Metrics

The LiveHelpNow Challenge compiles and pushes your real-world customer service results and feedback to your dashboard every day.

METHODOLOGY

As much as we like to brag about our winners, we don’t have to because their data does it for us. The LiveHelpNow Challenge pushes customer service data to you every day. We developed 12 novel metrics from 50 different criteria that are available on your dashboard in real-time:

  • Customer survey results
  • Visitor volume
  • Proactive actions
  • Average chat accept time
  • Average chat time
  • Operator responsiveness
  • Dropped chats
  • Canned content
  • Chat transfers
  • Operator utilization
  • Operator knowledge
  • Chat volume

When you rank in the top 100 customer service providers during any month, you get bragging rights. On a daily basis, you get data-driven customer service feedback that helps you improve your bottom line. Welcome to the best of all worlds.

HOW IT WORKS?

1/12

AVERAGE CHAT ACCEPT TIME

Chat accept time is the amount of time it takes an operator to initially accept a visitor's chat request.

Read more...

2/12

AVERAGE CHAT TIME

Average chat times or chat durations should be kept under 10 minutes, but this will vary based on the nature of chat conversations.

Read more...

3/12

CANNED CONTENT

It is very favorable to setup a variety of canned responses and to keep them up to date over time as best practices and company policies change.

Read more...

4/12

OPERATOR RESPONSIVENESS

The average operator response time is the time it takes an operator to respond to a message sent by a customer during a chat session.

Read more...

5/12

DROPPED CHATS

Dropped chats can be managed by training Operators on utilizing the LiveHelpNow Alerter notification software:

Read more...

6/12

OPERATOR UTILIZATION

Operator utilization rate is the amount of time your operators spend chatting when online.

Read more...

7/12

PROACTIVE ACTIONS

Automatic chat invitations are displayed to each unique visitor once per hour with a general greeting.

Read more...

8/12

SURVEY RESULTS

Post-chat surveys allow you to get customer feedback on their experience with your operators.

Read more...

9/12

CHAT VOLUME

Your chat volume rating compares the number of chats you've had in this activity period to the LiveHelpNow accounts of clients in your industry.

Read more...

10/12

YOUR VISITOR VOLUME

Visitors find your website through search engines by clicking on one of the first few search results on page one or on a paid search advertisement.

Read more...

11/12

CHAT TRANSFERS

When transferring a chat from one operator to another all of the chatting visitor's history is passed along so no time is wasted asking them repeat questions.

Read more...

12/12

OPERATOR KNOWLEDGE

Whisper technology allows one operator to coach another operator 'behind the scenes' within an active chat session.

Read more...
VIEW THIS MONTH'S WINNERS
ENTER NEXT MONTH'S CHALLENGE
Close

AVERAGE CHAT ACCEPT TIME

Chat accept time is the amount of time it takes an operator to initially accept a visitor's chat request. Generally chat accept times under 30 seconds are favorable. Administrators and operators with permission to view reports can review average chat accept time in the Daily Live Chat Breakdown report in Analytics » Chat System. Where do I find reports and how do I generate them?

  1. Utilization of LiveHelpNow Alerter:

    It is important for all operators that handle chat requests to install the LiveHelpNow Alerter software. The Alerter provides timely pop-up notifications so you never miss an incoming chat request.
    How to setup and utilize the LiveHelpNow Alerter.

  2. Operator training:

    It is recommended that operators who are new to the Chat System sign up for a live demo or watch a live chat tutorial to get familiar with its features.
    LiveHelpNow tutorials: Chat Acceptance and Transfer.

  3. Operator availability:

    Your operators may be offline at the times when you receive the most chat requests, or you may not have enough licensed operators to help visitors effectively. Administrators and operators with permission to view reports can review the Daily Live Chat Statistics report for periods with many chat requests and the Operator Time Clock report for periods when operators are available in Analytics » Chat System. If it is clear that your operators are overwhelmed with too many chats, consider adding more operators. Consider adding Email-Ticket Management to escalate difficult chats to support tickets for later follow up. To try Email-Ticket Management free for 30 days submit a ticket explaining your request that includes your LiveHelpNow account number (located in Admin panel » My Account » Account info).

AVERAGE CHAT TIME

Average chat times or chat durations should be kept under 10 minutes, but this will vary based on the nature of chat conversations. Operators should spend about as much time chatting with a customer as they would in a phone conversation with them, even when chatting with multiple customers simultaneously.

  1. Operator training:

    It is recommended that operators who are new to the Chat System sign up for a live demo or watch a live chat tutorial to get familiar with its features. Administrators and operators with permission to view reports can review average chat times using the Daily Live Chat Breakdown report in Analytics » Chat System. Where do I find reports and how do I generate them?

