When it comes to customer service, feedback from consumers is clear. When something goes wrong, they want to be able to speak to a real person.
A 2018 study from CGS discovered that beyond the simplest questions in customer support, many consumers still prefer human agents to chatbots.
Almost 50% of UK respondents and around 40% of US respondents said they would prefer to speak to a person when dealing with a company.
For many companies, this poses the question – what the most cost-effective way is to offer a human controlled customer service offering while also offering a great customer experience.
While email can offer this, it can be a slower process and lead to frustration from consumers who want answers in real time.
Therefore, the question is generally – what is more cost effective – live chat or call handing?
Chat vs calls – which is more affordable?
The cost of live chat vs call handling is an important consideration for any business. After all, the bottom line is always a key factor in deciding which customer service channel to use.
Live chat is generally much cheaper than call handling, both in terms of the actual costs and the opportunity cost.
Live chat and calls – actual costs
The actual costs include things like the cost of the live chat software itself, as well as the cost of paying customer service agents to manage the chat.
The opportunity cost is the value of the time that customers and customer service agents spend on chat, which could be spent doing other activities which benefit the business.
There are a few reasons why live chat is so much cheaper than call handling. Firstly, calls require the use of expensive phone lines and call centre infrastructure. Secondly, calls take up a lot of time, both for the customer and the customer service agent. With live chat, customers can multi-task and do other things while they chat, and agents can handle multiple chats at the same time.
The opportunity cost of calls
In terms of opportunity cost, calls tie up customer service agents on the phone, which prevents them from being able to manage other tasks. With live chat, agents can handle multiple chats simultaneously, which greatly increases productivity.
Industry benchmarks show that an experienced live chat operator can potentially take on up to three enquiries at a time, and still maintain an excellent response time and level of customer service. In comparison with calls, which of course can only be done individually.
Overall, live chat is a much more cost-effective solution than call handling, both in terms of actual costs and opportunity costs.
If you're looking to save money on your customer service, live chat is the way to go.
Outsourcing live chat
For even bigger cost savings, businesses may opt to use Yomdel, a service which will handle live chat on your behalf.
Our team of experts can manage your live chat enquiries on your behalf, saving you staffing, equipment and recruitment costs.
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.
