Online consultants

There are several ways to get an answer to your question. It all depends on the degree of "advancement" of the visitor. He can:

• call by phone (or Skype);
• write an email;
• send a message via IM (in most cases it is ICQ).

But there is a way that allows you to communicate without even paying attention from an open page. This use of online consultants.

The word "online" in the title implies receiving a response in the shortest possible time - ideally, the delay should be no more than 10 seconds. This is not an email where messaging can take several days. Therefore, the company should be staffed by carefully monitoring the use of an online consultant. Of course, this additional burden may entail demands for an increase in staff salaries, but which customer cares?

Interested in the topic, I conducted a small experiment - I sent a letter to online bookstores asking about a discount for a rather large wholesale purchase. As a result, the answer came only from 35%.

The advantage of using online consultants is that visitors do not need to install additional software - everything happens in a browser window. This will be appreciated by both housewives and numerous workers, on whose computers limited rights, and asking by phone about a new 150-inch TV is too noticeable.
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But nothing, if not for some problems. There are many systems and each has its own design, which is often radically different from its competitors. Some look like a simple window with several input fields (“Marva”):


Others fully adopt the type of instant messaging clients (Prime system):


This is terribly annoying to visitors who constantly get used to the new interface.

Another disadvantage is excessive interest in personal customer data. For example, why indicate your name and email address for the sake of a single question? When I come to the store, they don’t ask me to introduce themselves and dictate their contact details (“LiveZilla”):



Sometimes you have to enter captcha to get help (Home Credit and Finance Bank):


My idea of ​​the right online consultant:

• does not require personal data - only a line for entering text and an area with answers;
• does not require indication of the topic of the question;
• does not require captcha;
• time stamps are present;
• A message with a greeting and the name of a consultant to facilitate contact making;
• contains information about alternative communication methods and a link to the FAQ;
• in the absence of operators, an offer to leave your contacts and question in order to get an answer later.

Perhaps I missed something?