- Setup a comprehensive knowledge base and FAQ for customer self-service to reduce inquiries and assists your agents.
- Route chats to the appropriate agents to ensure they are attended to effectively and efficiently.
Missed chats
This metric shows the lost opportunities for you to engage with customers. A high number of missed chats shows frustration among customers and the defects of live chat as a support tool.
An agent may miss a chat due to various reasons:
- Resource misallocation
- Being busy with other tasks
- The customer sends the request during the agents off hours.
How to measure:
To get the missed chats rate, use the formula below:
How to minimize missed chats
- Set up notifications and achievable SLAs to track chats that need to be solved and assigned to an agent.
- Adopt a live chat tool that can route customers to other channels easily during peak times for continued support.
- Allocate resources effectively during peak times to ensure agents are available to handle customer queries.
Chat duration
This refers to the total time a live chat conversation lasts, from when a customer starts a chat to when a customer or agent ends it.
It shows how your agents respond to customer inquiries and provide necessary information.
How to measure:
To determine chat duration, you can use the formula:
How to reduce chat duration
- Implement AI and automation to complement agent’s efficiency in support delivery.
- Integrate knowledge base for instant response to common inquiries.
- Use predefined responses to increase agents’ efficiency by providing quick support.
Conversion rate
Not all customer interactions result in business. The conversion rate in live chat refers to the percentage of interactions that lead to an aimed outcome or action.
The conversion can vary based on the nature of the interaction.
There are different types:
- Sales conversions: For online businesses, conversion might mean a live chat conversation that leads to a purchase of a product or a service.
- Support resolution: This type of conversion indicates a support-oriented interaction where a customer receives assistance on a product successfully.
- Content promotion: On informational or content sites, conversion can mean a user getting to read a content or download a document.
- Account creation or sign-up: For service offering platforms, a conversion might mean a user creating an account or signing up for the services. Some also offer subscriptions to the platform.
- Lead generation: Businesses that look for leads, conversion can be the collection of contact information for follow-ups and calls.
How to measure:
You can use the formula below to measure the conversion rate:
How to improve the conversion rate
- Activate personalized welcoming messages to visitors on your website to make them feel invaluable.
- Use AI to qualify leads by asking preset questionnaires and transfer to the sales team.
- Start a proactive chat with customers on a specific page like product page, pricing and resolve all their queries.
Average queue time
The average queue time metric is also known as the average wait time.
This is a measure of the average time a customer takes waiting in a queue before they are connected to a support agent.
It shows how efficient the support team is in responding to customer questions.
How to measure:
Average queue time can be measured by using the formula below:
How to improve AQT
- Efficient chat routing ensures chats are attended to by the right agent minimizing the time wasted on chat transfer.
- Centralize customer interactions on omnichannel inbox to ensure consistent support on a single inbox.
- Hire more agents during peak hours to reduce chat volume.
- Implement prioritization strategies to ensure urgent tasks are handled promptly.
Peak chat time
This live chat performance metric refers to a specific period when the customer chat requests are higher than usual.
The peak chat time metric allows you to track available opportunities. Many users visit the live chat, and this can lead to conversions if managed well.
How to measure:
- Analyze past data to identify trends and recurring peak chat times.
- Feedback from agents on busy periods.
- External factors such as marketing campaigns.
How to prepare for peak chat times
- Allocate adequate resources early to manage the chat volume and avoid customer frustration due to longer response times.
- Hire enough agents to ensure their availability to manage the chat influx.
- Outsource customer service to automate tasks, handle increased requests, and streamline support.
Chats per agent metric
The chats per agent metric is a live chat KPI that measures the average number of chats handled by a support agent at a given time.
This metric helps you assess every agent’s effectiveness, promptness, and efficiency of the live chat support.
A high number of chats per agent may suggest a heavy workload leading to customer service burnout.
How to measure:
Measuring chats per agent is simple when using a formula.
How to improve chats per agent
- Use knowledge base to provide self-service to simple inquiries and minimize workload.
- Provide regular training of agents to enhance their product knowledge and problem-solving skills to help them handle chats efficiently.
Agent utilization rate
This live chat metric helps you measure the amount of time your support agent spends on effectively assisting customers.
A high agent utilization rate indicates efficient customer support, while a low rate indicates inactive support agents.
How to measure:
To measure the agent utilization rate, use the formula below:
How to improve the agent utilization rate
- Create and set achievable customer support goals to reduce exhaustion among agents.
