During our 10K customer campaign back in February, Nosh Detox chatted with us to say they'd closed a £1,000 sale on chat in one day. So I called Tevita Lesuma, Nosh Detox's business growth manager, to find out how they did it.
"Originally we thought it would be complicated to organize a chat service - that it was only for larger companies with an existing call center. That wasn't the case at all."
That's according to Tevita Lesuma, business growth manager for Nosh Detox, who tells me that chat is now the company's most effective tool for connnecting with customers.
Nosh Detox is an award-winning London-based company founded by Geeta Sidhu-Robb in 2008 after she spent years fighting her son’s multiple food allergies and anaphylaxis as a baby. Nearly seven years in business now, the company prepares and delivers nutritionally-based fresh food and juices for clients around the world, and employs trained nutritionists to develop meal plans that promote health and well-being.
Nox Detox started offering live chat bout two years ago. As the company grew, it wanted to provide its customers with the ability to get in touch any day of the week.
"Having an 'always on' communication channel and the ability to customize the chat experience makes our customers happier, and makes us appear to be a larger operation than we really are," says Tevita. "This in turn instills trust in our new and returning customers, which leads to a higher likelihood of completing a sale."
Tevita says the company's success on chat starts with a customer-centric philosophy: help first, then sell.
Here's how they do it:
Make it easy for returning customers
"Returning customers are literally the easiest sales conversation for both customers and our operators," says Tevita.
According to Tevita, nearly 99% of Nosh Detox clients are fully employed. For those customers, the ability to place an order without breaking away from what they're working on is a big plus. "Returning customers know we already have their payment information on file, so they authorize a purchase in chat, and we process the order."
One returning customer placed a £400 order over live chat, and the order took less than five minutes to complete.
Nosh Detox typically has two to three operators on chat, and at least one operator always logged in. While operators on chat also help answer phone calls, Tevita says operators know chat takes priority. "If an operator is on chat and on the phones, operators are instructed to let our automated phone service answer a call if they're engaged in a chat conversation, especially for returning clients."
Put your experts on the front line
As with any highly nuanced product, it's important to give customers a direct line of communication with experts for accurate product information. But those experts shouldn't be so focused on the product that they lack general knowledge.
At Nosh Detox, operators are nutritionists well-versed on general health and wellness. This helps them ask the right questions so they can better understand a customer's goals and needs. As Tevita tells me, "Especially with nutrition, it's important for a customer to know exactly what they're buying and what they're getting involved with in one of our meal plans. When we can give a customer the information they're after in black and white, they're more likely to purchase."
This approach has shown proven results. Tevita tells me in one day, Nosh Detox closed a £1,500 sale - one operator talking with one customer. To help put that in perspective, the company's average sales value is approximately £165.
Help before you sell
Tevita also says Nosh Detox operators think like researchers helping customers in a virtual library. As such, they first try to understand what the customer is trying to achieve, and then make recommendations so the customer doesn't have to sift through the ENTIRE site to find what they're looking for.
"If a customer says they want to lose weight, or they're suffering from IBS or they have to follow a lactose free diet, our operators say, 'Give me some bullet points on what you're looking to accomplish' before they start making recommendations," says Tevita. "Cost is only mentioned at the very end of the conversation when it seems like a solution has been identified."
Though Nosh Detox continues to grow (the company just started shipping to Ft. Worth, TX), it remains faithful to its helpful, customer-centric approach to live chat. Tevita even tells me that he comes in on busy weekends to help provide chat cover. "Ultimately the goal is to be there always for our customers."
