The need for effective customer service is a constant in the world of business. How you deliver that customer service is changing though, as consumer expectations change.
82% of people contacting your business expect an immediate response to their questions, no matter what time of day it is. This means you need a way to help those people so you don’t lose out on potential customers.
Luckily, the technologies available make these expectations a reality. Live chat options give your business the means to answer questions immediately, even after business hours.
Chat boxes offer a convenient means to turn leads into customers. They also offer the means to increase productivity for your business.
Why You Need Live Chat
It’s not just immediate gratification that fuels the need for website chat functions. The way people prefer to reach out to businesses is also changing.
Most people now prefer digital means of reaching out. In fact, 66% of global consumers prefer making contact through messaging apps.
Increase Lead Conversion
People expect to find messaging options when they visit websites these days. Chat boxes offer an easy option to fulfill this expectation. With the changing technology of chat boxes, you even have options to automate answers to frequently asked questions.
With the ability to receive most answers immediately, leads are less likely to lose interest in your company. The longer you wait to respond to a customer inquiry, the greater the chance they’ve moved on.
If customers don’t receive answers immediately, they’re more likely to lose interest in your product. Or, they might move on to a competitor that is available to answer questions.
By offering a chat function, you keep leads on your website longer. You also have the ability to answer any concerns they have immediately. This increases the chance of them converting to a sale.
Customized Chat
One great feature of a chatbox for your website is the option to customize the chat based on the customer’s experience. Chat boxes offer integrations that allow you to reach customers based on the information they search for on your website.
If a lead looks up information about a specific product, you can contact them immediately to answer any questions they may have. If they search for certain specs, you can address this as well.
By reaching the lead at a crucial moment, such as when looking into pricing, you can answer any concerns they have immediately. This means more leads turn to customers because you were able to remove doubts.
A Chat Function Feels Less Sales-y
Many businesses offer form functions on their websites so customers can contact them. The problem with this is, many consumers feel like this is just a ploy to gain their information.
People are protective of their contact information. When they think someone just wants to add them to a contact list, their less likely to make contact. This issue is addressed with chat boxes.
If you add live chat to your website, you’re able to make contact without scaring the person away. You’re providing them with valuable information immediately. You’re doing this without asking for their email and other contact information.
Consumers feel more valued and less like another lead with this method. This means they’re more likely to come back.
Chat Boxes Provide Automation
Customer service requires a staff available to sit by their phones. While customer service is a valuable function of business, traditional methods leave you with a larger staff and less productivity.
The staff required to deal with traditional customer service options are tied to their phones and unavailable for other important tasks. Basically, you’re left with a larger staff to complete necessary tasks.
Chat boxes offer an alternative. With the customization and automation functions, a chat function can answer many questions without the need of a dedicated person. This leaves your staff available for some of those other daily tasks.
You still need people available, but they can step in for more detailed questions with the use of a chat box. Most chat box options allow you to program canned responses based on different criteria.
Integrate Easily With Other Customer Service Options
You can’t rely solely on live chat, but you can let the technology help you increase customer satisfaction. There are many chat box options available, and many integrate easily with CRMs and other customer service options.
If you outsource your customer service, they can help you choose the best chat function to integrate with the databases you use. Chat boxes can update customer information and create new contacts in your CRM. To learn more about the options available, contact your customer service provider.
Measure Customer Experience
A chat function can also provide valuable tools to measure the customer experience. Many options provide automated follow-up options so you can ask customers and leads about their experience immediately.
This allows you to make sure the customer service provided fits the needs of your customers and leads. This also makes the customer feel that their feedback is valuable to you.
Asking questions immediately allows you to collect more feedback. People are more likely to respond about their experiences while the interaction is on their minds. This method also makes it feel more personal.
Using a chat function for feedback also gives you an opportunity to follow up on any missed opportunities immediately. By allowing the customer to offer their feedback immediately you know what answers were missed in the interaction.
Increase Good Customer Reviews
People rely on customer reviews when making purchasing decisions. In fact, two-thirds of people rate customer reviews as important in their decision to purchase a product.
People rate customer service high in their satisfaction criteria. With customers expecting immediate service, having a chat function increases the chance of a good review from your customers and leads.
Changing Technology
The face of business interaction changes constantly as new technologies emerge. If you want to keep up, it’s important to implement useful technologies, such as live chat, so you don’t lose touch.
Live chat isn’t the only useful hack for your business though. For more resources, check out our business hacks to keep you up-to-date.