Angela Rundle

Customers who've used the online chat service from merchant Lands' End are 70 percent more likely to order product after they've used the service. And the order values from those customers are almost 6 percent greater than those from non-chatters. Lands' End has offered online customer service chat for the last three years. Angela Rundle, customer service Internet supervisor, recently talked with Forrester Research and offered tips for other direct marketers on how to make online chat a viable and useful service. 1. Train your best customer services reps to staff the online chat positions. The special skills needed include e-mail proficiency, good