Sticky Note October 2007

Invite — But Don’t Pester

Sending chat invitations visitors who land on your sweet-spot product pages is a good strategy for increasing sales. Sending more than one invitation to a visitor in the same session, however, can backfire.

So how do you let high-potential visitors know that live help is available? Dynamic chat buttons are your answer.

Here’s how they work: Let’s say a visitor with has $500 worth of products in their shopping cart but just isn’t taking the next step in the process. Naturally you’d invite them to chat. If they decline, provide a click-to-chat button in a visible but non-intrusive area on the screen, such as the left-hand margin. This sends the message to the visitor that you’re standing by just in case he or she has a question. And because you’re offering the click-to-chat option selectively, you reserve valuable chat resources for your best prospects.