Live Chat Canned Responses Cheat Sheet for Business, Sales & Support

There was a time when phone support was the preferred mode of communication by customers.

And their reason was clear – instant replies and resolution.

But the present-day reality is different. Customers can’t wait in long support call queues to get answers to their questions. That’s why they’ve switched to a different communication platform – live chat software.

Statista, in one of its studies, claims that 77% of respondents stated how they expect an instant response via online chat support.

This clearly indicates two things:

• The growing importance of live chat
• The growing importance of instant support

The need to hear a quick response has encouraged customers across the globe to opt and accept the use of live chat software. And one of the key features of live chat that help this software become fast is canned responses.

What are Canned Responses?

A live chat canned response is a predefined message that live chat operators can send in response to the most frequently asked questions from the customers. It is a staple feature found in all the best live chat software that allows operators to send one-click replies in seconds without having to type a message over and over.

Here’re some live chat canned responses examples to help you create initial templates for your operators.

Live Chat Canned Responses Examples:

1. Greeting Customers

2. Furnishing Information

3. Promotional Offers

4. Apologizing

5. Transferring Chats

You’ll come across such live chat canned responses examples later on in the article. Such canned responses are beneficial and can be set up in seconds for every department in an organization ranging from customer support to sales. Here’s how you can do it right!

How to Create Canned Responses in Live Chat Software?

Here’s a small tutorial for you to learn how to create and add canned messages for your live chat.

*Note: We’ve used ProProfs Chat to help you understand the process.

Step 1: From your ProProfs Chat dashboard, go to Settings >> General >> Canned Responses and click Add New.

Step 2: You can create a new response by adding a shortcut and the text. Alternatively, you can select from a list of predefined messages.

Step 2.1: Clicking Select Predefined Messages opens up the following window. Save when you’re done, and your new Canned Response is now ready to use.

If you want to edit or delete a Canned Response, click on the corresponding icon of the response you want to edit or delete.

To use Canned Responses, go to the Operator Chat Window, and you’ll find all the Canned Responses you’ve prepared under the Canned tab. Click the required shortcut title, for example, Welcome, and the corresponding Canned Response will appear on your dialogue box.

And that’s it, in 2 simple steps you can create and edit your existing canned responses for customer service.

Read More:  How to Add Live Chat to Your Website 

How Canned Responses Work in Different Sectors

We know how to create canned responses, but let’s take a look at the customer service chat canned response examples below. We’ll see how different sectors make use of this feature to reduce response time and encourage constant website engagement amidst their customers.

Let’s dive in!

Canned Responses Examples for eCommerce Industry

Do you know that in the year 2019 the customer wait time when using live chat software in the eCommerce industry stood at 113 seconds?

And it is only predicted to improve further. Well, that’s partially because of the live chat canned responses feature. Keeping that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the chat predefined message examples below.

#paymentbug

#cancelorder

#shippingpolicy

#emioptions

#requestexchange

Canned Responses Examples for SaaS Industry

Business owners are constantly looking for solutions that can help their operations and offer a delightful support solution to their customers. And this is exactly what makes the SaaS industry thrive in the market.

But when they offer products that enable clients to create the best support magic in the market, they are also responsible for helping them find a solution if they get stuck with the product or its policies. So, here’s a list of the best canned responses for live chat that SaaS business owners can add when helping their clients find the right solution in real-time.

#createticket

#featurerequest

#negativefeedback

Canned Responses Examples for Logistics & Shipping Industry

Here’s a list of examples of canned messages for live chat that you can use to keep your clients updated on the shipping and logistics updates.

#fileaclaim

#payment

#shippingrates

Canned Responses Examples for Human Resources & Staffing Industry

There are a lot of frequently asked questions that people in the human resources and staffing industry have to address instantly. And thanks to the canned responses, it becomes a lot simpler to offer instant answers to people. In this section, we’ll take a look at some of the best canned responses for live chat examples that can be used to address such questions faster.

#jobalerts

#blockresume

#profilefilter

General Canned Responses Examples

The examples in this section are going to be a mix of marketing, support, and sales related canned responses. To help you distinguish them better, I’ve separated them in different sections below. Let’s take a look at them.

Canned Responses Examples for Marketing

#webinar

#promoteresearch

#promotearticle

Canned Responses Examples for Support

#resolve

#features

#privacypolicy

Canned Responses Examples for Sales

#bookademo

#pricing

#compare

Read More:  Live Chat Scripts for Sales and Customer Service 

Different Situations Where You Need Canned Responses

To keep your customers engaged and satisfied (that they are being heard), your operators need to have the right canned responses for the right time.

In this section, we plan to explore different situations where you’ll understand when to use the best customer service chat canned response examples during an ongoing conversation.

1. Introducing an Operator

“First impression is the last impression.”
William Hazlitt

The first form of greetings needs to be humble, polite, yet friendly. So, make sure that you train your live chat operators to do that when they speak to your customers. But just in case your customers end up starting a conversation, then set a welcome canned response for your operators.

For example:

*Note: Once you set a canned message for your live chat operators, make sure you ask them to proofread them after sensing the customer’s temperament online.

2. At the End of a Chat

End a conversation on a good note. And creating a canned response for live chat operators can ensure the same. Here’s a live chat canned response that will leave a good impression on your customers.

For example:

*Note: Not all conversations may end at a good note. That’s why you need to train your operators for last-minute tweaks to the canned responses too.

3. Asking Customer for More Details

Various scenarios may prompt your operators to ask for more information from customers. This could be when they have questions related to order status, deliverable locations, and so on. That’s when your operators can save time by not typing the same thing every time and use a canned response.

