A pre-chat survey enables the collection of visitor information prior to the chat session beginning and quickly route the session to the agent most qualified to manage the chat. It is beneficial in service and support scenarios because visitors already expect to provide initial information to have their issue resolved. Some sample pre-chat survey questions include:

• Name
• Email address
• User ID or account
• Order or ticket number

When customers request live chat services, they should be able to provide some preliminary data in a pre-chat survey to set the course of the chat session. For example, they can provide their name and a quick description of what they need. At that point, the chat agent is prepared to enter the discussion with solutions regarding the customer’s concerns.

Role of Pre-Chat Surveys

Pre-chat surveys serve a significant role in supporting your customers. It is the earliest chance to obtain precise information from a client, so it is important to design pre-chat survey questions that count. Pre-chat surveys help you to get to know your customers better. By customizing the questions, you can improve the responses and enhance case resolution. The top four benefits of designing a pre-chat survey include:

1. Handle situations that begin with a pre-chat survey immediately. Thoughtfully designing questions provide a plethora of additional information, eliminating the need to for details once the live chat starts. You can also add options that enable customers to select particular department they want to reach. For example, if they need to change the shipping address for their order, they can go straight to the section that handles address changes without waiting for an agent to get them to that area.
2. Pre-chat surveys produce meaningful discussions. When businesses utilize custom-tailored surveys, the chat lengths decrease significantly. The more information available, the shorter the chats, and the faster that cases can be resolved.
3. Questions are easier to answer with the availability of a pre-chat survey. Not all problems can be solved in one chat because some are just too complex or are too involved to handle via chat. However, custom pre-chat surveys are an extremely successful method for resolving complex situations quickly.
4. More satisfied customers. Anything might be helpful during live chats should be included in the pre-chat survey design. Nonetheless, you need to limit the number of questions. Make sure to ask only about the most noteworthy details that are vital to swiftly resolving issues. The sweet spot is no more than five precise questions, including name and email address.

Aside from the issues, the survey should also include a brief welcome message and an invitation to chat. Select questions that help quickly extract the details you need to help solve a problem. What’s more, all the information agents gather is useful even after the chat ends. For instance, you can offer to send a copy of the chat transcript to the customer. Also, by establishing up customized variables, you can display information about your clients directly using live chat software to provide more for your agents to work with when answering customers’ questions.