- Spread productive work hours in different shifts and provide employees with off days to avoid burnout.
Tags
Tags are labels that categorize and track live chat conversations in real-time for organization and future reference.
By tagging chats with labels such as ‘billing issue,’ ‘order follow-ups,’ or ‘product inquiry,’ agents can get insights into recurring customer concerns and identify trends.
Let’s say, out of 30 chats, you get 10 chats with the tag ‘delivery request’ and 20 tagged ‘follow-up requests.’ This information shows that you need to improve your customer follow-up strategies.
How to use tags on chat
- Train your support team on how to use tags to maintain consistency in tagging categories.
- Use AI and automation tools to automatically tag conversations, save time and ensure consistency.
- Regularly analyze data collected through tags to identify common issues, customer needs, and areas for improvement.
Net promoter score
Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a live chat metric that measures customer satisfaction and their willingness to refer your brand to others.
The NPS should operate on a scale of 0-10 and should ask something like this:
“How likely are you to recommend our services to others?”
This NPS question helps you to see:
- Detractors (0-6): These are unsatisfied customers who are unlikely to recommend your services to others. They give negative feedback on the experience.
- Passives (7-8): These are partially satisfied customers who cannot actively promote your brand to others.
- Promoters (9-10): These customers are satisfied and loyal to your brand. They are likely to become your brand ambassadors.
How to measure:
Net promoter score can be calculated through:
How to improve NPS
- Engage with detractors to find out what went wrong and why they’re unhappy with your brand.
- Incorporate customer loyalty programs to improve brand advocacy.
- Communicate with your promoters to know what to improve on as they are likely to provide feedback.
Customer satisfaction score
This is a live chat metric that measures customer satisfaction level with your product, service, or interaction.
CSAT surveys allow customers to rate their experience on a 1-5 scale, where the lowest score is indicated by 1, and the highest score is indicated by 5.
This live chat KPI is crucial in improving customer loyalty and experience.
How to measure:
Follow this formula to measure customer satisfaction score:
How to improve CSAT
- Attend to customers’ problems faster to foster positive experiences.
- Add more communication channels for customers to raise concerns.
- Keep promises made to the customer, be it on discounts or product quality, to enhance their loyalty.
Feedback rate
This is a live chat metric that measures the percentage of chat sessions where the customer provides feedback on experience compared to the total number of chat sessions.
High feedback rates show customer satisfaction and allow you to make in-room adjustments, such as improving the chat experience and product or service quality.
How to measure:
To measure the feedback rate, you will require the following formula:
How to improve the feedback rate
- Routinely ask for feedback at the end of every interaction by adding comment sections and ratings.
- Use post-chat surveys to capture information on customer behavior.
Optimize live chat performance metrics with BoldDesk
You can actively optimize live chat performance metrics by investing in powerful help desk software. BoldDesk’s AI-powered live chat software features enhance your customer support online.
Its live chat widget is embedded with features like file sharing and automated canned responses to help your support teams be more efficient in responding to customer inquiries.
Here’s how BoldDesk’s live chat metrics can enhance your customer communication:
- AI and automation in live chat enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of live chat support. It helps streamline responses to common queries, thereby improving live chat KPIs like the average resolution time.
- Data analysis and insights: The CSAT surveys on live chat provides feedback on customer satisfaction rate with your services. You can save chat transcripts and history to identify trends and make data-driven improvements.
- Efficient routing: Route chats to ensure they are handled efficiently with the right support agent optimizing chat resolution time.
- Real-time monitoring: BoldDesk provides delivery and read receipts to both customers and agents when chats are successfully delivered, opened, and read, helping you optimize live chat metrics like chat response times and customer satisfaction.
- Proactive chat features: Boost engagement and reduce missed opportunities with timely alerts and triggers to initiate chats with website visitors.
- Collaboration: Ensure seamless internal collaboration among support agents with features like file sharing and @mentions to optimize the first contact resolution metric.
Enhance customer interactions with key live chat metrics
Tracking live chat metrics is a key benefit to the overall performance of live chat. These metrics offer insights into agent performance and customer experience.
Businesses that aim to provide 24/7 customer service, adding live chat is a strategic move and regularly monitor its effectiveness by tracking the above metrics.
In addition, tracking all these live chat metrics can be tedious and time-consuming. Contact our support team to set up a live demo and get a chance to sign up for a 15-day free trial from BoldDesk!
We hope this blog was helpful. Are there any other live chat KPIs you use? Please share them in the comment section below.
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