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5 Reasons Why Live Chats Are Indispensable

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As a society, we are busier than ever before. Between work,

running the kids to soccer practice and caring for elderly parents, most people are stretched thin to the point of translucency. Consumers appreciate any little feature that saves time and effort. Live chat adds to the customer experience (CX) on your website and gives you a way to instantly connect with leads.

The latest Live Chat Benchmark Report sampled over 40 million chat conversations from around the globe and various industries. The number of people using live chat has increased as much as 150% in some sectors. Experts predict the number of companies utilizing the feature will grow by more than 80% in the next few years.

If you’re still on the fence about whether live chat is right foryour brand, here are five reasons to give it another look.

1. Increase Conversions

Imagine you’re the consumer. You land on a website about a new gadget. You watch the informational video and read the reviews. It sounds pretty good, but you have a question about the size because you can’t find it in the product description.

If the person can pull up a live chat and ask their question right there, they are much more likely to go ahead and buy the product. If they have to phone or email and wait on a response, they may bounce away from the site and never return.

Suits Outlets offers live chat during their regular business hours. The link to initiate the conversation is at the bottom of every page on their site. If they are out of the office when you try to chat, it will ask for your email and question, and they will get back to you as soon as they open. It also throws up a message about their regular operating hours, so you know when to expect a response.

2. Uncover Customer Pain Points

Figuring out who your customers are and how to reach them isn’t an easy feat. You can study analytics, survey customers and talk to your salespeople. However, there may still be a few gaps in the motivations driving customers to your page in the first place.

Live chat allows you to ask what issue your site visitors face. Why did they come to the site today, and how can you help them solve the problem? Knowing your target audience’s pain points is vital to growing your business.

3. Engage Users

If you can grab your users’ attention from the minute they land on your page, you’re much more likely to gain a new customer. Live chat can be one of the things that keep them talking to you and considering your product over competitors. Use calls to action (CTAs) to invite consumers into a discussion.

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All Season Gutters places a CTA box in the bottom right corner just above the fold. It reads, “Need Help? Click here to start chatting with us.” The words indicate the live chat feature and prompt users to ask any questions they might have. As soon as you click on the chatbox, you’re assigned a live agent and given their name. They initiate the conversation by greeting the user.

4. Resolve Problems Faster

Another advantage of live chat is the ability to solve minor problems on-the-fly. If a customer received the wrong size, the agent simply initiates an exchange and explains the process. Most issues require little effort to fix, and the customer walks away feeling they were heard and validated.

5. Use New Technologies

Technology changes rapidly. Sometimes it is a little challenging to keep up with all the advances. Although some features cost more than small businesses can afford, others are within reach of any business.

5 Reasons Why Live Chats Are Indispensable

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a quickly growing area that businesses can utilize to be more productive and improve the customer experience. AI and live chat go together like ham and Swiss cheese.

Zales utilizes the power of artificial intelligence with their chatbot. Most basic queries are already listed on the website. You ask your question, and your chatbot answers with a list of possible choices. If you aren’t happy with the options, you can tell the computer you want “something else,” and it will match you with the right live agent.

6. Gain an Advantage

A recent study of 1,000 websites found that only 9% utilize live chat, and another 21% with the feature fail to respond the way they should. If customers prefer live chat over any other form of communication, and you offer it, you have a tactical advantage over others in your industry.

However, make sure you staff the platform accordingly and have agents available to answer questions. Train your customer service reps. Empower agents to make decisions that allow them to instantly help the contact and fix whatever issue they might have.

Should You Add Live Chat to Your Site?

There are many reasons to add a live chat feature to your site. If you’re worried about staffing issues, integrate the software with AI to handle most requests. Set aside hours the chat is manned and program it to go to email outside of those hours. Communicate via the box about what’s happening. Never leave a customer unattended without any type of response.

With a little attention to the type of software you use and by setting certain parameters, you’ll have a live chat feature that your site visitors appreciate. You may win a few people over and turn browsers into lifelong fans.

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