Question: A really obnoxious visitor won't stop chatting with me! How can I make them go away!?!?

I remember when I was first starting my search for a remote job. It was intimidating! Limited resources. Lack of support. Difficult to maneuver through jobs that were fully remote vs. those that allowed “some” work from home. I eventually found the perfect fit at Olark and it’s been amazing for my family, my life, and my sanity.

The vast majority of questions we get at Olark are pretty simple, or at least quick for our talented team to resolve. A few times a day we get questions that are mind-boggling, unusual, new, or just plain hard to figure out. We have some unique and not-so unique strategies to unravel tough problems and reduce the wait time for our customers, all while thriving as a remote team. Let’s follow the path of one of these questions to see what happens!

When Olark was founded, way back in 2009, most businesses offered one of two basic online communication options: email and web forms. There have been a lot of changes since then! Today, businesses communicate with customers not just via live chat, but also via online messaging, social media, and more.

Question: Sometimes when I'm chatting I get a visitor repeatedly checking to see that they haven't lost me. It makes me crazy! What's the best way and frequency to reassure them that I'm still working on their question?

While we can’t solve every problem, Olark Live Chat is a pretty powerful little chat widget that can help in some pretty big ways. We put our heads together and came up with a list of 52 tips — one for every week of the year — to help you save time and delight your customers.

I like to end my chats with “Thanks for stopping by!” — but some of my colleagues use “It was a pleasure talking with you!” Is one better than the other? Or does it not matter?

Getting back to work in the New Year can be a challenge for even the most diligent of over-achievers.

Want to chat with your customers directly from Slack? The Olark Live Chat Slack App makes that possible! You can also share conversations with teammates in Slack, ask for help when things get busy, and celebrate together when one of your team members gets a 5-star customer rating.