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Livehelp for Online shops – Case study
(Note: This case study uses Videocon as an example for the purposes of explanation)

Nandita is using a Videocon split AC. The LCD display which shows the temperature has suddenly started showing absurd temperatures. She does not know what to do. She has tried everything she could but nothing seems to work. She needs help. She decides to visit the Videocon website. She goes into the FAQ section.  There is an FAQ for their four major products- Refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners and color televisions.

Fig 1. Snapshot of the FAQ page of the Videocon website

She extensively surfs through the FAQ section hoping that the query will be solved. But unfortunately the FAQ section does not address the query. Her problem has not been solved inspite of wasting 40 minutes over the Internet. Thus are several limitations of this FAQ based customer support. FAQ’s are usually not exhaustive.  It takes time to search for the relevant page. It is not very useful for people who cannot understand the complicated jargon of the documentation. Most customers need to be explained in simple terms what is to be done rather than bombarding them with technical information. The FAQ sections are very rarely updated and hence are of not much use. 

Apart from this, you currently are providing service through smart service which is basically phone based and email based. Helpline numbers are not available for all the cities. Nandita did not find an Aurangabad helpline number.  There is no concept of toll free numbers hence it is an expensive affair to call. Furthermore Smart service is providing customer support to Videocon, Akai and Toshiba at the same time. This sharing also affects the brand value of Videocon.

In the world of customer relationship management, customer support is not just a luxury, it is a necessity. Providing after sales support has no more just a differentiator, it is a sustenance tactic in today’s market where customer is the king. Providing customer support increases customer satisfaction and loyalty. Providing customer support can be an important step in image making of business. It adds value to your product and service portfolio and hence increases customer base.

The most effective and affordable way to provide this customer service is through LivehelpGenie – chat based customer service solution. LivehelpGenie has several advantages over email support and phone support.  LivehelpGenie represents your ability to respond to customer inquiries in real-time while the customer is navigating your web site.  A customer support team receives inquiries from the visitors of the website. The entire load of customer support inquiries is effectively shared among the different agents. LivehelpGenie would enable you to give your customers the service they deserve with a real person, immediate answers and accurate information.

To give you a good understanding of LivehelpGenie, we would give you a walkthrough by generating certain scenarios which are exhaustive and address most aspects of our service. We will elaborate and describe the various scenarios that might arise when you are using LivehelpGenie. Assume that there are 2 operators – one who excels in handling product related queries, one in finance related and so on

Scenario Description: Nandita is navigating your website.  She clicks 
on the “chat with us” icon on the website of Videocon. The customer 
support agent is ready to respond to nandita’s queries. A two-way 
written dialogue is initiated.

Fig  2. Snapshot of the Videocon website with LivehelpGenie  logo

Fig 3. Sample chat

 

Scenario Description: Nandita has a problem with using the air conditioner. While chatting with the agent regarding the problem she feels that she could get a better air conditioner, with latest features. The operator who initially accepted the chat does not have the answer to these questions which fall in a different domain. In this scenario LivehelpGenie allows the operator to transfer the chat to another department

Fig 4. Sample chat

The above were samples of chat which were initiated by the visitor on the Videocon website. These indicate how we could provide quick and affordable customer service on your website. Customer support could be provided round the clock. There are three shifts – 8 am to 4 pm, 4 pm to 12 midnight, 12 midnight to 8 am. This would ensure that your customers are being attended to all the time. However, you might choose to provide chat based customer service for lesser than three shifts. For the other shifts we have an email based support system.

Scenario Description: Nandita visits the website at night time.  None of the customer support people are available. The email response management system is on. Nandita leaves a message and she gets a response to her query next day.

Fig 5. Snapshot of the Videocon website with LivehelpGenie logo – email customer support

Fig 6. Snapshot of the email support system window

           

Our representative is currently unavailable. Kindly leave your email id and your query and we will get back to you at the earliest.
Subject
E-mail:
Query:	Please enter your query here.

After Nandita clarifies her doubts regarding the Air conditioner, she is generally surfing and looking for microwave ovens. She decides to visit the websites of the major players such as Phillips and LG and Videocon. She visits each of these and is bombarded with information. Each of these companies has information about their products on the website.  

Fig 7. Snapshot of the microwave ovens section on the Philips website.

Fig 8. Snapshot of the microwave ovens section on the LG website

She also visits the Videocon website. Nandita is finding it difficult to find his way around. She has spent quite some time on the website but cannot find the correct pages quickly. For instance, in order to find out relevant information about broadband services the following pages need to be navigated

Fig 9.First accessed page

 Fig 10. Second accessed page

Fig 10. Third accessed page

Fig 11. Fourth accessed page

Fig 12. Fifth accessed page

Thus Nandita reached the relevant information after traversing 5 pages. A couple of times she misunderstood the structure and accessed the wrong pages. Adding the erroneous accesses, it can be said that Nandita had to wait for at least 8 html pages to open before she got to the relevant information. Even after she has found the page for microwave ovens she realizes that the information is not enough for her to make a decision. She gets frustrated with the amount of time its taking to get the exact information and leaves the website. Consequently, Videocon has created a negative image before Nandita and they might be losing a potential customer.

Using LivehelpGenie as a navigation aid can prevent this. It makes life easy for the customer helps your customers navigate your web site by "co-browsing" with them. Agents can "push" specific web pages to the customer and help guide them through your site, locate the requested information and complete on-line forms or any other applications that will.

Fig 13. Snapshot of the Videocon website with LivehelpGenie – proactive initiation of chat

As evident from the above figure, the customer care agent initiates a chat because he/she senses that Nandita needs some help in navigation and she might be a potential customer. Thus the customer support agent invites Nandita for a chat. Nandita accepts the chat and a sample conversation is given below.

Fig 14. Sample chat

Also, while surfing Nandita finds that all these companies have products which are more or less the same, have similar features and similar pricings. All these are known brands. She might get confused and just pick any one without a very strong justification point. She might pick either Philips or LG because she might have had a good first impression of their websites, or they may have more aesthetically pleasing websites etc. She could take any decision which may not be based on rationality. She may not take any decision at all because she is confused with so many products. She may decide that she needs time and further input to decide what she wants to buy.

Videocon has just missed out on a potential customer!

Many such people visit websites every day. This represents a very huge potential market. Ideally, we should hold the customer back on our website once she is there. We should go in for push marketing. This is a very cost effective and targeted method of improving your sales. This is very targeted and effective because it does not spam the customer with extra information. Apart from marketing and advertising there are other advantages. It shortens your sales cycle. You can take secure orders during chat and sell instantly. We propose that you use LivehelpGenie, as a way of targeted marketing

Scenario description: Nandita is navigating the website because she is looking for microwave ovens.  While she is surfing, a sales support agent observes that she is visiting pages related to microwave ovens and might be a potential buyer. The sales support agent triggers a conversation as an attempt of push marketing.

Fig 15. Sample chat