Clickatell Resources

Configure your chat flow in minutes (yes, seriously). No tech knowledge required.

We’ll walk you through how to deploy conversational experiences in minutes.

Enable this real-time customer engagement platform—and be up-and-running in minutes.

Create a digital contact that works smarter—for your customers and your agents.

Customers today expect customer service from your business at any hour of the day or night. Eighty percent of customers now consider the experience a company provides to be as important as its products and services . And 66% expect a company to understand their needs and expectations. With a smart chatbot strategy, your company can do just that. Using chat—and chatbots—to communicate with customers has been gaining traction fast. Chatbots, inserted strategically in the customer journey, help brands increase customer engagement, brand loyalty, provide support and service through an ultra-convenient channel, and grow revenue through a wide variety of methods. What Are Proactive Chat Triggers? Proactive chat triggers are chat interactions that are triggered by a customer’s actions. For example, when a potential customer spends more than a couple of minutes looking at the same product page, a chatbot pop ups and ask if they’d like to see more information about the item. Other examples of proactive chat triggers include: A customer navigates away from the checkout page before paying for items in their cart. A chatbot could remind them they have items in the cart and/or ask if they need help choosing a payment option. A customer visits the pages of two or more similar products. This could trigger the chatbot to ask the visitor whether they would like to see more models of the item to help them narrow their choice. A customer visits a website for the second time. The chatbot might respond with a message like, “Welcome back!” A visitor comes to the website while a live agent is on duty and able to take questions. If the customer is inactive for a few minutes, the chatbot might ask whether the visitor would like to chat with an agent. Key Benefits of Proactive Chat Triggers Proactive chat triggers offer numerous ways to increase your brand’s customer service. No matter what time of the day or night your customers will be able to inquire about something to do with your business. What’s more, they’ll get an instant response based on what they are currently doing. Here are some of the key benefits you can enable with proactive chat triggers: Improve Customer Engagement Rate Conversational chatbots improve customer engagement rates significantly. You can get the most out of them when you choose optimum triggers including: Welcoming new and return visitors when they come to your website. Asking visitors to sign up for your newsletter or connect on social media before they navigate to another site. Calling attention to the chatbot and pointing out what exactly the bot can help the customer do or learn. Higher Sales Conversion Everyone wants better customer engagement. A higher sales conversion, however, is the ultimate goal—one that the right chatbot triggers can help deliver by gently nudging visitors toward your products and services. Here are some examples of triggers that might help a chatbot increase your sales conversion rate: The shopper has come to your site from a competitor’s website. The shopper lives in an area where your business has local brick-and-mortar stores. The shopper puts something into their cart but later decides to remove it. Reduce Cart Abandonment Rate Cart abandonment is the bane of all ecommerce sites. Overall, more than 88% of online shoppers abandon their orders before purchasing. Whether you have a store that sells consumer electronics (88.49% of carts are abandoned) or automotive items (96.88% of carts are abandoned), solving this critical business challenge is a priority for any online brand. Chatbot triggers can help you to reduce your cart abandonment rate by responding to: A person trying to leave your site while they have items in their cart. A person navigating away from your payment page without providing payment information. A person adding more than one of the same item to their cart. How to Choose the Right Proactive Chat Trigger How do you determine which chatbot triggers are the right ones to take advantage of? Ultimately, you will need to do some research and testing to find the optimum chatbot triggers for your business. Those that work for an insurance agency might likely not be right for an automotive store. Chat triggers that work wonders for an apparel company might fall flat for a business that sells construction materials. Here are some common use cases to jump-start your strategizing: Upsell and Increase Sales Conversions You own a business that sells posters. When someone adds an 18x24-inch poster to their shopping cart, it triggers your chatbot to ask whether they want to add a frame to their order. The shopper hadn’t really thought about it until now, but getting a frame makes sense. Congratulations, your chatbot trigger just gave you another sale. Prevent Cart Abandonment It’s a familiar story: The shopper put several things in their cart, but for some unknown reason they’re leaving your site without actually buying the products. That action triggers your chatbot to say something like, “It looks like you left some items in your shopping cart! Get a 10% discount if you check out within the next five minutes.” The combination of saving money and facing a time limit both incentivizes and puts a gentle pressure on the customer toward completing the purchase. Re-engage Repeat Visitors Repeat visitors are second only to repeat buyers. When someone visits your site frequently, they are demonstrating a clear and significant  interest in what you sell. Something, however, prevents them from clicking “buy now” and becoming a full-fledged customer. Repeat visitors could trigger chatbot messages like: Save 10% and get free shipping today only! Have you seen our new arrivals? Click here. They’re amazing. We’ve updated our website. Let us show you how ordering is easier than ever. Responding to these chat triggers makes your brand appear friendly, you improve customer engagement, primes customers for purchase. Answering Support Queries People often have a lot of questions before they buy items online. Effective chatbot triggers can look for signs of hesitancy: clicking on a lot of products without adding anything to the cart, moving between multiple ecommerce stores, backing away from payment pages at the last minute. These triggers give your chatbot opportunities to ask the visitor whether they have questions. Answering a few simple support queries could move them closer to conversion. It could also engage your customers and give them a better connection to your brand. Make Your Chatbot More Effective with Clickatell Making your chatbot more effective can take time, research, and testing. A trusted and experienced partner can make all the difference. Clickatell makes it easy to design and deliver these seamless engagements—with no technical experience needed. Our Chat Desk is one of the most advanced digital contact solutions in the world. It relies on conversational technology to help provide customer support through a mix of Chat and live agent interactions through a mix of Chat and live agent interactions. Our drag-and-drop visual tool, Clickatell Chat Flow , simplifies the process of rolling out seamless cross-channel customer journeys from one that requires weeks or months and pulls on many resources across your company, to one that can be designed and deployed by a non-technical business user with no long lead times. And, our chat commerce solution helps customers not just engage, but also safely and efficiently make purchases within chat channels, including chat apps. Reach out to our team to see how action-based triggers and the messages can convert more visitors into buyers for your company.

