Live Chat Systems – Businesses Don’t Realize They Need Them!

There are still online businesses that continue to operate without a live chat system, it’s 2022 people, wake up! Let’s run through the overwhelming statistics that should compel your organization to use a live chat system. These stats should convey how imperative it is to use the proper communication method for modern times and how it will be impossible to operate a competitive business in the future without one.

Statistics

Most people prefer live chat, in fact, approximately 69% of shoppers in the USA find it their preferred way of communication and it’s over 73% for those aged 18–49, hence the future is only with live chat.  

Live Chat Is Growing Fast

By 2023, the live chat market is expected to reach a size of $1 billion. Everyone’s on their smartphones these days, so it’s no wonder that it has been found that 74% of live chat users are doing so from their phones, thus it’s important to have both a mobile-friendly website and live chat system, like Convosio. Notice, also that everyone is engaging in live chat via their smartphone because it’s convenient. There’s massive time commitment to go through prompts and tediously find account numbers and validate/authenticate personal identity before the customer can even begin discussing the issue or thought at hand. This extreme annoyance is pushing everyone only to live chat. One must feel sorry for the support agents that endure the initial aggression and/or frustration from customers that have traveled through the gauntlet of prompts to finally convey their sentiments to a live agent. This approach is both backward and outdated.

Live Chat Racks Up Savings

By using a live chat system, businesses can save 15%-33% of their customer team expenditures. This is due to the platform enabling one person to manage multiple customer conversations vs one at a time via telephone or email.  Live chat outperforms telephone by 65% and email by 19%. customers just love instant answers from operators.

Live chat can also eliminate the need for human hires altogether if chatbots are involved.  Only 44% of customers say that the ability to speak with a real person is important during their purchasing process. While 44% is significant, it’s still under 50% which means it’s no longer necessary to have a human involved, and it’s probably going to be even less so over time. Speaking of time, there’s also time savings for your customer support team! Instead of having trouble hearing a customer over the phone, the customer specialist can simply read and re-read the customers comments, questions, or concerns over and over again. There is no risk of language barriers or not interpreting someone’s fast speech cadence. Time is also on the side of the support to their benefit. On the phone, customers expect fast responses, and they hate being put on hold. With live chat, there is a mutual understanding that both parties, customer, and specialist, with a moment to read, think, articulate and optimize responses; in essence, both parties are giving the best versions of themselves which can only end in an optimal outcome.

Customers enjoy their ability to speak uninterrupted via live chat so much so that it increases brand loyalty since individuals don’t want to risk being treated with any less attention with a different company that doesn’t offer fast service.

Live Chat Leads to Upselling

Not only is the possibility of making a sale 3x higher when live chat is involved, but the chance of a shopper purchasing more than they expected is greater as well. Many shoppers visit websites thinking they’re only going to look and maybe buy the item they saw advertised / pop-up on the browser they were reading their newsletter. Thanks to live chat, prospects can immediately, and “effortlessly” engage with a customer support specialist that not only answers all their thoughts but offers additional merchandise, this leads to greater than expected sales. In today’s instant gratification and social media short clip society, shoppers have a short attention span, they could have trouble thinking for themselves, so, be sure to offer product solutions to their questions. So, for example, your website could be selling a children’s toy. The parent could be browsing your webstore, suddenly, your support specialist reaches out, “Hi, I’m Robert, here to answer any thoughts you might have. Would you like any information?” Notice I didn’t mention the word “question” or “Is there anything you’d like to know.” These two words and phrases have been overused over the years. Perhaps the shopper has no questions, just thoughts, perhaps they want to vent about something rather than ask a question. If you simply engage their thoughts, it can only help since you are making them feel heard and this leads to a relationship between support and customer which further increases the chances for a sale.

Live Chatbots Streamlines Problem Solving

Using a live chat system, especially with a bot can automate customers grievances so they get closed out quickly. For example, let’s say a customer is asking for a question which the chatbot cannot answer from its library of pre-programmed responses. Then the chatbot will tell the prospect that he or she will receive a response by the organization within X hours. The chatbot relays the unanswered questions to the organizations ticketing system which opens a ticket and assigns it to an individual who now has the responsibility to answer the customer question by X time.

Chatbots are basically live communicating FAQ pages. This is powerful since if an organization knows most of the questions a prospective customer could ask; think 2 standard deviations, in this way they can be confident a human support specialist isn’t needed, a chatbot will answer everyone’s thoughts, queries, and curiosities.

Conclusion

Whether it’s for increased sales, a better relationship, or saving both time and money for your organization, using live chat is the optimal way to communicate with customers. Shoppers feel better understood and get their needs met better using real-time chat. Regardless of whether you’re a start-up or an aging company looking for new growth get with the times and give the customer what they want, for better results start using live chat!