If the title of this post made you click, you’re more than likely curious about live chat and its benefits.

A tool so simple yet so powerful that it makes 63% of your customers want to purchase from you again.

Just about anyone can secure a lead on their website, but to ensure the longevity of your business you want to keep your customers coming back again and again.

We shop online because it’s quick & convenient so it makes sense that customer service should be as well.

“Email takes too long and I don’t particularly feel like speaking a robot”, and bam, the customer is gone!

This is a buying habit trademark of the busy buyer person; I am that and some of your customers are as well.

We don’t want to lose customers right?

So how does live chat really benefit my online business I hear you ask.

With the following 4 simple points, I will explain why live chat is crucial to your business and how to correctly implement it.

1. Make your chat box aesthetically pleasing and be polite

For example:

“Good morning and welcome to our website. My name is Amy, pleased to meet you. I’ll be your customer service representative today, anything you need just give me a shout!”

As opposed to….

“Hello my name is Amy, how can I help you”

Make sure all queries are answered with a personalised & detailed message, in a friendly tone, so buyers know they are talking to a real person and not just another robot.

A non-obstructive live chat box with a prompt once your visitor has been on your website for a certain amount of time is sufficient. It should fit with the colour scheme of your website to tie in with your overall brand theme.

Take for example our live chat box (we never like to boast but it certainly gets the job done). It’s simple, at your disposal and includes a friendly little face to really connect with visitors.

2. Customer service that sets your business apart

To ensure you have the best customer service possible you have to train your team to represent your company in the best possible light.

They need to know your products/services inside and out!

They must be prepared for roadblocks and customer hesitations!

Are they trained in conflict resolution?

All of these skills will enable your team to work at the utmost professional level and ensure that all of your customer’s questions go answered. Think of a time when you made a phone call to a company and was bounced around like a ping-pong ball from rep to rep because person A or B couldn’t answer your query.

I guarantee that it left you with a negative view on the company and certainly didn’t make you feel confident about purchasing with that business! Well, you’re not alone on this, 89% of consumers will move to a competitor following a poor customer experience!

Nothing could be more off-putting than a customer service team without the proper training.

3. Watch your sales increase

So how exactly does live chat help to do this?

● Following on from the point mentioned above. Excellent customer service makes for happy customers and builds relationships. When you gain the trust of a customer they are much more likely to shop with you again.
● Just by offering live chat – you are one step ahead of the companies that do not. If X amount of websites are competing in the same industry as yours – make sure to stand out!
● And my favourite reason why live chat helps boost sales. You can use it to cross sell products.

4. Use a proactive live chat feature

Image: Zendesk

Suppose I was in the market for a children’s multivitamin and reached the “add to cart” stage of the shopping process but was unsure whether the product was suitable for people with a gluten intolerance. I have two options; I either move onto a competitor brand that states clearly on the packaging that it is suitable for people with a gluten intolerance or I can use live chat, get my answer and finalise the purchase.

Do you know what’s even better than just a live chat box? Adding a proactive chat feature! A proactive feature personalises what your live chat box is able to do.

It revolutionises your standard live chat.

The example I used above about abandoning a cart due to lack of information could be avoided with a proactive chat.

A proactive live chat feature can allow you to design and send live prompt messages to your customers that say, for example:

“Good afternoon, do you need any help completing your purchase?”

or

“Complete your purchase in under 20 minutes for an extra 20% off the entire cart!”

That’s some seriously cool stuff right there!

And that’s how you lock in sales & boost profits!

By now you love the idea of live chat right? We thought so. Want to know something amazing? Installing a live chat is super easy and normally takes no longer than 10 minutes! Take a look at the short guide below which outlines the process for most of the main chat providers:

● Firstly, sign up and create an account with a live chat service provider of your choice.
● Once you are signed in and have customised the features (don’t forget the proactive live chat) you’ll want to copy the provided code.
● You will then paste that code in the backend of your website and voila – your chat box is live

Pretty easy right? Even if you get stuck on how to customise the chat box or where to actually paste the code, your live chat provider will without a doubt have a step by step guide to help you out! So what are you waiting for!

We can certainly vouch for the benefits of utilising live chat to reach your buyers and offer the best possible customer service to put your business right up there with the best of them. If you currently use a live chat box let us know how it’s working for you in the comments below!

As always, you can also reach us on Twitter (@thewebsitegroup ← Click to Tweet Us).