With messaging, you can choose the conversational style that best fits your business and customer experience. A conversational style determines how long messaging conversations stay open and how customers continue an existing conversation.
Use this article to compare the available conversational styles and understand the high-level workflow for implementing each one. For detailed setup instructions, follow the linked configuration articles.
This article covers the following topics:
Related articles:
Comparing conversational styles
| Conversational style | Best option for | Basic workflow |
|---|---|---|
|
Live chat Single set of synchronous live interactions with a clear start |
Transactional businesses, simple support issues, organizations using the Web Widget as their primary conversational channel, and teams migrating from Chat. | Create a Support ticket trigger that closes messaging tickets soon after they’re solved. See Configuring the live chat conversational style. |
|
Returning customer/reopened conversations Multiple sets of live interactions |
Businesses whose customers often return within a short period of time to continue the same conversation, and teams that want a short reopen window after a conversation is solved. | Create a Support automation that closes solved messaging tickets after a short delay, such as one hour. See Configuring the live chat conversational style for returning customers. |
|
Social messaging/asynchronous conversations Multiple live and non-live interactions |
Less transactional businesses, complex issues that take longer to resolve, and workflows that require coordination with other teams or third parties. | Use the standard Support automation that closes solved tickets after several days, or adjust the timing to fit your workflow. See About the standard Support automations and Creating and managing automations for time-based events. |
Choosing the right style for your workflow
Choose a conversational style based on how your customers typically interact with your business and how long you want conversations to remain open.
Use the following guidance:
- Choose the live chat conversational style if your support interactions are short, transactional, and usually resolved in a single session.
- Choose the returning customer conversational style if customers often come back shortly after a conversation is solved and need to continue discussing the same issue.
- Choose the social messaging conversational style if conversations often continue over a longer period of time or require follow-up across teams.
If you're migrating from Chat, the live chat conversational style or returning customer conversational style is often the best starting point.