  2. Utilization of canned messages:

    Canned messages may include greetings, wait messages, and answers to frequently asked questions. You can add canned messages for operators or allow them to create their own. Review chat history for canned message ideas in Analytics > Chat System » Chat transcripts. Operators can quickly access canned responses in the Operator Panel when needed to keep chat conversations flowing, especially when handling multiple chats at once.

  3. Utilization of department routing:

    Chats can be handled more quickly if customers are pointed directly to operators with skills that relate to their needs. Operators may be grouped into departments based on their unique skills or the web properties they support. You can route customers to departments based on pre-chat requirements or setup automatic department routing based on the web page that the customer is browsing when they request a chat. Consider adding the Knowledge Base for more efficient chatting and improved support quality. The Knowledge Base can also be published as an online support center to help customers help themselves. To try Knowledge Base free for 30 days submit a ticket explaining your request that includes your LiveHelpNow account number (located in Admin panel » My Account » Account info). Consider adding Email-Ticket Management to escalate difficult chats to support tickets for later follow up. To try Email-Ticket Management free for 30 days submit a ticket explaining your request that includes your LiveHelpNow account number (located in Admin panel » My Account » Account info).

CANNED CONTENT

It is very favorable to setup a variety of canned responses and to keep them up to date over time as best practices and company policies change.

How to utilize canned messages:

Canned messages may include greetings, wait messages, and answers to frequently asked questions. You can add canned messages for operators or allow them to create their own.Review chat history for canned message ideas in Analytics » Chat System » Chat transcripts. Operators can quickly access canned responses in the Operator Panel when needed to keep chat conversations flowing, especially when handling multiple chats at once.

Consider adding the Knowledge Base to link chatting customers directly to in-depth FAQ articles that include formatted text, images and videos. The Knowledge Base can also be published as an online support center to help customers help themselves. To try Knowledge Base free for 30 days submit a ticket explaining your request that includes your LiveHelpNow account number (located in Admin panel » My Account » Account info).

OPERATOR RESPONSIVENESS

The average operator response time is the time it takes an operator to respond to a message sent by a customer during a chat session.

  1. Operator training:

    It is recommended that operators who are new to the Chat System sign up for a live demo or watch a live chat tutorial to get familiar with its features. Administrators and operators with permission to view reports can review operator response times in chat transcripts using the Chat Transcripts report in Analytics » Chat System. Where do I find reports and how do I generate them?

  2. Utilization of canned messages:

    Canned messages may include greetings, wait messages, and answers to frequently asked questions. You can add canned messages for operators or allow them to create their own. Review chat history for canned message ideas in Analytics » Chat System » Chat transcripts. Operators can quickly access canned responses in the Operator Panel when needed to keep chat conversations flowing, especially when handling multiple chats at once.

  3. Operator availability:

    Your operators may be offline at the times when you receive the most chat requests, or you may not have enough licensed operators to help visitors effectively. Administrators and operators with permission to view reports can review the Daily Live Chat Statistics report for periods with many chat requests and the Operator Time Clock report for periods when operators are available in Analytics » Chat System. If it is clear that your operators are overwhelmed with too many chats, consider adding more operators.

    Consider adding the Knowledge Base for more efficient chatting and improved support quality. The Knowledge Base can also be published as an online support center to help customers help themselves. To try Knowledge Base free for 30 days submit a ticket explaining your request that includes your LiveHelpNow account number (located in Admin panel » My Account » Account info).

    Consider adding Email-Ticket Management to escalate difficult chats to support tickets for later follow up. To try Email-Ticket Management free for 30 days submit a ticket explaining your request that includes your LiveHelpNow account number (located in Admin panel » My Account » Account info).

DROPPED CHATS

  1. Operators need to utilize LiveHelpNow Alerter notification software:

    Confirm that all operators have installed the LiveHelpNow Alerter. Download Encourage operators to watch the LiveHelpNow Alerter tutorial video.

  2. Operators need additional training:

    Encourage operators to watch chat acceptance video tutorial. Encourage operators to sign up for a Live Chat Demo.

  3. Operators may not be accepting chat requests when online:

    Review dropped chat sessions in Chat Transcripts: Where do I find reports and how do I generate them? Review Operator Time Clock for patterns: Analytics » Chat System » Operator Time Clock Consider hiring more operators: how to add operators

OPERATOR UTILIZATION

Operator utilization rate is the amount of time your operators spend chatting when online. Ideally it should not be too low or too high, so that operators are neither idle nor overwhelmed. You can review operator utilization rates using Analytics » Chat System » Operator time clock. Where do I find reports and how do I generate them?

