The queue is where good intentions meet reality
You can want to answer every chat instantly and still, on a busy day, have more visitors than agents. What happens in that gap — how the queue is set, communicated, and worked — is what the waiting visitor actually experiences. A well-managed queue keeps people; a silent one loses them.
Set the expectation, then beat it
Silence is what makes waiting unbearable. A visitor told “you're next, about two minutes” waits far more patiently than one staring at a still screen, because they know the wait is finite and they haven't been forgotten. Set an honest expectation and then try to beat it — under-promise slightly, so the actual wait feels like a pleasant surprise rather than a broken promise.
Prioritize, but fairly
Not every chat is equal — a checkout question from a ready buyer may deserve to jump a general inquiry. But prioritization has to be principled and invisible, not a free-for-all where the loudest visitor wins. Decide your rules in advance (by page, by topic, by customer status) so the queue reflects a policy, not whoever an agent happened to grab.
Give waiters a graceful exit
When the wait will genuinely be long, the kindest thing is an alternative: a way to leave a message, a link to the answer, a callback. A visitor who can convert a long wait into “we'll get back to you” leaves satisfied; one trapped in an endless queue leaves angry and tells people. Never let the only options be “wait forever” or “give up.”
How MyLiveChat helps you manage the queue
MyLiveChat shows agents who is waiting, lets you greet and set expectations automatically, and offers an offline/leave-a-message path for when the queue outgrows the staff on hand. Its reporting shows when the queues actually form, so you can staff the real peaks instead of guessing at them.