So, if you’re reading this article, it’s very much understood that you want to know the benefits of live chat for customer service. Well, who doesn’t want to?
Live chat is slowly becoming the go-to mode of communication between a customer and a business, thanks to the number of benefits a live chat software can provide.
In fact, 41% of customers prefer to get in touch with a business via live chat whereas only 32% prefer support over the phone and 23% prefer email. Bottom line, live chat is slowly taking over the traditional methods of support and as a business, it’s important that you use a live chat service.
That said, we’ll start looking at the benefits of live chat for business.
What are the Benefits of Live Chat On Your Website
In this section, we’ve listed the most important benefits of using a live chat software for your business.
1. Engage With Customers & Prospects In Real-time
One of the biggest benefits of having a live chat software is that you engage with your customers & prospects in real-time.
Earlier, the most common support method was email and telephone. Using these methods of support means the customer has to wait for responses from the agent for a couple of hours (or even days if it’s email). And customers just hate the thought of waiting for responses or being put on hold.
But with live chat software in place, the scenario is totally different. Your customers can reach out to your business anytime and they get instant responses from respective agents. This not only increases the customer satisfaction levels but also creates an image that your business is approachable making your customers more loyal to your brand.
2. Increases First Contact Resolution With Conversation History
Imagine the same issue getting stretched to multiple emails. Sounds frustrating, right? Today, the fast-paced modern world has made customers less patient – they want solutions and they want them instantly.
Traditional support methods like phone and email consume more resolution time as the agent will ask customers to repeat themselves all over again (especially if a different agent starts to handle the case). This is one of the main causes of customer frustration and abandonment.
But modern live chat softwares has everything an agent needs to deliver instant support. Simplify360’s live chat software stores all customer conversation history from across channels allowing agents to stay on the same page with customers.
This increases the chances of resolving the issue at the first contact, which is nothing but First Contact Resolution.
3. Manage More Customers Simultaneously
Another reason live chat is being preferred by an increased number of businesses is that it allows you to manage more customers simultaneously.
Earlier, customers had to be put on hold until an agent finds the slot to attend to the customer. And this is exactly how it would look,
But with a live chat software, this doesn’t have to be the case. Customers expect a response in live chat within 1 – 2 minutes from the moment they leave a message.
This gives your agents the time they need to respond to another customer and get back with a response. It’ll be even better if you integrate a chatbot into your live chat software and automate support. This can save time for your agents and they can start taking care of more critical issues while the trivial issues will be taken care of by the live chat software itself.
We’ll be looking at this in-depth in the later sections of this article.
4. Helps Gain the Needed Edge Over Your Competitors
Though live chat is becoming a popular customer support method, the adoption rate is not at its peak level. You can understand this when you take a look at your competitors and check if they have live chat services on their websites.
Not every one of your competitors would be providing live chat customer support. This will automatically give your business the edge it needs over your competitors. Customers tend to stick with businesses that provide great customer service – this comes without saying.
And by implementing a live chat software to your business website, you can deliver customers the support they look forward to!
5. Automate Customer Support With Chatbot Integration
Remember where we talked about automating customer support by integrating a chatbot?
Behind the scenes, a live chat software doesn’t always have an agent responding to the queries. Queries are also taken care of by chatbots.
Yes. You heard that right.
Modern live chat softwares like Simplify360 come with built-in AI chatbots that allow you to automate customer support. The chatbots are sophisticated and powered by Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Machine Learning (ML) technologies that enable more appropriate and personalized responses.
And the best part is, that the bots automatically route complex issues to agents making sure that no query is left unanswered. You can know more about AI Chatbots here.
This approach makes customer support automated and common queries will be taken care of by chatbots. On the other hand, your agents can focus on more complex queries and ensure the best support at all times.
6. Reduce Support Costs
Deploying a live chat software not only makes customer support easier but also helps you save support costs. In fact, statistics show that live chat is 17-30% cheaper when compared to telephonic support.
The fact that your support agents can take care of more customers at the same time means increased efficiency and reduced costs. Put simply, a smaller team of live chat agents can handle a large number of customer queries on live chat support.
“Research states that a live chat agent will be able to handle six simultaneous chats at once.”
Also, with the chatbots taking care of a chunk of support queries, the costs are definitely going to stay low.
7. 24×7 Uninterrupted Support
Now, this doesn’t mean you’re going to have to deploy live support agents 24×7. Chatbots that you’ve integrated resolve queries when agents are not around. For complex queries, you can leave an automated message that says agents will get back to them at the earliest or a similar sort.
Setting up automated forms is also an ideal way to collect customer queries when agents are not around. Either way, you’re not going to ghost your prospects and customers. There’s some form of assurance you’re giving them and that totally works!
8. Gain Customer Feedback & Insights
Live chat is a perfect way to gain customer feedback and insights. Pulling out data from recorded conversations isn’t going to be an easy task. But with live chat conversations, it isn’t going to be much of a task.
With automated workflows, you can set certain types of issues to be redirected to specific agents. You can find repeated issues, identify patterns and understand what your customers’ pain points are.
Based on this, you can come up with a strategy to combat the same. Knowing your customers is the first step to providing great customer service and a live chat software helps you with the process to a certain extent.
9. One Platform for Multiple Channels
We’re down to the last benefit of live chat for customer service. So, here we go.
As a business, it’s common for you to receive customer queries both from your app and on your website. A separate chat window/inbox is only going to make it difficult for your support agents.
But Simplify360’s live chat software comes with a single omnichannel inbox that allows you to monitor and respond to customer queries from across channels in one place. Here, you’ll be able to see all your web and app queries in one place. And your agents can even collaborate and work on the same issue.
On a broader scale, Simplify360’s omnichannel platform allows you to integrate all your customer support channels in one place – Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Web Chat, Google My Business and more. Your support team can view and respond to all channels from one place on the go.
So, mentioned above are the benefits of having live chat on your website. Deploying one of the best live chat softwares can help you enjoy the above-mentioned benefits.
Conclusion
Today, live chat has become inevitable considering the high customer satisfaction rate – 92%. If you’re running a business that requires an online presence and dealing with customers, you should not hesitate to use a live chat software.
Simplify360’s live chat software is cost-effective and comes power-packed with features like built-in AI chatbots, a single inbox, an easy-to-use interface and more. You can easily engage with your prospects & customers and leave them with awesome support experiences.
So, start using a live chat software for your business now!