Operator utilization rate is mainly influenced by these factors:
Operator availability:

Your operators may be offline at the times when you receive the most chat requests, or you may not have enough licensed operators to help visitors effectively. Administrators and operators with permission to view reports can review the Daily Live Chat Statistics report for periods with many chat requests and the Operator Time Clock report for periods when operators are available in Analytics » Chat System. If it is clear that your operators are overwhelmed with too many chats, consider adding more operators.

Consider adding Email-Ticket Management to escalate difficult chats to support tickets for later follow up. To try Email-Ticket Management free for 30 days submit a ticket explaining your request that includes your LiveHelpNow account number (located in Admin panel » My Account » Account info).

Consider adding the Knowledge Base for more efficient chatting and improved support quality. The Knowledge Base can also be published as an online support center to help customers help themselves. To try Knowledge Base free for 30 days submit a ticket explaining your request that includes your LiveHelpNow account number (located in Admin panel » My Account » Account info).

PROACTIVE ACTIONS

Automatic chat invitations are displayed to each unique visitor once per hour with a general greeting. Proactive chat invitations can be sent manually by operators or programmatically using Visitor Triggers. Sending proactive chat invitations is favorable when you personalize greetings to match a visitor's interests or when you send them at the right times.

How to utilize proactive chat invitations:

Invite more visitors to chat proactively by setting up specific greetings in canned responses that your operators can use when visitors browse multiple pages or take high value actions. High value actions may include browsing a pricing page or a product page, but these will vary depending on the nature of your business. The Visitors/Chats grid in the Operator Panel displays a wide variety of visitor details in real time, and each operator can choose which details are displayed per visitor.

Visitor Triggers are like proactive chat invitations that fire automatically based on conditions that you specify. How to Setup Visitor Triggers.

SURVEY RESULTS

Post-chat surveys allow you to get customer feedback on their experience with your operators. Setting up a post chat survey will help you improve the way customers are handled by your support staff.

Post chat survey results are mainly influenced by these factors:
  1. Operator training:

    It is recommended that operators who are new to the Chat System sign up for a live demo or watch a live chat tutorial to get familiar with its features. Administrators and operators with permission to view reports can review survey results and corresponding chat transcripts using the Survey Statistics reports in Analytics » Survey System. Where do I find reports and how do I generate them?

  2. Utilization of canned messages:

    Canned messages may include greetings, wait messages, and answers to frequently asked questions. You can add canned messages for operators or allow them to create their own. Review chat history for canned message ideas in Analytics » Chat System » Chat transcripts. Operators can quickly access canned responses in the Operator Panel when needed to keep chat conversations flowing, especially when handling multiple chats at once.

  3. Operator availability:

    Your operators may be offline at the times when you receive the most chat requests, or you may not have enough licensed operators to help visitors effectively. Administrators and operators with permission to view reports can review the Daily Live Chat Statistics report for periods with many chat requests and the Operator Time Clock report for periods when operators are available in Analytics » Chat System. If it is clear that your operators are overwhelmed with too many chats, consider adding more operators.

    Consider adding the Knowledge Base to link chatting customers directly to in-depth FAQ articles that include formatted text, images and videos. The Knowledge Base can also be published as an online support center to help customers help themselves. To try Knowledge Base free for 30 days submit a ticket explaining your request that includes your LiveHelpNow account number (located in Admin panel » My Account » Account info).

    Consider adding Email-Ticket Management to escalate difficult chats to support tickets for later follow up. To try Email-Ticket Management free for 30 days submit a ticket explaining your request that includes your LiveHelpNow account number (located in Admin panel » My Account » Account info).

CHAT VOLUME

Your chat volume rating compares the number of chats you've had in this activity period to the LiveHelpNow accounts of clients in your industry. There are a number of proven steps you can take to increase chat volumes on your website.

Chat volume is mainly influenced by these factors:
  1. Keep the Chat Button visible:

    It is best to place the chat button on every page. Placement of the chat button on your web pages should be high on the page and not lost among lots of other images. It's better to turn it on full-steam to gauge incoming volume than it is to hide the button on the bottom of a Contact Us page.

  2. Customize and Brand the Chat Window:

    Be proud of your site and reinforce your brand experience. Customize your chat window by including graphics, logos, icons, and colors according to your brand and company color standards.

  3. Utilize Proactive Chats:

    All the information you need for a productive proactive chat campaign is in your LiveHelpNow Analytics and Chat System reports right at your fingertips. When are customers and website visitors people likely to buy? What questions can you answer to help finalize a sale? What pages on your site are people most prone to bail out? Address these points to increase your sales. You can also create Visitor Triggers to automate proactive chat requests.

  4. Remind customers that Chat Support is available:

    Chat is a far less expensive channel for handling service than traditional phone support.

