I have worked for Needle as a chat
advocate for several years. During this time there have been plenty
of ups and downs and here we will go over what it is like to work for
Needle as a chat advocate.
So what is Needle exactly? Needle is a
company that provides the chat feature that is used for many online
stores. Companies who want to have live chat help on their website
will partner with Needle to get this service. Needle then hires and
trains people who will be the ones to chat with customers and help
them on the client's website.
Back when I started, I was looking for
work from home type jobs because I was tired of working at my regular
job out in the field. I tried a few different things such as
affiliate marketing and internet content reviewing until I heard
about an opening at Needle.com for chat jobs. I had never done a job
like this before but it was for a company that I liked so I decided
to give it a try.
The on-boarding consisted of filling
out the application, taking a few basic skills tests, studying some
tutorials, and eventually doing practice chats and final interviews
through chat. If you do well on everything, you may be invited to
start taking chats shortly after.
There is some training, but much of the
content and website catalog must be learned on your own. It will be
up to you to stay on top of any new products, policies, or
information so you will be able to help the customers with any
questions they have.
Taking chats can be fun especially if
you are passionate about the products and enjoy helping people. The
type of customers you interact with can depend on which client you
work for, but for the most part customers are appreciative of the
help. Of course there are times when you get unhappy customers and
there is not much you can do, but you just try to do your best with
the resources available.
Earnings can also depend on which
client you work for. Some pay money per chat while others reimburse
with a points system that gives points based on performance. Points
can then be redeemed for things like gift cards and products from the
client websites. Since earnings are based on chats, it can be good
when it is busy but not so good when it is slow. Advocates can take
several chats at the same time which can increase your pay/points but
can also be more stressful trying to manage several conversations at
the same time.
The chat system works pretty well for
the most part, but there can be a few bugs here and there. For a
workstation, I recommend a desktop with a dual monitor setup to allow
two screens at the same time. A laptop or just one screen is ok but
it will be more difficult switching back and forth between windows.
Hours are flexible but schedule
priority is based on average points earned for the week. Points are
earned from things like making sales, having a good satisfaction
rating, and having a fast response time.
The experience you have can depend a
lot on the management assigned as well as the other advocates you
work with. Over the years, we had some good managers who were very
involved and gave a lot of encouragement, but we also had some at
times who were not as involved and did not provide much help.
The platform allows you to interact
online with the other advocates so you can get to know them as
co-workers. As with any job, there may be some you get along with
well and possibly others not as much. Some communities are more
active in communicating with each other than others so this can
depend on which program you work with.
This job provides a lot of independence
so most of the time you will be on your own. You may not hear much
from the managers unless there is some important news or updates or
unless there is something you really need to improve on. Recently,
they have made efforts to get the management more involved with the
advocates.
Overall, if you are looking for a part
time work from home type job and you are a decent typer and have good
internet research and navigation skills I would recommend trying out
the chat advocate job with Needle.
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