Businesses are constantly finding and integrating ways to stay ahead of their competition and stay relevant in their industry. One of the ways to do so is to keep up with the changing technology and add such means into their system. Companies like Apple and many other technical giants have sustained so well over time due to the live chat options they provide for customer experience. This article will focus on why a business should integrate live chat into their business and how it would benefit them.
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How does Live chat work?
It is an online communication app integrated into the website or app, allowing website or app visitors to communicate with your customer service teams. It is an excellent alternative to phone calls or emails. A customer must type in a message, and customer support will reply, eager to help resolve their issues
How will the visitor know to use the live chat?
He can see the chat widget on the lower corner of your website or app. Clicking on it will open up a chat box where he can start the conversation. You can find it on every business website nowadays.
Take an example from Comcast Xfinity, a provider that offers internet, home phone, cable TV, mobile phone, and security system. Its Xfinity customer service webpage has a live chat option through which potential and existing customers can instantly send a message.
This live chat system is the same as interacting with another person online, except that you both have a customer and support agent relationship.
Benefits of Live Chat Software
The live chat feature is known to improve the support experiences for customers. With this option, the customers can reach the brand when they have a query about their products or services. It feels so much better than ringing them up or sending an email. Other benefits that customers enjoy from live chat software are as follows:-
1. Quick Responses
According to Servicebell, 41% of consumers prefer live chat support. There have been surveys where most customers said they preferred live chat over email, text messaging, social media, phone, etc. That is because live chat works out for customers in a hurry, especially those shopping online on e-commerce websites.
In such a scenario, you wouldn’t send an email asking what colors are available for a specific product.
2. 24/7 Support
A business can also offer a 24/7 feature in their live chat. It is beneficial because expanding the availability of customer service agents will make customers less likely to feel their queries go unheard.
The live chat feature also allows automation, designed to answer basic queries. It leaves time and effort for support agents to deal with more pressing customer issues.
3. Reduces Repetition
The thing about live chat software is that previous records of customers are saved in the system. It means the previous conversations with the company’s support teams, purchase history, invoices, etc. Also, customer service agents can quickly peruse them before dealing with customer issues.
That will prevent the customers from having to repeat their queries to them over and over again. Customers already expect the support agents to have all information on hand.
4. Increase in Sales and Conversion
When live chats are executed correctly, they can result in conversion and sales. Customers are likelier to return to a website offering live chat options. It also helps in bringing about more opportunities for upselling and cross-selling. According to a study, personal experience increases consumer loyalty, sales, and conversion.
5. Increase in Customer Engagement
Customers are more willing to interact with the brand when live chats, such as with the 24/7 feature, are readily available.
This easiness of using the live chat feature and availability of support agents prevent them from giving up and ditching the products or services altogether. This increase in customer loyalty and engagement gives a good impression of the brand.
6. Automatic Chat Greetings
This feature is similar to how a store clerk would greet a customer when they step into his store. Live chat allows you to analyze your customers’ pain points and resolve their issues accordingly.
Having this personalized supportive experience will help to drive up conversions and generate more leads for the business. However, Live chat is different from Chatbots in many ways, and one must not confuse them with one another.
7. Edge Over the Competition.
Your competitors may not have implemented the live chat feature on their websites. It gives you the chance to stay ahead in the game.
If you are a customer and had to choose between the same products from two different brands, would you pick up the phone to call support to get your queries answered? Or would you go for the brand that offers a readily available live chat option on its website?
That’s right. Most people prefer to chat rather than phone the brand. From the above points, it is pretty apparent customers can get pretty comfortable with the live chat experience. According to Forrester, consumers who use chat are 2.8 times more likely to convert than those who don’t.
Moreover, when customers are happy, it brings about a boost for businesses. Customer service agents also find that the convenience of using live chat software helps them stay productive throughout the customer experience.
8. Staff Allocation
The first thing any business needs to do before initiating the live chat option is to add more staff. A client can use the software to find out the peak hours of any online business. A client can use the information from the same result to manage staff according to your platform.
If any business puts its staff on business all the time, it would be a waste of workforce and effort. Instead, put all your staff to work during the peak hours. At the same time, staff can be allocated to other activities when they are not needed at their assigned positions.
9. Quality over Quantity
If your staff tries to push through more than a dozen chats conversation, it can get pretty exhausting for them. As a result, it can also affect the quality of their work, i.e., the conversations they are having with your customers.
Instead, you should configure your live chat software so that the chatbox is automatically hidden when an employee reaches a certain number of simultaneous conversations. It ensures that conversations with the customers maintain continuous quality.
10. Customer Feedback
For any business, feedback is essential. Because it can highlight how a customer feels about your brand, what they need from your brand, and what frustrates or confuses them about it.
You can use such feedback to ensure your business meets all the required demands. Your staff can even request feedback over live chat so that your business can work towards improving its storefront. According to a study, more than half the customers prefer to have a live chat over the phone to ask a question about their concerns.
Final Thoughts
As is evident from the above points, we can integrate live chat into any business to get spectacular results. Although these technologies are accessible and can be integrated by any business, their potential is still unknown.
Integrating live chat onto your website or app effectively increases customer loyalty and sales. Hence, a live chat option might be a better payoff in the long run. Many businesses need to learn to take advantage of such an option to analyze how they can improve customer relations.
