You’re great at answering questions. But what if you could do more than just respond? What if you could lead the entire conversation?
Picture this: a waiter brings your order exactly as requested. Solid service, right? Now imagine that same waiter notices your interest in the wine list and says, “Since you ordered the steak, you might love this Malbec, it pairs beautifully.” That’s not just service. That’s initiative! On chat, you already deliver what the customer asks for. But the best agents go further – they spot opportunities, offer relevant suggestions, and create moments that feel personal and valuable. That’s how you turn a good interaction into a memorable one.
In our last article, we talked about the importance of guiding the conversation. This time, we’re taking that idea one step further.
Guiding means confidently steering the topic and helping the customer find their way. But taking initiative? That’s about having the courage to introduce something new, re-engage when things go quiet, or suggest an offer the customer didn’t even know they needed.
The Proactive Pivot
A chat conversation is a dynamic, fluid interaction. Opportunities can appear and disappear in a matter of seconds. An agent who takes initiative is trained to spot these moments and act on them. This involves two key skills:
- Re-engaging a “Ghosting” Customer: It happens all the time. The conversation is going well, and then… silence. A passive agent might wait a minute, then close the chat. An agent who takes the initiative sees this as a critical moment to intervene. They don’t let the lead go cold.
- Introducing Unsolicited Value: This is the art of the “proactive pivot.” After resolving the customer’s initial query, the agent pivots to a related topic that could benefit the customer. It could be a relevant cross-sell, a helpful tip, or information about a promotion. They don’t wait to be asked; they offer value freely.
Why is this so critical? Because customers don’t always know what they don’t know. They might not be aware of a service package that could save them money or a new feature that perfectly solves their underlying problem. Taking the initiative is about connecting the dots for them, which not only increases the value of the transaction but also builds immense trust and positions your agent as a true expert.
Initiative in Action: Real Chat Examples
Let’s see how this proactive mindset plays out.
Scenario 1: The Customer Goes Silent
- Context: The agent has just answered a series of questions about a car’s features. The customer has read the messages but hasn’t replied for over a minute.
- The Passive Agent:
(Waits another 30 seconds)
(If no reply, closes the chat)
- The Proactive Agent:
(Notices the pause)...
Instead of putting the pressure on the customer to reply, the agent offers a new, low-effort way to engage.
This often breaks the silence and keeps the conversation alive.
Scenario 2: The Proactive Pivot (Cross-selling)
- Context: A customer has successfully ordered a specific replacement part for their car’s air conditioning system.
- The Passive Agent:
Agent 12:45 PM
- The Proactive Agent (The Guide)
Agent 12:10 PM
The agent used the context of the initial request to make a relevant, valuable, and timely offer.
This is expert-level initiative.
Tools for Taking-and Tracking-Initiative
To encourage this behavior, you need to empower your agents and measure their efforts.
- Tags: Create specific tags in LiveChat to monitor when agents are taking the initiative. You could use tags like Initiative-Taken, Cross-sell-Offered, Re-engaged-Client. Train your agents to apply these tags to the relevant chats. This transforms a “soft skill” into a measurable action. Learn how to use tags effectively here: Tags – a way to categorize chats.
- Reports: Your tags are only as good as your analysis. Regularly dive into your LiveChat Reports and filter by your custom tags. This allows you to answer critical questions: Which agents are taking the initiative most often? Do chats tagged with Initiative-Taken have a higher customer satisfaction rating? Do Cross-sell-Offered tags correlate with higher sales? This data-driven approach allows you to see the real ROI of proactive behavior. Explore your reporting capabilities here: Reports in LiveChat.
Taking initiative requires an agent to think beyond the immediate conversation. They need to see the bigger picture: Who is this customer? What have they asked about before? What are they looking at now? Juggling multiple windows and tabs can make this impossible, leading to mental overload.
Super Agent is designed to solve this problem. It consolidates all relevant information into a “single pane of glass.” On one screen, your agent can see:
- The live chat conversation.
- The customer’s details and chat history from your CRM.
- Real-time data from other integrated systems.
By reducing the mental clutter, Super Agent frees up your agent’s cognitive bandwidth. Instead of struggling to find information, they can focus entirely on the customer and the conversation, making it far easier to spot those fleeting opportunities to take the initiative, offer a relevant product, or re-engage a customer with a perfectly timed suggestion.
Don’t just train your agents to be excellent responders. Empower them to be proactive initiators. The results will show up in your customer satisfaction scores and your bottom line.