Customer service is critical to the success of your business. Deliver a great experience, and customers will keep coming back. Fall short, and customers might very well look to your competition. Excellent customer service does not always have to mean that you have a sophisticated team of professionals ready to answer every question. In today’s mobile first world, excellent customer service means giving consumers the ability to help themselves. Customer self-service that meets the needs of today’s busy consumer often relies on advanced technologies that engage and guide people through processes without even communicating with live customer representatives. What Exactly Is Customer Self-Service? The phrase “customer self-service” can refer to any tool that helps customers get the information they need—without contacting your customer support team. Why would customers want to help themselves instead of speaking with a person? Today’s consumers want things on their time and their terms and the companies that can deliver both will thrive in the coming decade. Chat solutions are an excellent choice for customer support because they enable interactions 24/7. Consumers do not have to sacrifice time during daytime work hours to resolve return issues or ask questions – they can reach your contact center and initiate a chat communication that can be continued and resolved in minutes, hours or days (depending on their schedule they can use chat for support inquiries based on their convenience). Additionally, there is no time limit to the chat communication, no time-outs and, no dropped calls or long wait times to speak to a live agent. Forbes has recently reported that poor customer experiences cost businesses more than $75 billion each year. Businesses can struggle to provide the positive, emotion-driven experiences that today’s consumers have come to expect as a benchmark for their business. They want personalization. They expect convenience and reliability. And they want the flexibility to ask questions and make transactions on their time, and without hiccups or hassle. Most businesses today are looking to solve this challenge with innovative new technologies that connect directly with their customers in their preferred method – Chat! For those businesses willing to adopt new modern methods of engaging with their customers, it is also an opportunity to gain a serious competitive advantage. Why Customer Self-Service with Chat Is So Successful It is easy to see why so many people prefer self-service, particularly when you consider how shopping has changed. In the early 2000’s ordering a product from a company often required browsing a catalog, noting the item that you wanted to buy, and calling the sales number to place your order, waiting on hold for 30 minutes or longer. With the evolution of mobile apps, mobile technologies and the adoption of a mobile first experience, consumers want to order a product at any time of the day or night, pay for that order, receive a confirmation number and receive an estimated time of delivery. Chat commerce is a better way to serve customers—reaching them through the convenience of chat and leaving them happy after a great brand experience. Most of today’s most common support and service functions were designed and deployed before the digital age. Only 3 percent of customers enjoy using interactive voice response (IVR). How many people even enjoy the prospect of placing a call to resolve an issue, pay a bill or have a simple question answered? Estimates put the total costs to support the call center industry at $1.3 trillion . Companies can find more satisfying, streamlined approaches to solving problems. Chat commerce offers an immediate reduction in service and support spend and an investment in services that will improves business operations and brand loyalty. No longer do customers need to sit on indefinite holds, go through complicated IVR menus, and leave feeling that their time and energy is not valued. Options for Chat Self-Service You can fit a lot of features under the “customer self-service” umbrella. Some of the most popular customer self-service options include: Informative blog posts Knowledge bases Online communities where customers share advice Product training, such as videos and step-by-step instructions FAQs Chat bots can help with common services such as setting up accounts, authorizing devices, and processing returns Chat is one of the most promising customer self-service options. Chat allows for better customer engagement by putting the power in the customer’s hand, letting them start—and pause—an interaction and return when it is convenient, without losing the thread and context. It also saves time, both for your customer service agents and your customers, particularly when it handles your common requests. Chat—and even chat bots—cannot do everything, of course. It is important to find solutions that allow customers to escalate issues and connect with live customer service agents. When a conversation is complicated, a real person should enter into the conversation right away, in a way that is seamless to the customer. In some cases, a customer service rep should enter into the conversation and apply human insight that can solve a problem outside of a chat bot’s programming. An intelligent self-service solution needs to recognize that individual consumers have unique preferences. One person may prefer talking to people in a community support forum. A different person may prefer using your chat bot. Adopting a multi-channel approach to customer self-service ensures that you meet the needs of more customers. You should provide an opportunity to call for support. A lot of people aren’t willing to engage with an agent through a phone call, but there are consumers who still enjoy talking to real humans and resolve issues that are best solved via that path. Set yourself up for self-service success: Clickatell Chat Desk Clickatell’s self-service chat solution, Chat Desk , makes it easy to provide your consumers with the services they want, conveniently and efficiently. Thanks to self-service chat, customers can get the services they want 24/7 from anywhere on any device. Chat also offers instant answers to questions. Impatient customers will love how quickly they can get the help they need. Chat can fulfill a broad range of duties, such as letting customers: Check the status of their orders and delivery times. Find nearby businesses and their hours of operation. Confirm appointments. Confirm flight times and get detailed information about arrivals and departures. Clickatell’s self-service chat solutions help customers. They also help you easily, and quickly, take advantage of the trend toward self-service by helping your company: Improve customer satisfaction and retention. Broaden channel choice for consumers. Reduce call volume. Lower the amount of money you spend on customer service representatives. Give consumers more opportunities to engage with your brand. Navigate customers toward the self-service solutions that will work best for them. Optimize customer experiences by collecting data from exchanges between people and the chat bots. Chat self-service can revolutionize the way your company helps customers. Are you ready to learn more about how self-service chat bots can benefit your specific company? Reach out to Clickatell to find out how the right mix of self-service customer tools can give your company the edge.

