Businesses already know that live chat is a fast and efficient tool which allows them to handle customer enquires quickly, free up resource and ultimately save money when it comes to servicing customers.
But does live chat also improve that service from the viewpoint of your clients?
The answer from consumers seems to be a resounding yes. In fact, live chat is the number one service choice for shoppers between the ages of 18 and 49.
Using live chat as a tool to keep your existing customers happy is one that will offer excellent return on investment. Acquiring a new customer can cost five times more than retaining an existing one, so anything that helps to increase customer satisfaction will already offer a cost saving. While resource for live chat is often more cost effective than a full call centre.
So, let’s take a closer look at how live chat can improve your customer’s perspective of your business.
Live chat offers immediacy
According to research by HubSpot, after reaching out to a customer support team, around 60% of customers want to wait less than 10 minutes for a reply. Live chat is often the quickest way to respond to customer enquiries.
Live chat can be answered more rapidly than a phone call, and without a need for the consumer to jump through endless hoops before speaking to a “real” human being.
And unlike a phone call, chat offers your potential customers the opportunity to get their answers in black and white, leaving less room for ambiguity in communications.
Creating customer rapport
Another win for live chat is the fact that your customer service teams can quickly and easily develop a good rapport with those they are chatting with.
A typical technique for those who work in customer service is to “mirror” the tone of the person with whom they are speaking. While in spoken conversion this can be difficult, it’s fairly easy to pick up on how someone communicates on live chat. For example, how formal their language is, whether they use emojis etc.
This gives your customer service agents or teams a great opportunity to show some personality through their chat process.
73% of customers find live chat the most satisfactory form of communication
This really is important to note. According to Investopedia, 73% of customers were most satisfied with live chat – in comparison to 51% with email communications and 44% by phone.
The truth is that, in a busy world where time is often short – people like live chat. They can multi-task while on live chat, quickly share any issues they are having and do things like screen shot or take photos and quickly send them over.
Live chat is continuing to grow in popularity, therefore if you are looking to consistently delight your customers, it’s worth exploring how you can use it to impress your website visitors.
If you haven't yet looked into a 24/7 managed live chat service, or you'd just like to know more about the options available to you, don’t hesitate to get in touch, we would be happy to chat.
