The importance of empathy in customer service is not one to underestimate. But picking up the emotion behind the customer’s words is a mood minefield for agents using live chat software.
After all, they don’t have vocal tones or body language to fall back on.
That’s why WhosOn comes with a handy chat mood feature to help you out. Chat mood detection identifies the customer’s mood for you, making empathetic support that little bit easier to deliver.
But that’s a bold claim to make. Right?
Here, we dive into the core questions around the WhosOn chat mood feature.
What is chat mood detection?
Chat mood detection is a WhosOn feature that displays a real-time feed of how the customer is feeling. It is powered by the sentiment analysis algorithm that comes inbuilt with WhosOn.
This chat mood detection takes shape in the form of a visual customer mood indicator at the top of each chat window. It uses a simple smiley face format, which is easy for the agent to understand quickly.
So, via changing smiley face status, WhosOn will tell agents how a customer is feeling after every message.
This lets agents better tailor their service to the mood of the customer. They can watch a customer’s mood change as the chat unfolds and provide an emotionally intelligent support experience.
Who sees the chat mood?
This visual indicator is not customer-facing; it’s there to support agents and isn’t visible on the customer’s side of the chat.
So, the customer is unaware that WhosOn is busy analysing their mood.
Managers and supervisors are also able to see chat mood indicators. This means that they can spot when a chat is not going well and take over where needed.
If a chat is transferred, the mood indicator will go with it and become visible to the new chatting agent.
How does it work?
WhosOn scans every incoming chat message, and real-time sentiment analysis lets it recognise and flag key emotive words as they are received. These emotive words are then sorted into categories — positive, negative or neutral.
This is used to gauge the average sentiment of the chat, which is then displayed in the form of the smiley face visual indicator.
WhosOn analyses every new message on a line-by-line basis, making chat mood detection an ongoing measurement. As the chat unfolds, the mood indicator will change to reflect any changes in the customer’s mindset.
Why is it useful?
Chat mood detection is useful for creating good customer experiences, no matter how busy your chat channel gets. Chat mood indicators make it easy for agents handling multiple chats to keep track of how each individual customer is feeling.
This allows agents to be confident that they’re always responding appropriately and empathetically. This emotional understanding makes customers feel understood and listened to — a major boost to customer satisfaction.
Chat mood detection is also useful for reducing customer churn. Supervisors or managers can use it to recognise when a customer’s mood starts to head south.
At a glance, they can spot problem chats and intervene, making for easy chat escalations. This can help to get a derailed chat back on track and keep customer satisfaction up.
Give it a try
Chat mood detection is just one of the many features that WhosOn has to offer. Why not explore further, with a 30-day free trial?