As explained in our recent article, Is Live Chat the New Frontier for Customer Service, live chat provides a myriad of benefits that will give your business a competitive advantage. The most lucrative benefit is increased profits, by both creating efficiencies and increasing sales. Here’s why connecting with customers through live chat increases sales and ROI:
Customized assistance – Instantaneous, customized solutions allow the customer to make more informed purchase decisions while feeling valued by your company. One of the drawbacks with other communication services is slow response times and preset answers. When a customer comes forward with a question they want to know that your company values their time, understands their problem, and can provide a helpful answer or solution. Live chat allows your customer service team to do so, while saving them time that they would normally spend on lengthy phone calls and emails.
Efficiency and privacy – Live chat is the most preferred and convenient way for customers to contact your customer service team. People want real-time answers and an efficient customer service process, which live chat certainly provides. Both customer service representatives and the user save time because each party can continue working on other items while waiting for a response. Some softwares will even show information such as the pages the customer has visited and the customer lifecycle status. These help resolve the issue even quicker. There is also an added element of privacy, because customers aren’t always required to give their phone or email address, which could later be used for marketing purposes.
Upselling capabilities – the customer service representative not only guides the customer through their issue, but can also complete the sale and offer promotions or other relevant products. Customers who feel valued are far more likely to make a purchase, so the opportunity to make a personal connections via live chat will increase sales in online transactions.
Reassuring the customer – Oftentimes customers abandon their cart before checking out, but live chat can provide the information they need to feel comfortable in their purchase decision. A new customer might need in-depth product knowledge that’s not located with the product description, and live chats simplifies their search for information. Rather than opening a new tab to conduct a Google search for more information, a customer can open a quick chat session and get specific answers much faster. Furthermore, informed buyers lead to increased customer satisfaction and decreased buyer’s remorse as the customer has accurate expectations.
If the above reasoning wasn’t convincing enough, according to kissmetrics, the average website converts 2% of visitors into sale. However, websites using live chat will see engagement rates up to 50% with a third of those people converting to leads and sales. The bottom line is: live chat works. It’s convenient and effective for both parties, and allows a deeper insight to customer problems and buying behavior that would be otherwise unknown.
For more information on the benefits of live chat within the customer service process check out our blog: Is Live Chat the New Frontier for Customer Service.