For example:

4. Admitting a Mistake

Making mistakes can be avoided, but still, they may happen. Some mistakes may even upset customers. But before that happens, they could always admit that it was their fault. Taking responsibility during these situations enables them to create a good image for your brand too.

For example:

Read More:  Live Chat Mistakes You’re Making and How to Avoid Them

5. Operators Admitting They Do Not Know

It is okay for your operators to let the customer know that they do not know about details related to the specific query. And let’s face it, no matter how much you train your operators, there could be something for which they might need help. Canned response for live chat can come to the rescue in such situations.

For example:

6. Transfering Chat to Another Operator

Making your customers wait for an answer is a crime! As exaggerated, it may sound to you; this can cause a problem for your brand too.

If you fail to offer a response faster, your customers may end up thinking:

• You do not value their time
• Your customer service isn’t up to the mark

According to a study by Forrester, 66% of adults feel that valuing their time is the most important thing a company can do to provide them with good online customer experience. So, to avoid this hassle, you should transfer their chat to the right department.

To transfer them to the right department, you can make use of canned responses.

For example:

7. Operator Missing a Live Chat Request

Just like making your customers wait for an answer is a crime, so is missing their chats. Although, brands like ProProfs Chat make sure that a business never misses out on a support opportunity. Still, you need to have a canned response in case you catch the request and want the customer to continue with what’s bothering them.

For example:

8. Putting a Customer on Hold

Operators need more time if they want to make sure that the customer leaves with the right solution at the end of the chat. So, there is no harm in letting your customers know that they will have to wait for a while to get the desired solution. Here’s the kind of canned response you could create for your operators.

For example:

9. Handling Angry Customers

Dealing with upset customers is a part of the support process. And when your operators come across such customers, it is important that they are treated with sincere sympathy, and their problems are acknowledged with empathy. Also, your operators should be committed to doing their best to understand the problems of customers and finding the right solution.

That’s why when you create canned responses for live chat operators, make sure they sound human.

For example:

10. Offering Special Offers & Discounts

Whether it is holidays or working days, there are instances when you offer your products at special discounts to customers. Offers bring along inquires, and creating canned responses can help your operators avoid the typing effort and answer a frequently asked question instantly.

For example:

11. Offering Knowledge on Product Features

This is something that SaaS company operators deal with regularly. Potential leads will always inquire about product features if they find it useful for their business. This is precisely when your operators should be ready with the right live chat canned response for customers.

For example:

Read More:  Live Chat Etiquette for Customer Service

Top 5 Tips & Tricks for Using Live Chat Canned Responses

Now that we’ve covered the basics of canned responses and some of the examples across industries and various scenarios, let’s understand how to use them.

This section of the article focuses primarily on the top five tips and tricks that can help your operators use live chat responses examples better. So, let’s get started!

1. Do not Create Robotic Canned Responses

Customers like it when they see consistency during a conversation. And they would rather feel more engaged if there is a human touch to the conversation. Even studies confirm that 30% of consumers find it frustrating if they are not able to reach a real human.

That’s why make sure you create canned responses that sound more human and maintain the engagement during a conversation.

2. Use Canned Responses as Templates

Always use canned responses as a template. Tweak them according to the situation at your hand and make sure they sound personal. This will give your customers the impression that you care and are here to listen to them.

3. Make Sure to Double Check What Your Customer Wants

Before sending a canned response, make sure you check whether it matches the needs of the customer. Customers start communication with what they want.

So, ensure that you tweak a canned response to give an impression of a customized chat, even while handling multiple chats at one time.

4. Keep Changing Your Messages From Time to Time

I’ve always thought to myself, what if the same customer ends up getting the same canned response upon their next arrival for support. And somehow that haunts me. I don’t want my customers to read the same message when they arrive next to our website for support.

That’s why it is important to keep changing your messages from time to time to avoid:

• Repetitiveness
• Annoying customers

5. Try Adding a Touch of Humor

As good it is to be polite in your canned responses, adding a touch of humor won’t hurt your image. It will help in keeping the conversation light and easy for the customers. This even allows your customers to feel comfortable and discuss the issues in detail. Sometimes, this also leads to getting good feedback/rating after the chat is closed.

However, my suggestion to add a touch of humor isn’t for all the brands out there. You need to see your branding, how you portrait yourself amidst your target audience, the age group of your customers, gender, their preferences.

Now that we’ve covered all the basics, let’s look at some of the frequently asked questions below.

How to write excellent social media responses to customers?

With a few skills, you can write excellent social media responses to customers.

1. Try to write responses to your customers in your brand’s voicing. That means using terms and language which define the core values of your brand.

2. Be humble and ensure that you understand their core concerns and problems with empathy. This will help your customers know that you care for them and are ready to hear them out.

3. Use emojis to express better during your conversation with the customer. But make sure that you do not overdo them.

How to minimize response time on live chat using canned responses?

There are various ways that you can use to minimize the response time on live chat. Besides the use of canned responses, you can also use features like chat routing to make sure your customers reach the right department at the right time and get instant solutions to their problems. This is yet another way to reduce response time on live chat.

Read More:  How to Reduce Customer Service Response Time

What are the do’s and don’ts of canned responses?

There are a few do’s and don’ts when using canned responses. Let’s take a look at them below.

Do’s: Use canned responses to reply to frequently asked questions.
Don’ts: Use canned responses to automate the entire conversation with the customer.

Do’s: Create personalized canned responses to add a human touch to the conversation.
Don’ts: Create robotic, bland canned responses.

Do’s: Create and use longer canned responses wherever relevant.
Don’ts: Send a canned response to cut corners and respond faster.