The digitization of many businesses has given way to debate on live-chat tools. Are these online customer service tools worth the investment? Will your business be better off with or without these tools? Is the tool desirable for the conversion of potential customers? To successfully answer these questions, we have to inspect these tools and see how they work, their applications and how they might contribute to a marketing strategy and sales cycle.
With live-chat tools, you can conveniently build a close relationship between your target customers and the product you are offering them. A recent report from E-consultancy, a world-leading source of training and insight in digital marketing and e-commerce, stated that most customers would prefer to conduct transactions with businesses that use live chat tools. It is inferred from this report that most end users are thrice as likely to conduct a business transaction with a company that uses live-chat tools than with one that doesn't.
Businesses that engage their users with live-chat tools always get the best ROI when it comes to customer support and services. Naturally, humans get more satisfaction from an interactive chat session. A customer is, therefore, more likely to select a company based on the reputation of their customer support.
The report from E-consultancy further discovered that about 97% of end-users talk to their close friends and family about the customer service of the companies they consult. This further helps in cementing the reputation of companies with great customer support. Live-chat tools are very effective and help you heighten the experience of your customers thus, helping your business expand farther. Based on the report, 46% of platform visitors admit to having experienced a very good service interaction due to the proficiency involved. A further 79% stated that they had quick responses to their queries when in platforms with live-chat tools incorporated.
To understand how worthy live-chat tools are, you have to understand that it's not simply about providing solutions, it is totally about understanding your customers and their needs. A chat session is more likely to help you sell your product more than other means. The live-chat software as a business tool is the best customer support tool as it is an effective step towards the improvement of customer interaction and service.
As a communication tool for your business, live-chat is cost-effective in comparison to other communication tools. Compared to the ROI of other communication tools like email and phone support, live-chat tools have a return of almost 300%. It is also easier to implement when compared to other communication tools.
People generally trust personal interactions more than other forms of communication. They tend to further extend the trust when the interaction exposes them to a total demonstration of how usable the product they want is. This way, you get to convert potential customers into buyers and drive up sales.
If your business hasn't started using live-chat for marketing, you might want to start now. This is because live-chat can help you engage multiple people with optimal efficiency. A customer service representative can't attend to multiple people by phone calls at the same time. However, he can surely manage multiple live-chat windows at once. Therefore, with this software, you can easily reduce your budget for customer service without reducing the quality of interaction. You also get to increase the efficiency of your customer support staff. It also helps improve the outlook of your brand as the latest customer support system out there.
You might want to consider that no one likes waiting any longer than necessary during phone calls, especially when it's about inquiries or complaints. It has been noted that the average time it takes customer service to respond to during a chat session is less than half a minute while it takes about a minute to find solutions to issues. This is quite unlike the unnecessary wait period during a call. With live-chat incorporated as part of your marketing strategy, you should ensure that your company delivers a standard that your customers can trust. Try to make the live-chat tool available to your customers 24/7. This way, they are assured that there is always someone available to respond to their queries.
In conclusion, live-chat tools often come in the form of a complete package. They mostly come with the following features;
Cross-platform compatibility, E-commerce Integration, Integrated CRM software, Google analytics integration, CMS integration, Salesforce integration, etc... So, for a growth-oriented business, incorporating live-chat software into your customer support system is worth it. It guarantees increased sales, conversion and increased interactions with your customers.
