Online marketing has witnessed quite a few disruptions in this decade.

From targeted video marketing to voice-powered search, there are loads of ways you can drive website traffic and increase your conversion rate.

A managed live chat service is one such method. It’s simple. It’s powerful. It works!

Live chat is a popular tool now as it has a lot of power to be able to interact directly with customers in real-time on a website. A great example of this is automotive live chat.

Live chat on your dealer website helps you build personal connections with your customers in real time when they are already engaged. Imagine how good they’ll feel when they can reach you instantly and receive a personalised response. It’s the first step towards building a loyal customer out of a website browser.

There’s no question that a managed live chat service enables you to qualify browsers quickly and creates more engagement with those customers. But how do we actually convert those customers into buyers?

Keep reading to find out.

Quick Response Times

It’s a little annoying to be on hold when talking on the phone. Even worse when you have to listen to some random 80’s song!! With live chat, a visitor just stares at the empty chat box wondering if there’s someone on the other side. The feeling is not too distant from the on hold music.

If it’s you on the other side you need to be ready and waiting to reply. Ideally, you should respond within a minute, but studies show that your response time must be under 10 seconds to mitigate the risk of losing them. People are impatient and need answers now, that’s why they’re online in the first place.

Talk in their Lingo

Most people, while chatting online, are relaxed and informal. How do you respond to them? In the same way.

However, the live chat agent needs to stay professional while imitating the customer’s style. It’s alright if they want to chit chat. If they’re direct, be direct back. After all, you’re having a conversation.

Increase in conversion rate is directly proportional to the engagement with website visitors. This means being relatable, friendly, and human. Let creativity and human warmth flow in your interactions.

Communicate Value

You could do much more with a live chat box than just interacting with customers.

If your live chat box displays text by default, like “have questions?” or “need a deal?” you have already started the conversation without actually typing out a message. Hence, your chat box itself is a way to reach out to customers.

Make sure you include the right copy on your chat box. Your customers will feel welcomed and have positive thoughts about your business before even beginning to chat.

You also add value when you answer their questions in detail and offer them a solution before you ask them anything. Being in service to the customer is the key here.

Develop a Smooth Chat Protocol

Creating protocols with your chat team will prepare you and them  for any situation and will help you form a clear goal in mind. This will let your customer recognise you as having a top-class chat service and ultimately leads to the conversion you want. Keep in mind the following:

• Create friendly greetings. You can set triggers for greetings in most live chat systems allowing you to customise to the time they are on your site.
• Readymade templates. Have a list of FAQs with answers so that your agent can copy and paste when required limiting mistakes on common queries.
• Update the team on sales events, hour changes or hiccups like phone lines being down. This will give your customers a superior experience.

Final Word

Statistics show that a managed live chat service cuts support costs by half and increases conversion rates by 40%. Automotive live chat has become crucial in the automotive space where a great deal of customer interaction is required.

A lot goes into implementing an automotive live chat platform, and it needs to be designed to have successful customer service and conversion. Then comes chat agents, training and their round-the-clock availability. All these are taken care of by subscribing to a managed live chat service.

• Author Details

Author Details

Tracey Horey

CEO of Live Chat Agent

Tracey Horey is a 20 year veteran of the Automotive industry and has been writing Automotive content and helping Dealerships optimise their digital space for over 15 years. Her experience working with various sized dealerships and her passion for exploring and understanding new tools for the auto industry has given her an in depth understanding of the challenges all dealerships face in a changing landscape.

accounts@livechatagent.com.au

1800 332 428