Article

Jared Cornell
Jared Cornell 12 September 2017

Why Live Chat is Vital for Digital Customer Service

Human interaction is essential for quality customer service. People need a face that can relate to their problems, someone who’ll try to help them as much as possible. Emails, messages, or call centrers cannot give this to customers, but live chat can and this is the first thing that makes it so effective.

When people started going on-line more and more, a lot of things have changed quickly. Everyone is on-line today, and this means that businesses started going on-line as well, trying to utilize on the global network. The digital world offers many opportunities, and with a good plan, any business can make money on-line.

There are so many examples of companies that were able to achieve this, but we won’t go into that. Still, this way of business has its set of challenges as well, and there are many things that need to be considered when going on-line. One of the most important things in business today is customer service and providing it on-line can be difficult.

The biggest reason for this is the fact that there is no face to face, no human interaction, which is very important. This is why live chat software was invented and gained to prominence. With live chat, your digital customer service can be improved in many ways and, today, we will talk about those benefits, so stick with us for a while.

Live Chat provides Human Communication

Like we said above, human interaction is essential for quality customer service. People need a face that can relate to their problems, someone who’ll try to help them as much as possible. Emails, messages, or call centrers cannot give this to customers, but live chat can and this is the first thing that makes it so effective.

For online customers, it's important that they can relate to a business and connect with someone on a deeper level. When a friendly face is there for them to talk, discuss problems, and get valuable suggestions, they will be more open to cooperating with that organization.

Simply put, a potential customer is more likely to trust a business that has people talking to them live rather than sharing emails that might take a lot of time to get answered. Live chat builds trust with consumers and shows them that there are actual caring people behind the organization, ready to give them the help they need.    

It Reduces Service Time

Phone calls take time and agents might not be available to answer and talk to people right away. On the other hand, emails are very slow and there is not enough room for talking about details, and overall, it can be quite exhausting for customers to send multiple emails until their questions have been answered.

With live chat, none of these problems exist. A live chat agent is available right away, and he or she can address customers in real time. As soon as someone contacts you through live chat, the agent will instantly receive the message and the conversation can start.

A capable live chat agent can handle multiple customers at the same time, meaning that nobody will be left waiting for help to be provided. When it comes to customer service, time is essential - nobody likes waiting. Modern customers are used to getting what they want very quickly and, if they have to wait, they will look for what they need elsewhere.

Live Chat can Solve more Complex Issues

Given the fact that this customer support channel allows real time conversations, it means that communication will be on a much higher level. When a customer engages an agent, or if it happens the other way around, they can immediately start working together on coming up with solutions.

When talking over the phone or communicating with emails, it can be tricky to explain certain terms, but with face to face conversations, chat agents can understand potential customers in a better way and help them accurately. The questions customer support teams receive are not always simple and cannot be answered with a simple sentence.

Sometimes, agents need to put in the extra effort and ask visitors questions so that they understand what is troubling them and, when they know what the problems are, they can work on giving them helpful information.   

Customers Prefer Live Chat

Live chat is a simple and natural way in which people can engage a business representative into a conversation. If you add the chat to your website’s homepage, you are instantly inviting people to talk to you if they have any doubts, and letting them know that you are there to help.

On top of that, a lot of live chat tools actually allow you to invite people to chat and you can greet them with messages such as “Do you need help?”, or ”Talk to us if you need something”, and so on. These tools are very intuitive and simple to use and, given the fact that everyone uses social media and messenger tools, live chat comes naturally to visitors.

A business Can Build Customer Relationships through Live Chat

To achieve constant and continuous growth, an online business needs to be able to retain customers and create good relationships with them. Loyal customers are likely to return time after time, to buy products or services, while at the same time referring a business to their friends and families.

This is a stable source of revenue which can allow a business to make new growth incentives and expand in the future. Given the fact that you can provide valuable help to consumers through live chat, it can allow you to create long-term customer relationships and keep them for a long time.

Gathering Customer Feedback

All serious companies are constantly making an effort to gather as much information as possible from their customers concerning their troubles, general opinions, problems and needs. With this information, a business will be able to predict when to make certain moves and determine what to offer to their potential customers.

Through live chat conversations, agents can notice patterns and questions that they get constantly. Through these questions, a business can learn how to improve its service and provide greater value. A business that listens to customers can learn to be better and, in the end, improve its conversions. Live chat is a perfect solution for getting valuable customer feedback online.

Conclusion

Live chat support can help your business improve your customer service in so many ways and ultimately increase your profits. Don’t miss out on this great opportunity and implement one to your website as soon as possible. Still, make sure that you use it properly and that you hire competent live chat agents.

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