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Installing a live chat on your website if a no brainer for most entrepreneurs. In many industries, such as E-commerce, for example, this is already the norm. Webshops without a live chat service even seem a little unprofessional by now. In 2020, being able to chat on an E-commerce website is just as normal as encountering a sales associate in a clothing store.
Visitors have high standards when it comes to the customer experience on a website. Think about it. When a website loads slowly, you are quick to lose your patience. It usually doesn't take long before you switch to another website. About ten years ago we had way more patience for this.
Back in the day, consumers were used to companies not being available on the internet. If you had to pick up the phone, it was considered normal. Having to wait for a reply to an email for longer than a day? All part of the process.
However, more and more of the customer service professionals that I talk to notice that the bar has been raised. Companies are expected to be available everywhere. Facebook, Twitter, email, phone, live chat, you name it. If that's not enough, you also need to have a super low response time on all of these channels. The attention spans are shorter than ever before.
Live chat on websites is becoming the norm in various industries. Today you also have accountants, banks, doctors and insurance companies that you can reach via chat. In this blog, I'll go deeper into why you should add live chat to your website.
The 5 advantages of live chat on your website
- Online communication is gaining popularity
- A chat feature for leads
- Webchat for improving conversion rate
- Live chat for upselling and cross-selling
- Chatbots for your web chat
Online communication is gaining popularity
Customers are getting more comfortable with communicating with your business online each day. That's why the live chat is gaining in popularity. A lot of consumers even don't care about chatbots anymore. They just want an answer as quickly as possible with the least effort possible. Nothing more, nothing less.
We also see this happening in daily life. People more often send a 'quick text' and call way less often. Getting a phone call is something that is now more quickly considered disturbing or invasive.
A live chat is anonymous, which is how a lot of consumers like it. You can simply ask a question and get a quick answer. Also when you are at work and can't make a quick phone call.
A chat feature for leads
A chat feature on your website can help you to gather leads. This is because this channel is very easily approachable for the customer. It takes way less effort to click on a website chat widget than to pick up the phone.
When you get in contact with a customer via chat, you are close to getting a lead. The only thing you have to do is ask for their contact information. You can ask your sales team to pick up on the lead afterward.
This is also an easy way to indicate whether a lead is valuable, without having to call somebody. This can save you a lot of time.
Webchat for improving conversion rate
Aside from gathering leads, a live chat can also drastically improve conversion rates. Research has shown that 57% of consumers stop ordering if their question isn't replied to fast enough. That's why a low response time is crucial.
If there is no chat feature available when a customer has a question, chances are he will look for an alternative. But can't a customer just pick up the phone or send an email? Sure, but this takes time and effort. When a customer only has to click the live chat widget, you make it way easier for them.
If a customer has doubts about a certain product and gets help from an employee, this can improve the chances of them buying your product. This is true for physical stores as well as online stores. Research shows 44% of all online consumers think of this as a big plus. A way to offer this is by installing a chat feature.
A creative way to lose as little visitors as possible is by also offering live chat on your 404 page. If your customer somehow lands on a broken link, chances are he's a little frustrated. If there is a live chat there, you have the opportunity to help them with what they are looking for.
Live chat for upselling and cross-selling
When you are already in contact with a customer about a product, it gets easier to sell more. That's why the chat feature gets used a lot for upselling and cross-selling
With upselling, you try to sell more of the same product to a customer. With cross-selling, you try to sell a different product along with the first product. An example of cross-selling is offering a drink for a discount when somebody buys a sandwich.
These tactics are hard to use when you are not in direct contact with a customer. This is where a live chat can be very useful.
It's very easy to use the live chat to find out what desires a specific customer has. This makes it easier to advise the right product and upsell or cross-sell later on.
A chat feature saves your customer service team time
Companies that still only use traditional channels - phone and email - spend a lot of time on customer interactions.
As a customer service agent, you can only have one phone call at a time. If the customer is long-winded, this cant cost you valuable time. Especially when there is a queue, in which case you will do nothing else than talking. on the phone all day.
When sending emails, you are expected to write on a professional level. For most people, this takes some time and effort.
When a customer sends you a chat, the expectations are way different. Customer service agents can entertain about 5 chat conversations at a time. When a customer responds slowly, the agent can move on to another chat. Much more efficient, right?
Chatbots for your website chat
Since using live chat has become normal, companies have moved on to adding chatbots to the customer experience.
A live chat in combination with a chatbot is a force to be reckoned with. A chatbot can individually respond to questions, segment customers and plan meetings. This is how it looks:
Chatbot: "Hi, how may I help you?"
Visitor: "Hello, I would like a demo."
Chatbot: "A demo is definitely possible. What is your email address? I will send you an invitation as soon as possible."
As you can see, without any effort from your side, a chatbot can easily get you leads.
Besides that, a chatbot will still be active once you go home after opening hours. Without complaining about too little sleep.
