Proactive live chat: Mass-centered approach Vs. Target-centered approach

Determining your customers is the first step of integrating live chat software on your website. Who you are addressing to and why, shapes all the decisions that you take next in customizing your live chat features.

Mass-centered approach

Mass centered approach means that you are addressing each and every one who visits your website. Your live chat operators are available to anyone who contacts them. Although a mass-centric approach provides a greater connectivity and broadens your horizons yet it has some disadvantages. Online businesses that want to reach out internationally and want to have a maximum customer turn over, usually have this approach. Their representatives cater audiences of all kinds to make their customer approach more versatile.

How to make it work:

To attract masses for chat invitation, you do not have to put in a lot of effort. Your chat invitation style and window plays a very crucial part when you have a mass centric approach, because in this case you invite every visitor for a chat. How attractive your chat features are determines how many customers are going to chat with you.

Advantages:

• Allows you to reach masses
• It lets international customers approach you.
• It enables you to connect with a vast array of customers and address their issues
• Gives your website a friendlier, inviting and welcoming touch.

Disadvantages

• Will give a chance for web trolls to reach you
• Can be annoying for the customers, especially if the invitation is forced on them.
• Uninterested and indecisive customers can waste your time
• Time spent in dealing with trolls and uninterested customers can keep interested and loyal ones waiting. This in turn can annoy your serious customers, something which you cannot afford.
• It gives chances for spam messages and sharing of files containing viruses.

A specific customer approach

In this type of approach, only some categories of customers are addressed. Usually only interested buyers or people from specific areas are invited to chat. Such an approach filters audiences allowing only those to pass whom you are targeting

How to make it work:

To make your live chat support target specific, you have to go an extra mile. You need to keep a close check on the traffic of your website. Which customers are visiting you, which pages are viewed most and on which page do the customers spend most time on. You can further filter your search by focusing on each and every visitor closely.  Keeping those things in mind, either you can make your chat page specific, keyword specific or session specific.

Advantages:

• Reduces time and efforts of your representatives
• Allows you to reach only those customers who are interested
• Gives you a chance to attend to your loyal customers
• Keeps you relatively safe from web trolls and cyber bullies
• Provides much more convenience to both customers and operators

Disadvantages:

• Has a limited approach
• Does not allow you to address to a wide range of customers
• Can be unfair to some customers who want your help but cannot reach you because they do not meet your filtering process.

Having a mass centered approach gives you a greater scope of connection, however, the disadvantages it offers can have damaging results. A specific target approach allows more convenience and is a better option for all kinds of businesses.