Live Chat Greeting & Routing Playbook

Homepage / general: Hi, welcome to [Company]. I'm here to help with anything: pricing, setup, or a quick question. What brings you in today?

Pricing page: Hi there. Looking at plans? I can help you find the right one or answer anything about [pricing/billing]. What matters most to you?

Product or features page: Hey, glad you're checking out [Product]. Want me to point you to the right feature, or set up a quick demo with [name/team]?

Docs or support page: Hi, need a hand with something? Tell me what you're trying to do and I'll get you the steps or the right person.

Checkout / cart: Hi, anything holding you up at checkout? I can help with [payment, shipping, a discount question] right here.

WhatsApp / Telegram: Hi, thanks for messaging [Company] on [WhatsApp/Telegram]. How can I help today?

Instagram: Hey, thanks for the message on Instagram. Happy to help with [orders, products, or a question]. What's up?

Ask one open question, not five. Start with: "What brings you in today?" or "What are you trying to get done?"

If you need a quick fork, offer simple choices: "Are you (1) looking to buy or try [Product], (2) needing help with an existing account, or (3) here for something else?"

For an existing customer, capture the account fast: "Happy to help. What's the email or order number on the account?"

For a sales lead, get the use case before the budget: "Tell me a bit about what you're hoping [Product] will do for [team/company]."

Always capture a way to follow up: "In case we get cut off, what's the best email to reach you?"

Avoid dead ends: never ask a yes/no question when an open one would tell you where to route.

If they mention pricing, plans, demo, trial, "talk to sales," or buying for a team: route to Sales / [sales queue or owner].

If they mention login, bug, error, "not working," how-to, or an existing order: route to Support / [support queue].

If they mention invoice, refund, card, or "cancel my plan": route to Billing / [billing owner].

If it's outside scope (partnership, press, jobs): share the right email, [partners@company.com] / [press@company.com], and close warmly.

If they ask for a human or sound frustrated, escalate immediately to a live agent using the handoff script and pass the full transcript so they never repeat themselves.

Always capture name, email, channel, and the routing tag so the next person has full context.

When unsure, default to Support and let them reroute: a wrong-but-fast answer beats a long wait.

Busy (agents online but tied up): Thanks for your patience. The team's helping other customers right now. Leave your question and email, and we'll reply within [time, e.g. a few minutes].

Busy, short wait (staffed): You're next in line. While you wait, what's the issue in a sentence? That way [name/team] can jump straight in.

After-hours: Thanks for reaching out. Our team is offline right now (hours: [days, times, time zone]). Leave your question and email and we'll get back to you first thing on [next business day].

After-hours with self-serve: We're offline at the moment, but you can likely solve this now: [link to help docs]. If not, drop your details and we'll follow up.

Holiday / closed: We're closed for [holiday] and back on [date]. Leave a message and we'll reply as soon as we're back.

Channel note: WhatsApp, Telegram, and Instagram have no live queue, so skip "next in line" there and send a plain auto-reply: "Thanks for messaging. We're offline right now and will get back to you once we're open again." Always set the expectation and stick to it.

Lead with warmth, then get useful: welcome first, qualify second.

One question at a time. Don't stack three asks in a single message.

Match the visitor's energy and channel: short and casual on Instagram, WhatsApp, and Telegram, a touch more complete on email and docs.

Escalate to a human the moment they ask for one, repeat the same question twice, or sound frustrated. Don't make them work for it.

On every handoff, pass the full transcript and tags to the human so the visitor never starts over.

Set the handoff up cleanly: "I'm bringing in [name] from [team], who handles this. Here's what you told me so far so you won't repeat yourself."

Close every chat with a clear next step: a reply time, a link, or a name.