Top 10 Reasons to Use Live Chat Support

No matter what your business is, providing customer support is merely enough. A company also needs to be more approachable and available wherever the customers are—most of the time on your website! Hence, it’s highly recommended to use live chat support to cater to your customer’s inquiries and concerns in a timely manner.

The rocketing “real-time” online interactivity has made customers more demanding these days. They want quicker service, greater flexibility, and faster resolution. That’s why more and more brands are using live chat support among other virtual assistant services.

Live chat agents or chat support VAs help customers in their online product-buying decisions; answer product questions in a timely manner; and resolve customer service or tech support issues.

Reports show that a whopping 94% of customers are actually satisfied with live chat customer support. See how important it is to your customer service offerings:

Related: What is A Virtual Assistant?

Why Do Customers Love Live Chat Support?

• Customers can multitask without spending time or money on a call.
• Chat saves time. 42% of customers prefer live chat because they don’t have to wait on hold.
• They want it fast! 45% of consumers will abandon an online transaction if their concerns aren’t addressed quickly.
• Customers can have their own record of transactions.

10 Main Benefits of Chat Support for Businesses

1.  Quick and easy implementation

Live chat support is growing more popular in recent years. It doesn’t only allow businesses to provide instant online support but it also requires minimal customer effort.

2. Cut problem resolution time

A Zopim study revealed from an analysis of 85,000+ chats that it takes only:
23 seconds average time for a rep to initially reply; and 42 seconds for him or her to resolve a problem.

Customers want their questions answered quickly. In fact, 79% of customers say that they prefer live chat because of the immediacy it provides. Chat specialists can help customers get the answers they need in the fashion they want.

3. Better support efficiency

Studies show that 44% of customers considered that having a live person answer their questions while buying online was one of the most important features of a website. Overall, 90% of customers find live chat helpful.

4. Lowered customer support costs

Chat support is better for a business because it is cost-effective. Agents can support multiple chats but not multiple calls. The result? Chat reduces the number of live calls.

5. Greater customer engagement

More than half of online shoppers say that a lack of interaction has kept them from purchasing. 77% of them want to contact a real person before buying.

6. Customer satisfaction

Better communication builds business. 94% of customers who were proactively invited to chat were somewhat or very satisfied with their live chat experience.

Satisfaction levels for customer service communication:

• 73% – Live Chat
• 61% – Email
• 53% – Apps
• 50% – Post
• 48% – Social media

7. Less Shopping Cart Abandonment

Live chat assistance has been found to decrease sales cart abandonment by up to 30%. Additionally, 60% of customers said that they hated waiting longer than one minute for a reply.

8. Higher website conversion rates

83% of customers said they needed live support for assistance while making an online purchase. Also, 62% of customers were inclined to purchase products online if live customer support is available.

9. Increases sales and ROI

When you use live chat support, it increases your chances of answering inquiries in a timely manner and it gives you the chance to close a sale within the timeframe.

10. Chat support creates loyal customers

Statistics show that 63% of customers were more likely to return to a website that offers live chat compared to one that doesn’t.

Best Practices for Using Live Chat Support

• Don’t leave customers waiting– Respond to new chats as quickly as possible
• Create templates– Make a list of model responses for the most commonly asked questions
• Improve customer-agent interactions– Have management review chat transcripts
• Proactively offer live chat– Consider using automatic triggers to entice customers to chat
• Past business hours?– Disable live chat when the business is closed or whenever agents are unavailable
• Always use the brand voice– Train agents to promote whenever possible
• Positioning and timing– Experiment with where and when the live chat button appears on the website
• Have other customer support channels available– Recognize the limitations of live chat and be prepared to switch to email or phone when necessary

The bottom line of great customer service is to provide fast assistance by answering questions and resolving problems in real-time. Chat support is a quick, direct way to connect with an actual virtual assistant.

Overall, live chat support means more sales because it keeps your customers or clients happy and returning. On top of that, it benefits both customers and companies. Chat saves time and money; and builds transparency, trust, and loyalty.

If you need help in setting up a chat support system on your website, or hiring a live chat support representative, turn to a reliable Virtual Assistance provider. One of the trusted virtual assistant services providers in California is Virtual Assistant Talent. Call 1-866-596-9041 for more information today!

References:
business2community.com
happyfoxchat.com
blog.zopim.com
providesupport.com