Clickatell now supports QR codes as a simple and secure way for customers to rapidly reach businesses on the world’s leading messaging channel, WhatsApp, with over 2 billion active users. QR codes or Quick Response codes are the 2D matrix bar codes often found on consumer products, magazines, coupons, and more. By scanning a QR code with one of their mobile devices, your customers can automatically be directed to your business’s WhatsApp channel, a product offer, a web page, or a payment system, to conduct business activities. As contactless interactions between customers and brands grow in a new digital era, so does the need for customers to be able to quickly reach businesses with minimal effort on a familiar messaging channel. Clickatell’s WhatsApp QR codes for businesses is a quick and easy way for your customers to reach and interact with you on WhatsApp. There is no need for your customers to memorize your business’s phone number, website, or store your details as a contact. Let your customers start a conversation with you today on the world’s favorite messaging app in three simple steps: Point, Scan, Chat ! Multiple Customer Access Points WhatsApp QR codes are accessible through multiple entry points. QR codes can be positioned outside your storefront or digitally on your website or your WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram communications. WhatsApp QR Code Use Cases Several compelling QR code use cases are emerging across industries. Chat engagement, product discovery, and problem resolution are some of the most popular activities that are being initiated with WhatsApp QR codes. Chat engagement – Let your customers start a secure conversation with you on WhatsApp quicker than ever before by scanning one of your accessible QR codes. Product discovery – Provide your customers with product information or an offer to drive customer adoption of your products or services. Problem resolution – Immediately redirect customers to your customer support department with a WhatsApp QR code and intuitive pre-filled message template to resolve their requests. WhatsApp QR codes will elevate your customer experience, reduce friction, and make it easier for your customers to reach and engage with you on the leading messaging channel, WhatsApp. As a business, you can pre-fill your response to the first message customers send you after scanning a QR code to help guide them through their business activity. How to get started with Clickatell’s WhatsApp QR codes All you need is an approved WhatsApp Business Account. Reach out to us today to learn more about WhatsApp QR codes for your business needs and how we can help you connect, interact, and transact with your customers.

