Great customer support has one goal; to make it easy for customers to get their problem solved painlessly and quickly. Out of all of the customer service methods available, email, phone or chat, live chat is by far the simplest, fastest and least obtrusive. It’s no surprise that almost one third of all consumers are now expecting live chat to be available on any business website.
Customers prefer live chat since we all enjoy chatting in our personal lives; it is familiar, private, quick and, most importantly, convenient. Customers are able to carry out their everyday tasks like working, sending emails, or even eating while they are keeping the chat going. Live chat is a customer service option that fits into the consumer’s lifestyle.
Live Chat: The Path to Highest Customer Satisfaction
Customers reported the highest satisfaction rates when it comes to live chat, 73 percent, when compared to traditional platforms like phone, 44 percent, and email, 61 percent. Only a small number of customer are not comfortable with using this method, where 73 percent of them are really satisfied with their experience.
SMS and phone calls are currently the lowest rated by the consumers, with 42 percent and 44 percent, respectively. Here, the main sources of frustrations for users are long waiting times, automated answering systems and the sort. Customers choose channels based on the nature of their query; the phone is a preferred channel for some general queries, but it’s not that popular for feedback and booking.
Other stats state that 31 percent of online shoppers from the UK and US say that they would be more likely to purchase something after using live chat. People are appreciating live chat for many reasons, and time is the key factor here. Out of those who prefer live chat as a method of customer service, 79 percent said that it’s because they get answers to their questions quickly and 46 percent because it was the most efficient method of communication. Let’s look some of the benefits of live chat for both consumers and businesses.
Conversations Lead to Conversions
Live chat is much more than just providing on-demand support; it also converts customers. A stunning 77 percent of online shoppers want to get in touch with a real person before they make a purchase. This, combined with real-time visitor monitoring and customized triggers, implies that live chats can become a powerful measure against shopping cart abandonment.
This is important for those 55 percent of customers who are likely to abandon their online purchase if they are not able to get a quick answer to their question. Recent research has found that 44 percent of consumers said that having a real person answering their questions is one of the most important features any website can offer.
Live Chat Will Increase the Agent’s Efficiency
When customer service agents are empowered to handle multiple conversations at once, they will be able to resolve several issues at once, rather than handling one phone call at a time. Chat agents will be able to engage in as many as six live chats at the same time, depending how complex the issues are. And with the use of triggers, agents can save on repetitive typing by setting automated greetings for each consumer who spent more than 30 seconds on the site.
The Support Team Will Get More Support
Agents can also chat with each other and share helpful tips while they are serving customers. Issues will be resolved more efficiently because there all the internal knowledge can be shared. If the business is offering multiple product lines, triggers can be set in a way to automatically route the customers to the agents specialized for specific products before the live chat option is even initiated.
This will save both agents and customers the effort. Unlike emails, live chat enables in-the-moment support to the upset customer, where agents can quickly assist an unsatisfied customer via live chat, before the issue escalates or even extends to some public channel like social media. This is one opportunity that could be lost with emails and voice customer support.
Customer Insights at the Tip of your Fingertips
Customer info can be gathered easily with the data provided from live chat software, because live chat delivers very valuable data about the consumer’s location, behavior and the devices they are using, which is all rather helpful. It offers an additional channel for gathering customer feedback and a valuable opportunity to ask visitors questions so that the best sales approach can be identified. It is an inexpensive and easy way for visitors to evaluate their experience and give suggestions that can improve the customer service
Increased Marketing Opportunities
Everyone wants to be noticed as an individual, and this is no different for online shoppers. Live chat as a marketing tool offers new opportunities for pushing out targeted offers and incentives. Live chat encourages consumers to linger on a website and that way increase the chances of purchasing more items. A study showed that live chat increased the average order value by 19 percent and, on top of theses numerous benefits, live chat is also a method that is less expensive; half the cost of a call center.
Within a short timeframe and with little effort, businesses can provide high-quality customer service by integrating live chat software on their websites and enjoy in all the benefits that come with increased customer satisfaction. Customers prefer live chat when talking to a business and this is one great opportunity that should not be missed out on.
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