Live chat: What Is It? Why Your Clients Need It?

Customers desire real-time interaction, and they also need quick service. For this reason, a lot of companies are implementing live chat help. However, adding live chat capabilities to your website alone is insufficient. To maximize the effectiveness of your live chat, you must ensure that your support representatives and tools are coordinated.

Live chat: What Is It?

Live chat is a service that links clients with real people who can provide support. This enables users to fix problems right away. Customers can rapidly get answers by using live chat. They’ll spend less time searching through your website’s knowledge base or waiting for a solution.

The only similarity between a live chat and a chatbot is that both are real-time support communication solutions. Customers can communicate with live chat support agents. A chatbot, on the other hand, is just that—a bot.

Chatbots, on the other hand, can help start a support dialogue with customers and then, if necessary, switch to a live chat with a human support representative.

How does a live chat perform?

Live chat establishes an instant communications connection between website users and a company representative in a separate browser window. After selecting a link or button, the user can start a live chat with a support representative. Live chat is a convenient and quick way to communicate that appeals to both customers and businesses.

Typically, live chat software is incorporated into your website’s code as a widget. On your websites, this widget loads an icon or link. A chat window will open when clicked. Which pages you want the emblem to show on is up to you. Most software also lets you alter the chat widget’s appearance.

Here’s an example

Advantages of Live Chat:

Let’s explore the advantages of using live chat in your company.

  1. Omni-Channel Experience

When a customer is on your website, it’s crucial to keep their attention. Your customer might not return if they have to leave the current page to get assistance. Even if you provide excellent help, you risk losing clients if they have to clear hurdles in order to use it.

For visitors to your website, live chat delivers an omnichannel experience. Customers may communicate directly with support or sales teams thanks to live chat’s seamless integration without having to navigate to a different page or leave your website. Live chat can lower your website’s bounce rate, enhance customer service, and open up prospects for upselling and cross-selling.

  1. Reduced Average Handling Time

Customers cite long holds and wait times as the most frustrating part of customer service, according to surveys conducted by Zendesk. Live chat support can help decrease your average handling time.

When using live chat, customers don’t need to wait on hold for the answer to a simple question. They can quickly ask follow-up questions to clarify an agent’s response. There’s no need to file additional follow-up cases to get questions answered.

  1. Opportunities for Automation

Live chat is simple to combine with other customer service tools because it is built right into the code of your website. Your sales and service representatives’ tasks are automated by these products. The consumer may then have a better communication experience as a result of this.

Live chat tools frequently incorporate chatbots. Chatbots can interpret customer inquiries and instantly answer with the necessary information, frequently in response to recurrent queries and typical customer stumbling blocks. This consequently gives your human reps more time to concentrate on challenging problems.

  1. Case Distribution

As more of your customers use live chat support, you can anticipate a drop in the number of cases in your phone and email queues. Customers will start to comprehend which form of communication is most appropriate for their particular type of inquiry.

While urgent and difficult issues should be left to your call centre staff, simple inquiries can be addressed via live chat. Customers have the choice to use your email channel and carry on with their routine if the issue is less urgent.

Now that you are aware of the advantages of live chat, let’s go through certain instances in which it should not be used.

Any business action should be justified by how it will improve the way it serves its customers.

While the majority of businesses’ present live chat usage may provide this impression, the truth is far different. Channels of communication have no inherent value. They support two fundamental categories of value:

To better understand and serve your consumers and prospects, channels help you connect with them.

Channels keep a complete record of consumer complaints and provide context for fresh inquiries from customers. You can modify your business plan using this knowledge.

Live Chat Best Practices
  1. Improve the speed of your entire support network.

Customers want prompt responses to their queries. Although live chat helps speed up communication between consumers and support agents, your clients can only receive responses as quickly as your support team can provide them. Make sure the systems and tools used by your support team are current and seamlessly connected.

  1. Have an offline strategy

There will come a point when your clients are looking for solutions while your agents are off the clock unless you have a support team spread out across the world. You may usually disable the feature outside of business hours with live chat software. You can also send a pre-written answer to inform clients that they will receive service once the team is back online.

  1. Quickly and succinctly respond.

Make sure your customer service personnel feel confident in providing prompt service. To do that, agents must increase their typing speed, make use of text expanders, and incorporate saved responses. Even if it only involves informing them that their query has been received and an answer is on the way, your clients will value a prompt response.

Both replying swiftly and in a clear, succinct manner are essential. Your salespeople should be well-versed in your products and able to clearly explain any ideas. Without the need for filler or fluff, use precise language.

  1. Make it an opportunity to teach

Don’t just answer the customer’s question and call it a day. You can use the live chat experience as an opportunity to teach customers the what and why behind their questions. Share any relevant auxiliary knowledge, and anticipate future needs.

  1. Give them some satisfaction.

Make sure you close out the live chat experience on a positive note. Bring the conversation to a clear and concise closing point. Your reps should confirm the customer’s question has been answered and leave them with detailed instructions if needed. Explain how customers can reach out for further help if questions arise. And of course, thank the customer for their time.