In an age when people can purchase practically any item online, customer service has become increasingly important to consumers. The majority of shoppers still prefer in-store experiences. Generational shifts , however, show that about 67 percent of millennials and 56 percent of Gen Xers prefer online shopping. The Covid-19 pandemic will likely increase these percentages, so you should expect to adjust your approach to accommodate evolving preferences . As people move away from brick-and-mortar stores, you could lose your connection to customer support. Avoid this issue by adopting technologies that will improve your relationships, give customers the information they need, and solve problems quickly without meeting in person. What Are the Benefits of Customer Self-Service? Customer self-service offers several benefits for businesses and consumers. Customers tend to enjoy self-service because they get: Quick access to the information and services they need. 24/7 support that doesn’t force them to follow your business hours. Immediate answers from other people who have experienced similar issues. Consistency across multiple channels, such as social media platforms, your website, and supportive materials. Importantly, many of today’s young consumers prefer communicating via text and online interactions. They don’t want to call a customer service line, sit on hold, and try to get help from a representative. For them, it’s a frustrating experience that can influence which brands they choose to buy from. Businesses can also benefit from self-service customer support. When you rely on the right tools, your business can: Spend less money hiring customer service reps. Attract more consumers who prefer quick, self-service solutions. Look more technologically advanced. Adopt a multi-channel approach to improved customer service. 4 Options for Providing Customer Self-Service You need to create an effective strategy before your business and customers benefit. You can start by focusing on the following options. 1. Create a Knowledge Base A reliable knowledge base should answer the most common questions that you get from customers. You can probably start developing your knowledge base before you even release a product to customers. Spend some time thinking about the issues a new user might encounter. Then, write step-by-step answers that lead the user to success. After you take care of the “low-hanging fruit,” you can grow your knowledge base by: Creating a structure that makes it easy for customers to browse questions and answers. Write different knowledge base articles that address the needs of beginner, intermediate, and advanced users. Make your knowledge base more engaging and useful by adding diagrams, animations, and so on. Monitor customer questions to decide which topics you should add to your knowledge base. You can also offer improved customer support by adding a search field that directs people to content that helps them answer questions. 2. Provide Automated Support Chatbots can answer common, basic questions from customers. They can also perform tasks like: Redirecting questions to customer service agents when necessary. Providing links to other helpful resources. Addressing customer needs at all times of the day or night. Encouraging customer interaction. Collecting data to give you deeper insights into customer needs and concerns. Online customers have gotten used to automated support. Today, they expect a chatbot to help them with basic issues. 3. Publish Pre-Recorded Classes and Tutorials Pre-recorded classes and tutorials teach new customers how to use your products and services without forcing your business to spend money on permanent additions to your customer support team. The best classes and tutorials usually: Include images or videos that show people the precise steps they need to take to reach a goal. Provide audio instructions for people who learn best by listening. Get to the point to keep content short and effective. Link to other resources customers might find useful. It costs some money to make pre-recorded classes and tutorials, but you will recoup those costs by reducing the size of your customer service team. 4. Build a Public Forum or Community (Like GitHub) A public forum or community gives customers a place to connect and answer each other’s questions. You might want to moderate comments and offer corrections, but the communities largely manage themselves. Reliable places to create public forums and communities include: GitHub Reddit Quora Discord Explore your options to find a platform that will appeal to your target demographic. Good Self-Service vs. Bad Self-Service Don’t assume that all self-service customer support will give you positive results. Your approach will influence whether you benefit from improved customer support. In general, good self-service customer support: Provides straightforward information that leads customers to success. Automates tasks that customers can complete online without human interactions. Offers diverse approaches to training to meet everyone’s preferred learning styles. Streamlines processes. Doesn’t interrupt customers too often while they browse your site. Understands when to get a human customer service rep involved. Bad self-service support often does the opposite. It: Doesn’t offer information that truly answers customer questions. Never evolves to meet the changing needs of your customers. Takes a single-handed approach to teaching skills. Uses poorly trained chatbots that can’t simulate human interactions. Doesn’t know when it has reached its limitations and needs to alert a customer service employee. Since you want improved customer support, pay attention to how your tools work and make adjustments to keep up with what your audience prefers. Self-Service Doesn't Replace Human-Powered Support Chat commerce can make custom self-service easier than ever. The technology does have limitations, though. You cannot always trust it to give customers the answers and resources that they need to succeed. Even the best chatbot will fail at times. Clickatell Chat Desk was built to improve the live agent experience in contact centers because human interactions are needed to solve complex customer problems. Chat Desk decreases wait times and allows live agents to focus on what matters most for support – solving problems and delivering high-quality engagements that matter most to customers. While it makes sense to put chatbots and other self-service options on the front line of your customer support strategy, you still need to employ customer service representatives trained to handle extraordinary situations. You also need to consider that some people simply do not like self-service customer support. They still want to speak with an empathetic person who can lead them to the right solutions. In this capacity, Chat Desk provides an extraordinary level of support and value, reducing workload pressure on your call center and giving supervisors more insight into customer issues and more control into elevations. Improved customer support, in other words, needs to include diverse technologies. Get in touch with Clickatell to learn more about options that will appeal to your customers while helping you save money, increase conversions, and improve efficiency.