Why I need web chat. Written by a Gen Y’er.

I’m impatient.

Sometimes I will be watching Great British Bake Off on TV, will be replying to work emails on my laptop and simultaneously searching my mobile provider’s website on my iPad to check whether or not my phone is due an upgrade; because, of course, it has died AGAIN! And rather than charge it, I’m irritated and want a new phone.

I actually don’t want to speak to anyone else.
I have spent the whole day talking to people at work. I’m not sure I can string any further words together in a cohesive manner.

Talking to my personal suppliers is not something I really WANT to do.
Sometimes it is necessary for me to engage with the brands I choose to be a consumer of but I need that to be seamless and happening without any interference with what I really want to be doing and right now, that’s to focus on the choux pastry stages with Mary Berry.

So, I open a chat at 20:12 on a Wednesday night and ask the question, “Hi there. I have had my phone for 2 years. I’m pretty sure I had an 18 month contract. What do I do to upgrade? PS the battery life on this phone is awful!”

Sophie responds: “Hi there. Sorry to hear that your phone is letting you down. Can I ask you a few questions first so that I may access your account?”
Me: “Sure Sophie, sorry! Ask away.”

A mere 20 seconds worth of security checks ensue as Sophie and I rapidly fire text back and forth. My eyes barely leave the TV screen….

Sophie: So, you are right! You are due an upgrade but you are also on the wrong package for your usage. Did you know that?

Me: “I thought as much, but haven’t got round to doing anything about it. What do you recommend?”

Sophie: “You are paying on average £62.00 per month but your package is £38.00 per month. You need more data, you are running out before the end of the month and buying more data as you go.

What phone do you fancy? Would you like me to send a link to our newest handsets?”

Me: “I do do that. I want the newest iPhone..or am I better to wait until the next one comes out? Will that be September?”

Sophie: “We don’t know yet when it will be released. The iPhone 6 is the current iPhone. We can increase your data and include the phone for £49.00 per month. That will save you £13 per month on average and will more than cover your data requirement.”

Me: “Perfect. Let’s do that.”

The contractual conversations quickly followed and the Chat ended at 20.29.

I had approved a further 24 month contract and an increased contract value within the space of 17 minutes. This would have felt like 17 minutes had I been on a call. It was part of a stream of activity and therefore those 17 minutes were spent easily multi-tasking.

Moral of the story? Just bring the mountain to Mohammed. We Gen-Y’ers can have a bit of a God complex…

 

Much thanks to our Gen Y blogger! Note the customer voice in this interaction. Web chat is a rich data source when harnessed correctly. Check out our voice of the customer white paper and also our web chat white paper for further reading.

 

* We must add that our GenY blogger’s opinion does not represent the opinions of Webhelp.