Have you had trouble converting prospective customers who browse your website into customers? Are you looking for ways to increase your sales and customer service capabilities?
Today’s business environment is highly competitive, and anything you can do to set yourself apart gives you a competitive advantage.
Services such as virtual receptionists and live chats offer your clients 24/7 access to you and your products.
Improved Customer Support
When you offer your customers a live chat service, they are able to get immediate answers to their questions and solutions to their problems.
They don’t have to wait for emails, sit on hold waiting for someone to pick up the phone or leave a voicemail and wait for a call back.
On average, customers receive responses to social media questions within 10 hours and email at around 12 hours. These delays result in lost sales and loyal customers.
In addition, chat services are convenient for the customer. They get instant access to your staff, valuable information and guides, or live chat agents on a variety of devices.
Proactive Marketing
Websites that offer live chat features often have a chat box that pops up on the screen soon after a customer arrives on a website.
This means that the customers on the site are immediately able to access a live person. It encourages these customers to ask questions.
Also, your agents can monitor how clients move around your website.
A chat agent can then search for relevant information and initiate a chat with clients, offering them information that could help them with their research and purchasing.
Read also: 8 Extremely Common Website Mistakes That Will Cost You a Fortune
Increased Sales
Customers are typically more satisfied with live chat features than other support services.
Live chat services are available 24/7. The constant availability buildings customers’ trust in the company.
When their questions are answered or their problems are solved, they feel as if the company cares about its customers and strives to provide excellent service.
Therefore, live chat increases customer conversions by a factor of up to 5 times. In addition, chat participants are much more likely to make purchases.
Cost Savings
Companies traditionally helped their customers through phone support, but customer service personnel salaries and phone charges can be costly.
However, live chat services cost up to 30% less than phone service.
Traditional customer service agents could either answer the phone or return emails, but they could not do both. However, chat agents can handle multiple chats at the same time, providing quicker service at a much more efficient rate and lower cost.
Gain Valuable Feedback
Because your customers are more willing to speak with you over chat services, you can gain valuable feedback. For example, you can identify customer needs or problems that haven’t been solved.
Chat histories for every chat customer are available for review and analysis. This improves your company’s recognition of common customer problems.
Then, solutions can be quickly identified and implemented. In addition, articles and other FAQ sheets can be created so your clients have easy access to the information they need.
This feedback also helps the company create automated responses to common questions. And this further improves your company’s efficiency because your chat agents can provide links to valuable and commonly needed information and solutions.
Larger Markets
Most customers prefer quick, easy access to the companies they do business with.
The internet has changed this preference somewhat, expanding markets and increasing sales, but those same customers search for companies they can trust.
A live chat service sets your customers’ minds at ease because they can ask questions, voice concerns and get general information from a live person.
In addition, international customers don’t have to pay high phone bills to call your company. Instead, they can chat for free over the internet and get all the information they need.
Competitive Advantage
Every service you offer your customers that your competitors do not provide results in a competitive advantage.
Whether you have inhouse staff handle your live chats or you contract an outside source, or both, you are providing low-cost services to clients that your competitors may not be.
The same is true in reverse, however. If your competitors are offering chat services and you are not, they have a competitive advantage over you.
Don’t miss out on all the benefits of live chat services. Contact a service provider to discuss these benefits more in depth.