TrueAccord announced last week that it has rolled out a web chat feature for consumers who would prefer to communicate with the company online, citing data that a growing number of consumer prefer that method over phone, email, and social media support.
Looking to capitalize on the last few weeks of tax season, in which 59% of consumers are expecting a refund and 33% of them will be using it to pay down debt, TrueAccord launched the feature to help manage “the large volume of inbound requests while also maintaining the quality of customer interactions,” it said in a blog post on its company website.
On consumer-facing pages of its website, visitors will see a bubble that can be clicked on to open a chat session with a company customer-service agent. Among the expected benefits of the feature are:
- Improved user experience by offering a preferred method of communication
- Reduced in in-bound call volume
- Increased accounts closed rate
- Managed tax season volume
- Improved quality service levels across all operations communication channels with self service options for most commonly asked questions and inquiries now via web chat
The benefits of a web chat channel for a collection agency are that one agent can manage multiple chats simultaneously, compared with only being on one phone call at a time, while also offering yet another communication channel to consumers who might be too embarrassed or shy or otherwise unable to engage in a phone conversation.