Why is live chat so popular, and what can it do for me?
Almost every business has an online presence, but how many of them make the most of their website by making it simple, accessible and above all, useful, for their audience to use. Here, we look at why webchat has gained in popularity over the year, and we also take a look at some of the common pitfalls and mistakes that businesses make when adding it to their websites.
What’s your experience when you’ve used live chat on a website? Usually the answer is, “it depends” …
Most of us have at some point over the last few years used webchat to seek help, advice or assistance when visiting an ecommerce site. And why not? It’s an exceptionally convenient and useful tool for communicating with businesses that allows you to still carry on with everyday tasks whilst seeking help at the same time.
Many of us have had several experiences of this relatively new platform, but here’s the thing… Just as is with call centres and helplines, experiences have varied wildly. In the best case, queries and questions are answered immediately with the minimum of fuss. In the worst case, your message ends up going into a black hole, never to be answered. Why is this? Well, the key to web chat is in the implementation. Here, we discuss some of the “dos and don’ts” of web chat based on our years’ of experience providing, but also using web chat facilities online.
"It is not enough for code to work."
Robert C. Martin
1. There’s some great software out there, but there’s so much more to it than that. Having the best software available counts for nothing if you can’t man your chat facility properly and can even have a negative impact on your business. Make sure that if you have chat on your website, you have trained staff who are able to answer chats effectively and within seconds. Websites with “ghost” chats are a red flag to consumers to steer clear.
2. Give the customer what they want. Chat bots are infuriating to users because they specifically go online to speak to someone who can help only to be faced with a decision tree of FAQ’s. Use real, trained people, they will thank you for it. Make sure that your website visitors can also receive a transcript of the conversation on email. Transparency is always the best approach and gives people the confidence they are dealing with a professional organisation that values their customers.
3. If you’ve tried implementing live chat on your website and have found it hard work and time consuming, we feel for you! Being available to your potential customers all day every day, at the drop of a hat, is incredibly difficult, particularly for smaller businesses. Why not let us handle it for you? Our agents are fully trained in your business needs and are available to instantly answer incoming chats on your behalf, as if they were part of your team.
Contact us today to find out more about how Live Web Chat can help you convert website visitors into paying clients. You can find out more about what we offer on our website, or by calling us on 01273 741113.