Modern-day communication, particularly in the form of customer service chat, is a vital part of any business transaction. It defines the fruitfulness of every interaction between a brand and a potential lead. It determines whether customers will choose to stick with a company or find a different brand to spend their money on.
In 2020, following the sudden surge in work-from-home and digitally operated B2B and B2C negotiations, BPO companies like received massive demand surges in chat services for websites. It significantly surpassed the need for voice and email support.
Truth be told, live chat has long had its “Eureka” moment in the corporate world. It has countlessly proven extremely instrumental for different business setups, and it continues to showcase its significance in bridging gaps between businesses and customers.
Still not convinced?
Why not take a quick look at the list below to see just how big of a contribution live chat can be to your customer service operations, marketing strategies, and business advancement.
1. Live Chat Customer Support: The Benefits
What is live chat support?
Looking at it more closely, real-time messaging and instant assistance are two of the most basic requirements that most people look for to deem a brand credible and reliable. Delays are typically associated with a lack of professionalism and commitment. It also subtly says that customer concerns aren’t that important to them, and so businesses who cannot deliver service that’s fast enough to meet user expectations are at the receiving end of bad reviews and low ratings.
But, those who do deliver on urgency and consistency are paving the way for a positive domino effect on the growth of their business, thanks to these quantifiable advantages.
2. Retains More New Visitors
It’s not to say that customers are impatient, but they really do appreciate fast assistance, whether it’s to answer FAQs or to provide detailed explanations about their questions and concerns. Speed means an opportunity to keep a lead or new visitor on your website engaged until you convince them enough to choose your products. You must always assume that, for every new lead, you may not be the only option in their eyes. They may be in the midst of comparing prices and product features, so the second you give them the answers they need, the more you are pushing back competitors until you become the ultimate and final choice.
3. Amplifies ROI and Sales
Does live chat increase sales? It most certainly does! Did you know that live chat support is synonymous with money, money, and more money for your business? Picture this: If you manage to entertain all leads and repeat customers in real-time, you are increasing the likelihood of more items added to their carts and more purchases completed until the very last step. Queries as simple as ‘Do you have these in this size or color?’, ‘What are your payment or shipping options?’, and ‘Do you have a physical store I can visit?’, are all triggers that could lead to a successful transaction.
4. Humanizes Your Brand
At first, live chat may not give off that ‘human’ element to your B2C conversations because customers cannot see your agents nor can they hear their voices whenever the two parties interact. In truth, chat directly imitates the comfortable and easygoing nature of exchanging messages with family and friends. From a customer’s perspective, conversing with a support representative through live messaging evokes a laid-back atmosphere that gives them the feeling of talking to a friend. People are more likely to communicate their demands and concerns more openly when they don’t feel intimidated or inhibited by anything in their environment, making live chat messaging a great way to bridge gaps between users and brands.
5. Supports your Digital Presence
You can incorporate a live chat widget on your website, platform or app. Chat is also present in social media sites, making it a must-have supporting character in your journey towards attaining long-term success. The more people can easily talk to you on your website, platforms, and social media pages, the more you are gaining customers for keeps. A strong online presence is a determining factor for sustaining a business these days. Even more so when the global economy experiences a dramatic dip. Consistent visibility to the digital community makes you more memorable; and in an industry where sales and support from end-users are paramount, being recognized is already a marketing channel in itself.
6. Balances Your Budget & Costs
Hiring new staff to train and purchasing additional equipment for your end-user support service can be quite pricey. In contrast, installing or adding a live chat widget to your website or app won’t cost you much. It’s easy to include in your help desk channels and it works independently without the need for consistent supervision. The best part is you can customize it to fit your brand and establish a stronger connection with your target buyers.
7. Respects Customer Time
Another reason behind the relevance of fast response time is because some customers may be juggling several different appointments, traveling, or are in a hurry. Live chat provides you a way to honor your customer’s precious time and attend to them as quickly as possible. It becomes even more crucial if you sell health and wellness products or offer services related to customer well-being.
8. Boosts Your Manpower
Resources and in-house staff are quite limited, particularly for mid-sized businesses and startups. With web chat, however, you can retain your existing customer service staff and help them handle more queries by adding chatbots to handle simple client queries. In response, your support agents will not feel as exhausted and pressured because they can focus more on concerns that require more detailed probing. They can also use this opportunity to showcase their skills in helping out different customers through their knowledge of your products and services. As for the chatbots, another smart way to utilize them is to have them take over once your business hours are over. By doing so, you make your services, to an extent, available 24/7.
9. Adheres to Innovation & Progressive Service
The answer to the question of what is live web customer chat is no longer limited to the recognition of it being a simple tool for communication. It has since evolved into a channel for closing sales, strengthening B2C bonds, and empowering businesses in their quest to establish a solid . Surely, people will be more than hooked on their smartphones, and so you must equip your business with contactless features, real-time connectivity, and a timezone-friendly hotline, all of which are capabilities that live chat is already exhibiting at present. As technology continues to advance, user preferences and demands are also becoming more specific, more detailed, more complex, and more challenging to meet. With live chat as a flexible platform on your side, your business earns the capacity to withstand the dynamic updates in what the industry dictates and what your customers expect from you in the years to come.
If this list is still not enough to get you to take advantage of live chat’s tremendous business potential, then perhaps all you need is a demonstration. Fortunately, there are already several business process outsourcing experts like New Media Services ready to empower your business with modern and cost-effective live website chat messaging. The NMS team is known for offering multilingual features, customized chat widgets, and third-party software compatibility.