In the digital superhighway, success is all about being fast – how fast a search engine brings you up, how fast your brand strikes at first glance and how fast you respond to users.

Do you know that your new customers are on your website right now? Are you talking to them now? How do you keep the conversation flow even while you’re reading this article?

Through this definitive guide, let’s kick off the most amazing way to connect with your customers and improve sales in 2021. Live chat.

What is Live Chat?

Over two decades ago, a letter, a phone call or a personal visit were the most popular ways customers could contact a company when they had questions or complaints.

Then came the internet revolution.

In this supersonic digital era, customers have options. They expect a brand to address their questions and resolve issues quickly. Mostly they will go with the one that responds to them first.

So if you don’t want to lose your customers, you need to invest in becoming more accessible, quicker to respond and to be more present with each user.

A fully managed live chat does exactly this.

Live chat is a tool embedded in your business website that allows you to start a conversation with your site visitors when it’s most convenient for them.

Probably a reason why people prefer it is that it allows them to multitask – while at work or while shopping online. It allows your site visitors to talk to a real human being, a live chat agent. It helps you take a human-centric approach to your business.

Apart from customer service, live chat is also used for lead generation and driving more traffic (and eventually more sales) on your website.

What are the Types of Live Chat?

Basically, there are three types – human, chatbot and hybrid. Primarily, your business needs will determine what type suits you.

Human chat – Here the site visitors speak with a real person – either an outsourced live chat agent or an in-house chat team member. Customers expect personalised service and quick responses to their questions. With the right team of live chat agents in place, you can guarantee a great fully managed live chat service.

Chatbot – If you get simple queries such as checking order status, address change or finding the nearest store, a chatbot would be a good fit. However, chatbots have evolved a lot over the years and use NLP, AI and machine learning to respond to complex queries from site visitors.

Hybrid chat – This brings the best of both worlds – a blend of human and AI interaction. Common queries can be addressed by bots and complex queries by humans.

Reactive & Proactive Chat

Initiating an engaging conversation is only half the story. To get the best results from a fully managed live chat requires working out an engagement strategy that complements your business needs.

Reactive chat is the chat initiated by the site user. Usually, the chat window is minimised and the user will have to click on it and ask queries or clarify doubts.

Proactive chat is the one that actively pops up with a custom message to suit the user on the site. The message will be based on the analytics of your website visitors. This chat can be activated when visitors are about to leave the site or click on some other page.

Benefits of Fully Managed Live Chat

Engagement

Real-time conversations are a great way to connect with your site visitors. Also, when visitors have control over the conversation, they feel comfortable in engaging with your brand.

Faster Bookings

Chat agent: “How does tomorrow evening work for you?”

Visitor: “That’s tough. How about Thursday 2 pm?”

A demo is fixed in no time! No annoying back and forth emails or waiting periods. You can even integrate your calendar with live chat so that the site visitors can book time slots in the chat window. You empower your users to choose their convenient time.

More Qualified Leads

You don’t want to waste time with people who are not buyers. Through the fully managed live chat, you talk to people who reached out to you. This means they are more likely to convert as buyers. You will be able to qualify them (or not) in a few seconds.

Less Expensive

Live chat helps you make money and save money. It costs lesser than the conventional customer support channels, super easy to set up, reduces response time and enables your business to be efficient. A fully-managed live chat services takes away the cost and headache of training in-house live chat agents too.

Last word

Businesses around the world are already seeing positive results from incorporating fully managed live chat into their websites. As a business, you have the opportunity to listen and ask further questions to your prospective customer. Live chat allows you to show them that you are interested in them and make them comfortable.

This pleasing experience makes users stick with your brand, and once you have their loyalty, they always come back.

Get the live chat, bring your leads closer, delight them and sell more.

• 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