If your business is not taking advantage of a live chat facility, then you’re at a loss. When it comes to customer service, a live chat feature is the way of the future. A glance at the number of people using WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and other chat services on social media. Roughly over one billion users every day. Well, it is a strong demonstration that people often opt for a chat facility over a phone call.
Live Chat is More Resourceful for Your Business
With a managed live chat service, customer service representatives can chat with multiple customers simultaneously per the intricacy of the problems. It is not possible with a phone call because the service rep can only talk to one person at a time. Besides, it would prove relatively inefficient to walk a customer through a problem over the phone. On top of it, maintaining and running a call centre is costlier.
Live Chat Enables Customers to Multitask
Traditionally, you have to either email your query and wait for days together or take up your phone and dial a customer service number and wait endlessly. In the latter case, you would not be able to do any other task while you are waiting for your turn and till the customer service representative picks up your phone.
When you are holding your phone, and in waiting mode, you can’t do any other work. Whereas a live chat functionality will let customers do other activities on their computer or laptop while they are waiting for a reply from a live chat rep for their query. In the interim, customers can work, pay utility bills etc. and when they get an answer from a live chat rep, they will hear a beep sound notification. So they will come to know that they have received a reply from the live chat representative.
Live Chat is a More Convenient Option for Many Customers
Well, many customers don’t like talking on the phone or waiting for an answer to arrive through email. Instead, they find chatting a more convenient and quicker option to receive a response to their queries or quote for the product or services they need. Besides, texting is all over the social media that includes WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and many other texting platforms.
Live Chat is Inexpensive for the Customer
Many people opt for a modest phone plan having limited minutes, and waiting on hold for a considerable time can quickly drain their talk time. When customers can communicate with customer service rep without ever using the phone, can foster a healthy relationship with them.
Availability of Chat Logs
Every live chat sessions recorded, and at the end of each conversation, the customer gets an option to get a chat transcript for reference. It is helpful for both the customer and your business in case any issues come up in the future.
Live Chat is Faster
When customers call the service rep, they get a message that they are in the queue and the number assigned is 78 etc. And they have to wait endlessly for their turn to arrive and at times, once their turn comes, their phone gets disconnected. It is a frustrating activity for the customer. Conversely, a live chat service connects the customer with a live chat rep faster without any waiting.
Speedier Resolution of Problems
Live chat allows a customer service rep to share a link that has the right solution. It leads to faster resolution of problems and delighted customers. It works faster and more effective than speaking to a customer service rep over a phone call.
Live Chat Facilitates Increased Customer Service Hours
Typically, many customer service centres shut down at a particular time in the day and over the weekends. Live chat facilitates you to have a few representatives assigned to after work hours, giving customers enhanced flexibility as to when they can receive assistance. Besides, it can be reassuring to know that you can reach them at any time.
Boost Sales
Potential customers landing up on your website may have a query about your product or service, and they may initiate a chat right away using the live chat facility available on your website. It can lead to sales. For instance, car dealers can take advantage of automotive live chat to increase their dipping car sales. Integrating live chat feature on your website can grow your sales anywhere between 15% and 20% or more. It could constitute a hefty amount of revenue for a company.
Live Chat Lets You to Gather Critical Data
Live chat collects vital data for you, which can include:
- Through which link, people have landed on your website.
- Whether the customer is active or idle during a chat session.
- Which OS (operating system) the customer is using?
- You have transcripts of every conversation.
- & More.
Using this vital data, you can find out the common problems people often encounter and which type of customers are facing them, and what solutions work optimally and a good deal of other information. With the help of this data, you can make smart choices about how to respond to the queries so that lesser problems come up in the future.
Final Thoughts!
Indeed, live chat is cost-efficient, boosts sales, delights customers and reduces troubles for both you and the customer, creating a win-win situation! Live chat offers many benefits over conventional customer service methods and can be the difference between a delighted and a raging customer.
