Are you turning a deaf ear to potential customers?

24/05/2019

We all know that everybody loves a good listener, and that includes your customers and prospects, but if your website doesn’t offer an instant chat option then you could be turning a deaf ear to new business opportunities.

If you’ve ever spent more than a minute in hold-music hell whilst trying to query a gas bill then the appeal of the word ‘instant’ shouldn’t require much explanation, but it’s not the only reason for the increase in popularity of live chat.

Why it appeals to your website visitors

Convenient

Unlike many other forms of communication, live chat lends itself very well to multi-tasking, allowing clients and prospects to interact with you whilst getting on with their busy lives.

Discreet

With open plan offices and working from home increasingly common, it allows people to have conversations with you that they might not want to share with family or colleagues.

Control

Websites are like shops; people love to browse without feeling pressured, but when they have questions they want answers straight away.

Stress-free

Many people dread the call centre experience, so offering an online chat function really appeals to those of us who don’t relish navigating a maze of menus or who find phone conversations difficult.

Trust

Surveys indicate that many consumers found having instant access to helpful and well trained staff increased their levels of trust in an organisation.

How it can benefit businesses

Efficiency

Even the best trained, most skilled sales person or customer service agents can only have one phone call at a time. But when using live chat, experienced agents can deal with several enquiries simultaneously.

Relationships

In an increasingly competitive online environment every business is trying to build stronger relationships with their clients and prospects, and offering a personalised service is key to that. Getting real answers from real people in real time is becoming the foundation of these relationships.

Insight

Most live chat systems provide transcripts of every conversation that’s gone through the system. Access to this data can provide vital insight into your customer base and help you improve your training.

With so many potential benefits it’s easy to see why instant chat is one of the fastest growing contact channels for businesses worldwide.

And with plenty of tools to choose from, each with customisable settings and personalisation, there’s no shortage of choice for the savviest companies looking to make the most of the traffic coming their way.