Benefits of Having Live Chat Support Agents

Now that you have your business online, you are probably wondering how to maximize the benefits. Many businesses may establish themselves online but don’t truly tap into the potential of it. Think of your online business like a shop, where people come to look around and potentially purchase something. If the customer has any questions about a product or service, wouldn’t you want them to be answered right away?

Live chat gives you that option. It allows your clients to engage with a support representative immediately rather than submit a query and wait for a reply. The instant interaction has numerous benefits.

Increased sales, probably the most important benefit to many businesses

The main focus of your online business is to generate sales, whether it is to gather leads and do that or just have customers purchase online. There have been studies conducted on how live chat can impact your sales. A study carried out by the American Marketing Association concluded that businesses’ had an increase conversion rate of about 20%. Statistics in the report also showed that customers that opt for the live chat option are more likely to purchase the product.

Even if we were to think of it logically, without looking at the research, consumers tend to go with businesses that provide customer service. Whether it is when they are buying the product or after-sale service. In the online business, you don’t have face to face interaction so the live chat gives you an option to assist your customer online and give it a similar feel. This shows your customer that you care about their business and your own.

Saves you money

Most online businesses, for support, rely on the telephone. Getting a toll-free number or a line dedicated to your business can be costly. You would be required to hire multiple sales representatives to take calls and assist customers. With live chat you actually forgo a lot of that and end up saving money.

Live chat softwares cost as much as a mail provider would, so it is lower in cost than a toll-free number. It also permits you to maybe have just 1 or 2 representative and cut cost on that. On average a well-trained representative can handle 3 chats or more chats at a time. This also allows them to take care of more clients at one time with ease.

Improves customer loyalty

Consumers tend to shop at stores they feel provide exceptional customer service. Many may not even care about the price of the product or service. As long as they know that the business will take care of them, that is all that matters to them. So why not give them that exceptional service through live chat. A survey conducted by eDigital Customer Service Benchmark concluded that out of email, live chat, and phone about 73% of clients were satisfied when they contacted businesses through chat. Whereas only about 61% were through e-mail and 44% through phone.

Live chat sort of brings the best of both worlds, e-mail and phone. You get instant interaction which you would get on the phone and it allows the representative to think a little more so they can provide a detailed answer, the experience you would get through e-mail.

Some customers just like to chat rather than call

Many online shoppers find it easier to chat rather than call. The long wait in queue for a representative. It all can be a daunting process on a client. As a business you want to provide them with the service right away and that is what they expect. With live chat you have the option to do that, since one representative can easily handle 2-3 or more clients at a time. There will be minimum wait in queue for the client and they will get the service that will hopefully make  them loyal to your business.

Competitive advantage

A report by TELUS International states that while online businesses are growing not many of these businesses have live chat support. You can even look at your competitors online and see whether they offer it or not. More likely than not they won’t offer it and this will put you at an advantage. Remember, through exceptional customer service you build customer loyalty. The clients you get through exceptional support rarely leave your business so this type of loyalty is far more superior than clients you get from discounted sales.

So do we have you convinced? Interested in looking for a live chat provider? We recommend LiveChatNinjas.com. They offer the following services:

• Web chat in real time
• Messages from customers when offline
• Transcripts
• Exceptional customer support and services

They offer a 30-day free trial so you can even test out their services before you decide to lock them up. Their chat messenger is fairly easy to setup and is even easier to use. So don’t wait any longer to tap into the potential of your online business. Try Chat Ninjas now and see for yourself the difference live chat can have on your business. With the leads and queries your business generates, we wouldn’t be surprised if you had to hire more representatives just to handle them all.