5 Reasons Live Chat Support Is Critical For Any Business On The Web

Availability of live chat support on any business's site seems to be a mandate in this digital age of cut-throat competition, where customer experience is considered paramount. More and more companies worldwide are adopting this primary customer-centric tool with every day passing by.

Turning a blind eye on the unprecedented growth of the customer support sector in the context of revenue generation and brand reputation doesn't seem to be a wise decision for any business. The ones lacking the said feature seem to be suffering soon, too, as it will be more profound in the days to come.

It's worth notable that customers these days are impatient enough to leave a site instantly if they don't get the answers to their questions within a while, then and there. There is a delay of a few seconds in your reply, and they have already hopped onto your competitor's site.

Consumers expect answers from you in real-time and with complete precision. That is why having a 24/7 live chat support feature on your site always available at your customer's disposal is a must these days.

Let us discuss how to make optimum use of this magical tool to extract its maximum.

Here are the 5 ways Live Chat can do Wonders for your business :

1. Convenience to Customers Is Guaranteed

Customers always prefer to shop on a website where they have got quality chat support at their disposal at any point in time. The convenience factor has always been paramount for online shop freaks since the inception of the e-commerce industry. According to a study conducted by Forrester Research on "Making Proactive Chat Work," these were the observations found :

•  44% of customers online expect a live person to answer their queries while in the middle of their online purchase.
• 44% of customers online expect a live person to answer their queries while in the middle of their online purchase.
• 90% of consumers find live chat support supremely beneficial and supportive while buying products or services online.

Another survey from emarketer.com showcased the power of live chat support in the business growth domain. It stated :

• 63% of customers are likely to revisit a site that offers live chat under customer support. Among frequent buyers who purchase something online at least once a week, 38% said that they made a purchase only because of the live chat session they had amid buying a specific product.

2. Helps in Cutting Down on Expenses

Live Support has this unique advantage attached to it where it can save on both phone expenses and employee task time. In terms of the costs involved with having a contact center where the issues get resolved over a call, chat Support proves to be a beneficial proposition here as multiple chats can be handled at a time by a single representative.

The most significant cost savings include:

Businesses can work with a lower number of representatives working at a specified point in time. Waiting queues could be cut to a fraction of their former size compared to a call center. It contributes to process optimization and a significant increase in overall sales and ROI.

3. Live Support Bolsters the Sales Numbers

The general trend among consumers suggests that in marketing forums and related communities, the availability of live chat on a site generally leads to a substantial improvement in sales numbers.

According to a study conducted by the highly-reputed Forbes Magazine :

Wells Fargo in 2008, for the second time in a row, made use of live chat support to drive sales, and this time the results went in their favor. The reports that came out reported double-digit growth in shoppers who got converted into actual sales. Besides, higher-customer satisfaction scores were achieved along with the conversions attained.

4. Edge Over Your Closest Competitor

It certainly provides one an edge over his nearest competitor. Providing better customer support leads to improved customer satisfaction, which eventually converts into having the upper hand on your competitors. And, live chat support proves to be the best-suited weapon against this war of leading the lot.

TELUS International found in a study that – "25 % of the people who chatted live on a website made 51% – 75% of buying online, versus only 10 % of those who didn't get involved in any such live conversation"

Live Chat Addresses the Customer's Pain Points

The confusions involved related to a Sale or the working of a product or service as per the customer's expectations can only get addressed instantly with live Support in place. The marketing teams could find these pain points by digging a bit deep into message boards and mining the social media of the concerned business.

Marketers like Markus Allen boast amazing confidence in the context of turning these pain points into profits. According to him – "Having a precise knowledge of the pain points involved with the related purchases of a consumer, one could opt for writing a fresh piece of content addressing the said issue(in the form of blogs and articles), and hence this could transform into effective advertising."

Being aware of the pain points, one could strive to convert them into sales by providing effective resolutions for them. This would further empower the business to create extra opportunities to close a deal.

Live chat support enables a business to figure out the pain points precisely. While chatting live with the customers, the chat representatives can also find out the critical bottlenecks in the quality of a company's product or service.

In this way, businesses would also find the weak links to work upon. Hence, accurate measures could be taken to improve the related process.

Virus Positive Technologies in India is a pioneer among the best tech-support providers worldwide. We offer customized customer support services (especially tech support) under several verticals such as live chat support, technical Support, non-technical Support, email support services, account management, CRM management, and billing management. We use the best live chat CRMs known in the present times, such as ZenDesk, SalesForce, Live Chat, etc.