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The more options you can provide customers with for contacting customer service, the more satisfied they are likely to be. These seven benefits of live chat customer service have made this method of customer contact increasingly popular with businesses and customers.
1. Live Chat Is Convenient
Live chat options can be convenient for customers for a variety of reasons. Unlike e-mail and online forum support, live chat allows customers to immediately connect with customer service agents.
It also makes it easier for customers to do other things while they are waiting for help. This relieves some of the frustration inherent in being put on hold or waiting in a call queue with telephone customer service.
Offering chat options takes some of the workloads off your telephone representatives. This, in turn, can mean less wait time for all of your customers.
This method usually takes less time than e-mail or online forums. This is because neither party has to wait around for the other to read their messages and respond.
Live chat can also be useful for customers who want to ask a question before they make a purchase. Instead of having to look up a phone number and wait for a representative to answer the phone, they can just click the live chat box and get an immediate response.
2. It Gives You a Competitive Advantage
While live chat options are becoming increasingly common, they are still new enough that providing this service on your site can set you apart from your competition.
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Additionally, even as more of your competitors start adding this option, you will have the benefit of having perfected your live chat experience. This can continue to pay dividends in increased customer satisfaction.
3. You’ll Have Cost Advantages
Complicated multi-line phone systems and the services required to run them can be a major expense. By comparison, the technology required to provide live chat options is relatively inexpensive to implement. Also, chat operators can usually answer two to three chats at the same time. Therefore, you may also be able to save on labor costs.
4. Live Chat Is Efficient
The average response time on a live chat is less than a minute. This can be considerably faster than telephone interactions.
Because chats are text-based, you can easily automate responses to commonly asked questions by providing employees with cut-and-paste scripts.
These time savings benefit you by saving on labor costs and increasing customer satisfaction. They benefit customers by decreasing the amount of time they need to spend interacting with your employees.
5. Your Business Will Enjoy Better Customer Relationships
Research has found that nearly nine out of ten consumers have quit doing business with a company because of poor customer service. What’s more, nearly that many also say they are willing to pay more for a product or service if they have received good customer service from a company.
Building relationships with customers is key to creating a positive customer service experience. Live chat services such as VoiceNation provide another avenue for your company to build positive relationships with customers.
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6. You’ll Have More Sales
If a customer has a question or concern when they are shopping for a product online and they have to wait around to get someone on the phone or to get a response through e-mail, they may move on to a competitor before you can get back to them.
Live chat options make it possible for customers to get support immediately when they need it. This makes it more likely that they will make a purchase.
7. It’s Easy to Gather Customer Insights from Live Chat
Though some phone calls are monitored and management may seek feedback from telephone customer service representatives about customer issues, it is time-consuming to attempt to glean data from customer calls.
However, because live chat service logs are text-based, they can be easily searched. This allows your business to compile useful data about customers. By examining the problems customers are having, the questions they ask, and other information provided in chat interactions, companies can get a better idea of what they can do to meet customer needs and improve customer satisfaction.
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Live Chat Is a Win for the Customer and for Your Business
Live chat services provide customers with a convenient way to get their needs addressed. This makes them more likely to be satisfied with your company, make repeat purchases, and recommend your company to other people. Adding live chat services to your customer service efforts is a win for both you and your customers.
