7 Benefits Of Live Web Chat Service In 2021

Live web chat became a critical element of many websites—both for sales and service. The reasons for adopting live web chat were myriad, and many embraced it to realize the benefits. Touted outcomes included better conversion rates, lower bounce rates, higher customer engagement and satisfaction, lower costs as compared to traditional phone engagement.

But various challenges slowed adoption rate and diminished projected business benefits. For smaller organizations without sufficient resources, the time required to staff live web chat became overwhelming. Those that consider or try live web chat often conclude they simply don’t have the time to manage it. Plus, in too many instances, live web chat is just another engagement channel that sits in its own silo; information collected via one engagement channel (e.g., email, phone, text, live web chat, etc.) does not follow a customer across different engagement channels. 

Despite the availability of live web chat technology, too many businesses—large and small—do not offer it as an engagement channel. These businesses place themselves at a competitive disadvantage and risk losing customers. 

Benefits of Live Web Chat Services

On-demand live web chat services such as Davinci Live Web Chat Service seek to overturn these challenges by making it possible for organizations to offer customers live web chat on their websites—and engagement that is integrated with other forms of engagement. Following is an overview of the key benefits of a live web chat service:

1. Deliver real-time sales and customer service responses 

Digital engagement is counted in terms of seconds, let alone hours or even minutes. Customers seeking to make a purchase or request support expect rapid responses from vendors and will take their business elsewhere when they don’t get timely responses. For example, almost 8 in 10 consumers prefer live web chat over other engagement channels because they have near real-time responses. In contrast, 42% of business think their customers prefer phone support. 

2. Reduce customer wait times

A live web chat service gives businesses the ability to shrink customer wait times. As this is a big pet peeve for customers, doing so can have a dramatic impact on customer satisfaction. Customer service leaders seem to understand the urgency of addressing this problem: 21% list reducing customer effort and 36% say decreasing wait times are priorities for them this year. But few of them identify live web chat as a potential means for doing so.

3. Improve customer satisfaction

As noted, customers prefer live web chat over other engagement channels. The primary reason is the ability to get near real-time responses to questions and problems. The convenience of live web chat over other channels is also frequently listed as a plus. Data serves as corroboration. 73% of customers are pleased with live web chat, as compared to 61% for email, 53% for mobile apps, 48% for social media, and 44% for phone. One of the ways in which organizations can enhance live web chat experiences is to provide a transcript of the conversation. 

4. Increase sales and conversions

Depending on the resource, live web chat can produce upwards of a 20% increase in conversions. Customers can initiate a live web chat session when questions arise about a product or service they want to purchase. And when the optimal live web chat service is deployed, you can actually proactively offer live web chat to visitors based on their behavior. 

5. Reduce support costs

Customer support is expensive, and the costs of traditional channels like phone can tally quickly. Unlike phone, live web chat enables sales and customer support agents to engage with multiple customers concurrently. For example, telecommunications provider Telus indicates its live web chat agents engage in as many as six simultaneous chat sessions In the case of a live web chat service like Davinci Live Web Chat Service, these efficiencies are built into the price. These efficiencies translate into as much as a 50% cheaper engagement rate per customer over phone.

6. Build trust with customers

Due to the deficiencies of traditional engagement channels like phone, many customers lack confidence in their vendor’s ability to address their problem and answer their question. Research shows, however, that live web chat fosters a greater sense of trust—up to 90% in some cases based on research. Part of this process requires your live web chat agents to personalize their interactions with customers. Indeed, over 50% of consumers say they view companies more favorably when customer service is more personalized.

7. Increase average order value

Not only does live web chat increase conversions, but it increases the size of the conversions. As live web chat agents build rapport with customers, they have the opportunity to augment their order with additional products or services. For example, one study found live web chat increased average order size by 15%.

Get Started—Fast and Easy

Other benefits could be cited, but the above should be more than sufficient at getting your attention. Organizations without live web chat services on their website place themselves at a competitive disadvantage. Customers are likely to become frustrated more quickly with a business that does not offer live web chat as an option—especially if other engagement channels have long queues. 

Adding live web chat to your website is fast and easy if you engage the right live web chat service provider. Make sure they have documented workflows and processes, chat templates, availability of mobile apps, trained sales and service representatives, ability to deliver chat transcripts, integration with other engagement channels, and customizable greetings and chat invitations. 

About Patrick Spencer

Patrick Spencer (Ph.D.) is the President and Founder of TIRO Communications that helps companies develop, build, and manage content, customer, advocacy, and demand-gen programs. Included in its offerings is TIRO Cognition Insights, a data analytics tool that enables B2C and B2B businesses to pinpoint what their customers and competitors’ customers are saying and to identify corresponding actionable product, services, competitive, sales, and marketing intelligence.

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Website: www.tirocommunications.com