  5. Ask an Expert for Help:

    The LiveHelpNow team is capable and ready to provide assistance with setup, implementation, training, and technical support. There's a good chance that a product expert knows how to leverage our award winning chat solution to get what you need. Contact us for live chat, phone, and ticket support at www.livehelpnow.net

YOUR VISITOR VOLUME

Visitors find your website through search engines by clicking on one of the first few search results on page one or on a paid search advertisement. There are basically two ways to help your client find and click through to your website: search engine optimization (SEO) and pay per click search advertising (PPC). Many marketing companies offer services to promote visitor volume using these strategies.

Visitor Volume suggestions:

Consider using the insights and tools offered through the Google Webmaster Kit. Google offers some free solutions that can help increase your web traffic and also assess the state of your site. The webmaster kit can help you check your site's health for potential issues that Google has detected, understand your search traffic, reveal how users are finding your site, and make optimizations to help Google better represent your site.

If the webmaster kit is a bit overwhelming for you or you simply don't have the time, LiveHelpNow can help you improve your site's search engine optimization. Simply Submit a Ticket indicating your interest and we will provide you with information about the services we offer.

CHAT TRANSFERS

When transferring a chat from one operator to another all of the chatting visitor's history is passed along so no time is wasted asking them repeat questions. This offers a clear benefit over phone transfers, however too many transfers per chat is still considered unfavorable.

Average number of transfers per chat is mainly influenced by these factors:
  1. Operator training:

    It is recommended that operators who are new to the Chat System sign up for a live demo or watch a live chat tutorial to get familiar with its features. Administrators and operators with permission to view reports can review chat transfers in chat transcripts using the Chat Transcripts report in Analytics » Chat System. Where do I find reports and how do I generate them?

  2. Utilization of canned messages:

    Canned messages may include greetings, wait messages, and answers to frequently asked questions. You can add canned messages for operators or allow them to create their own. Review chat history for canned message ideas in Analytics » Chat System » Chat transcripts. Operators can quickly access canned responses in the Operator Panel when needed to keep chat conversations flowing, especially when handling multiple chats at once.

  3. Utilization of department routing:

    Chats can be handled more effectively if customers are pointed directly to operators with skills that relate to their needs. Operators may be grouped into departments based on their unique skills or the web properties they support. You can route customers to departments based on pre-chat requirements or setup automatic department routing based on the web page that the customer is browsing when they request a chat.

    Consider adding the Knowledge Base for more efficient chatting and improved support quality. The Knowledge Base can also be published as an online support center to help customers help themselves. To try Knowledge Base free for 30 days submit a ticket explaining your request that includes your LiveHelpNow account number (located in Admin panel » My Account » Account info).

    Consider adding Email-Ticket Management to escalate difficult chats to support tickets for later follow up. To try Email-Ticket Management free for 30 days submit a ticket explaining your request that includes your LiveHelpNow account number (located in Admin panel » My Account » Account info).

OPERATOR KNOWLEDGE

Whisper technology allows one operator to coach another operator 'behind the scenes' within an active chat session. Customers cannot see whisper messages, which makes them both an excellent training tool for new hires and a feature for collaboration between operators with different skills. An over-reliance on whisper messages can be unfavorable if this limits the ability of operators to work independently.

Average number of whisper messages per chat is mainly influenced by these factors:
  1. Operator training:

    It is recommended that operators who are new to the Chat System sign up for a live demo or watch a live chat tutorial to get familiar with its features. Administrators and operators with permission to view reports can review whisper messages in chat transcripts using the Chat Transcripts report in Analytics » Chat System. Where do I find reports and how do I generate them?

  2. Utilization of canned messages:

    Canned messages may include greetings, wait messages, and answers to frequently asked questions. You can add canned messages for operators or allow them to create their own. Review chat history for canned message ideas in Analytics » Chat System » Chat transcripts. Operators can quickly access canned responses in the Operator Panel when needed to keep chat conversations flowing, especially when handling multiple chats at once.

  3. Utilization of department routing:

    Chats can be handled more effectively if customers are pointed directly to operators with skills that relate to their needs. Operators may be grouped into departments based on their unique skills or the web properties they support. You can route customers to departments based on pre-chat requirements or setup automatic department routing based on the web page that the customer is browsing when they request a chat.

    Consider adding the Knowledge Base for more efficient chatting and improved support quality. The Knowledge Base can also be published as an online support center to help customers help themselves. To try Knowledge Base free for 30 days submit a ticket explaining your request that includes your LiveHelpNow account number (located in Admin panel » My Account » Account info).

    Consider adding Email-Ticket Management to escalate difficult chats to support tickets for later follow up. To try Email-Ticket Management free for 30 days submit a ticket explaining your request that includes your LiveHelpNow account number (located in Admin panel » My Account » Account info).