Our Operators Are Standing By

by Kris Berg

Realtor, Associate Broker

Author website

In Dustin’s recent interview at RCG with the Bloodhound contributors, Brian Brady suggested that he might like to try Live Chat on his site to encourage participation from the fear-of-commitment contingent of his readership, those who are reluctant to post comments but might actually have something to ask or say.

I thought Brian might benefit from my own, personal foray into the world of Live Chat. Like many of you, I had been exposed to the concept many times, usually involving computer-blowing-up or other unfortunate technology-related mishaps. Frantically in search of a tech support phone number, I would happen upon (as in, after spending 4 1/2 hours in FAQ hell) a Live Chat option, wherein I am assured that operators are standing by. At this point in my Live Chat experience, I just saw the little button, which would ultimately lead me to a painfully long typing exchange with someone on the other side of the International Date Line who possessed no grasp of sarcasm or American Idioms, as just an evil corporate plot to assure that my computer remain in “blow up” state.

A little later, I read an article somewhere where an agent attributed a huge increase in business due to the Live Chat feature on her website. Interesting… I hadn’t really thought about the application as a business generator for real estate agents. Not to be left behind, I went directly to the Live Person website to get me one of those guys. Naturally, all questions and orders are handled there through Live Chat, and this should have been my first hint at trouble. A nice man named Ian (I don’t remember, I made that up) from Tel Aviv (that much I remember because it struck me as odd that he should open with Shabat Shalom) proceeded to set me up. In less than the time it would have taken me to run over to Alberta for a gallon of milk (I live in San Diego, so that is the joke), I had the feature installed on my website. You see, the beauty of Live Chat (for the busy operator) is that he can be chatting simultaneously with twelve customers, and the operator presumes that none is aware of this fact. I am here to tell you that, Ian, that I am on to you! Most of this particular afternoon was spent by Ian typing “I will be right back, let me check that” and by me typing “Ian, are you still there?”. I am certain that at one point during our conversation he ran out to grab a bite of lunch.

So now I had this exciting, technologically advanced feature on my site, and I braced myself for the onslaught of new business. Unfortunately, here is the typical conversation that was taking place:

I hear the “ding”, and get all excited. Someone wants to chat with me! Then, I see that the customer is our client who just moved to Florida, which makes it the eleventh time this customer has come to chat with me this week. That’s alright, though, because we now consider them good friends.

>Hello. Welcome, this is Kris. How may I help you?
>Kris? Rich here. How’s the weather in San Diego? It’s raining here.
>Hi, Rich. It’s sunny today. How’s Lynn?

This goes on for what seems like days, because neither of us is brave enough to admit that we are now bored. Also, one must keep in mind that Rich happens to be a very slow typist, so between responses I am using my down time wisely, in Ian fashion, by refilling my coffee, checking the MLS hotsheet, and preparing and filing my year-end tax return.

So after my six month experiment, the only people who ever wanted to “chat” with me were Rich and Lynn from Florida and our 25-year-old office transaction coordinator who occassionally popped in to ask if I was “up for Happy Hour”. I am prepared to admit that this was partially my fault. Since I had only purchased the “agent chat” as opposed to the “office chat”, I had the chat capability on only one computer, and I could NEVER remember to turn it on or off. There were times I would be at the computer for the entire day yet my button would be reading “Be Back Soon”. Similarly, I would too often toggle to “We’re Open” only to leave for a three hour property inspection or a trip to the grocery store. Invariably, I would return to overhear Steve on the phone, “Hi, Rich…Sunny here… How’s Lynn?” You see, he would hear my computer “ding” and would run over to see who was asking to chat with me, but didn’t know how to work the thing. So, he would end up calling them. And once, I actually got a call while I was in the grocery store. “Hi, Kris. Rich here. Your computer says you are online but…”

In summary, I tried the scheduled chat times approach, I tried the hit and miss approach, but I failed to see the value. I ultimately canceled my subscription, as I considered Live Chat a flawed communication delivery system. In the end, I believe people will find it much easier to email or, dare I say, pick up the phone.