Software utilizes instant messaging for CRM.
Press Release Summary:
In addition to chat, LivePerson v6.5 offers e-mail, online knowledge base capabilities, and analytics that measure customer service representative performance. Chat in service context allows customers to interact with business rather than waiting for e-mail reply, and without expense of telephone communication.
Original Press Release:
LivePerson 6.5 Debuts
Pitching instant messaging as an integral service channel; combining telephone interactivity with the low cost of email
LivePerson has released the 6.5 version of its service-oriented customer relationship management (CRM) platform.
Since 1999, LivePerson has specialized in the chat aspect of customer service, delivered via a hosted model. Chat might sound like a tiny channel in a contact center world still dominated by the telephone, but there are plenty of companies -- e.g., Toyota's Scion brand -- for whom chat is increasingly important.
Analyst Neil MacDonald of Gartner says that chat in the service context has benefits over e-mail ("Some folks will want to interact with the business rather than waiting for an e-mail reply; it's delayed, asynchronous communication") and the telephone (which, will interactive, is an expensive channel). As for the prospects of smaller CRM companies like LivePerson and Kana (a player in this domain thanks to its acquisition of Hipbone), MacDonald points out that "Initially, this will be a niche area, but more major CRM vendors will incorporate it as it becomes more widely adopted."
It's important to note that LivePerson 6.5 goes beyond chat, adding e-mail and online knowledge base capabilities. New features include better chat routing capability and analytics measuring customer service representative performance.
The suite elements won't be fully integrated until a September release, according to Tony Pante, LivePerson's SVP of marketing. That's when the company's "ticketing" feature will kick in -- allowing, for example, service representatives to track phone calls, e-mails, and chats pertaining to specific issues in one place.
Offshoring customer service on the telephone channel continues to be a hot topic, but it applies to chat and e-mail as well, with a separate statement from Pante noting that the product "allows corporations to expand their contact center and online sales operations domestically and abroad."
Whether offshore or not, Gartner's MacDonald notes that the most important factor in a chat strategy is to "make sure that someone is there to respond" -- nonresponsiveness, particularly in this context, is something that can really sour a customer.
