Live chat is more than just a gimmick that allows you to offer your customers something they can’t get anywhere else. It’s actually the future of frontline customer service, and something that you can’t afford to miss out on. Let’s take a look at how it’s already transforming the customer service landscape so that you can see why you need to get onboard ASAP.
It shows customers that you care
First and foremost, customers want to know that you care about them. They know that you want their money — after all, that’s why you got into business in the first place. What they want to see however, is that you’re treating them as people, rather than numbers on a balance sheet.
Too many businesses treat their customers as just another number and offer a rigid impersonal service. The problem with this is that your customers will quickly go elsewhere if they encounter a problem and it’s not clear how to get you to resolve it. Worse still, they won’t just go anywhere; they’ll go to your nearest competitors.
Answer faster: lead conversion rates drop by 80% if you delay by 15 minutes
People get frustrated when they don’t get an answer or no one picks up the phone. The stat above should be a real eye opener for those of you who aren’t yet sold on the importance of live chat.
If you want people to stay on your site until you clinch the sale, then you need to give them what they’re looking for: answers. FAQ sections are all well and good, but sometimes they run to dozens of generic questions and just aren’t specific enough. In an ideal world the customer could ask you a direct question and get a specific answer in real time. This is the aim of live chat, and you can already see how it will help keep visitors on your site longer.
Overcome objections so everyone gets what they want
When someone is reading your web text or looking at what’s included in your prices they will often object or disagree with something. Do they need it? Do they want it? Is this part of the offering redundant? These kinds of questions will play on the minds of your visitors, and are often what causes them to log off and shop elsewhere.
By deploying an easy to operate live chat system you can allow potential customers to ask you anything and everything that pops into their heads. This is a valuable tool for providing reassurance, clarification, and adding value.
Clarify any grey areas: make sure that nothing is left to chance
This point follows naturally on from the last, and highlights an area where live chat really does come into its own.
If a reader is unsure what you mean or why they need something, they’re only ever going to phone up if they’re under pressure to buy. If, however you have an unobtrusive live chat option in the bottom righthand corner of the screen, they’ll more than likely ask you directly. Not only will this keep them on your site for longer, it’ll also give them the answers they need so that they can go ahead and purchase.
Respond to your customers when you’re at home in bed
The great thing about live chat is that you can outsource it so that you provide coverage 24/7. If you offer it as a service then it’s really no good sticking to rigid office hours, because that’s not when people are restricted to visiting your site.
“A major part of our business is dealing with a large number of bespoke projects. By being able to chat in real time we can quickly say what we can offer, and clarify anything that we don’t offer. It’s a really good way of keeping customers on our site by making them see they don’t have to go to our competitors for answers” — says Customer Service Executive at PickWriters.
Train a dedicated team who will be able to take care of things when you’re tucked up in bed. If a visitor is able to quickly and easily get the answers they want just before they log off for the night, the chances are that they’ll have placed an order by the time you get to the office in the morning. Ideal if you want a tool that allows you to grow your business even when you’re not there.
You never have to ask your customers to fill out time-consuming forms
Nobody enjoys filling out contact forms. They ask you for all sorts of superfluous information that you know will just be sold on to third parties, and they take several minutes to complete.
All your customers really want is to be able to ask a direct question, and get a response in real time. People know that the response times for contact forms can run to days and weeks, so often if they have a query they go to Google. The problem with this is that Google will often recommend a competitor site and you’ve now missed out on a potentially lucrative lead.
Your customers will have confidence that you’ll get them answers
When a visitor sees that you offer live chat it’s great if they have a question on the tip of their tongue. And it’s also reassures them that if they invest time reading your copy, they’ll be able to quickly clarify anything they need.
This will allow them to peruse your site safe in the knowledge that they can circle back and ask a question at any point. They might not even want to order today, but they can speak with someone who can give them a better all-round picture than the static site text ever can. Invaluable if you want to be able to give your visitors all of the information they need to make an informed purchasing decision.
Customers prefer to stay on your site rather than to have to make a call
The days when people were prepared to wait on hold for 20 minutes at a time are long gone. Today everything is instant, and there’s simply no reason for people to wait around for you to pick up the phone.
A natural extension of this is that people now multitask like never before. The great thing about embedding live chat into your site is that it means people can continue browsing. This is especially true if you decide to use a text-based messenger as opposed to VoIP. By giving customers the option to ping you a quick message, you’re giving them permission to continue performing the rest of their online activities.
As a customer this is far more inviting as it allows you to ask the questions you need without devoting 20 minutes or more to doing so.
About the author:
Kristin Savage nourishes, sparks and empowers using the magic of a word. Along with pursuing her degree in Creative Writing, Kristin was gaining experience in the publishing industry, with expertise in marketing strategy for publishers and authors. Now she had found herself as a freelance writer. She observes with a special interest how the latest achievements in media and technology help to grow readership and revenue and shares her opinion. You can find her on Facebook and Medium.