8 Benefits of Having Live Chat on Your Website

You might think having a live chat on your website is unnecessary or unimportant. However, this feature has many benefits for businesses of all sizes and types. That 42% of internet users surveyed had used a company’s live chat feature during the past year and preferred it to other methods of communication such as email. 

We live in an age where customers want to be heard and acknowledged instantly. Having a one-on-one conversation with them can help you retain their business by addressing their concerns and answering their questions as they arise. But this isn’t the only benefit of having a live chat on your website. It can have implications for your business in different ways and help you reach your goals, sustain growth and continually improve on what you offer and how you offer it.

This blog post will teach you everything you need to know about live chat on your website, including why it’s important and how to implement it on your site.

What is live chat?

First, let’s get clear on what live chat actually is. Live chat is a real-time conversation between two parties – in this case, you and your visitor. It’s available via web or mobile, making it convenient for web users. Live chat shouldn’t be confused with AI chatbots. AI chats have automated responses programmed to respond to specific phrases or keywords. While these can be extremely helpful, they aren’t a complete replacement for talking to someone.

Live chat is commonly used as a customer service tool, but it can be used for much more than that. This feature can be integrated into your website to make it more interactive for your visitors. It can also help you collect data that can be used for future marketing strategies. Additionally, this function allows you to integrate more customer relations management (CRM) features, such as automatic transcripts and visitor logging.

How to implement live chat

Thanks to popular software designed explicitly for this purpose, you can easily find out how to add a chat feature to my website.

Before you install a live chat feature, you need to ensure that you are confident you are giving your customers what they need via this service.

Be confident you are using it on the proper channels, be it your website home page, social media accounts, or your support sections. The placement of the feature is vital for maximum success. 

Then you need to ensure you can offer support as required. If not, you might be ready to add live chat at this time.

Roll out your live chat slowly to select users first, and create a sandbox to allow you to perfect what you do and how you do it before rolling it out to everyone and finding out you aren’t as good at offering this as you need to be.

Improved customer experience

Live chat allows customers to ask questions, make orders, and get information quickly without waiting for an email response. The main reason to add live chat to your website is to improve the customer experience. Satisfied customers are more likely to make multiple purchases, refer your products to others, and remain loyal to your brand. 

Put it this way; if a customer has a query during hours you aren’t working or available, they won’t have a way to reach you. If it is a crucial query or the difference between abandoning a cart or making the purchase, they want to and expect to have this resolved immediately. Not having a live chat service could mean they move to your competitor who does and spend their money there simply because they got the information they need there and then. The same goes for any issues after purchase.

In today’s world, consumers expect to have a great experience, and anything less will result in them spending their money elsewhere.

Increased conversions

An estimated 70% of customers will abandon a purchase without making it through checkout. Having a live chat feature on your website can help increase conversions, making it easier for customers to purchase online. This can be especially helpful for customers who are hesitant about buying goods. This can be helpful if your customers are unsure about your return policy, want to know more about shipping and delivery times or have questions about specific products. Having a live chat feature on your website can make the purchasing process more accessible and convenient for your customers. This can help increase your conversion rates and make selling your products and services easier.

You can also encourage customers who are still shopping to stay on your site longer. Allowing customers to chat with a sales representative can encourage them to stay on your site longer, increasing conversions.

Improved customer acquisition

While improving the customer experience is undoubtedly essential, attracting new customers is also crucial. Having a live chat feature on your website can help improve customer acquisition, mainly if you use it to redirect potential customers to pages with information about your products and services. This is an excellent opportunity if you see traffic to pages that don’t sell anything. It can also be an effective way to answer questions about your business and build trust with first-time customers.

Supports branding and company image

In today’s digital age, consumers are more likely to purchase products and services with a positive image. Having a live chat feature on your website can help you maintain a positive brand image because it puts you, the business owner, in direct contact with your customers. This can help you build relationships with your customers, improve your brand’s perception, and retain them as customers. Having a live chat feature on your website allows you to present yourself as a professional business owner and make a stronger connection with your customers. This can help build your brand and improve your company image among consumers and guests.

Boost productivity

Live chat is a great way to increase your company’s productivity. You can use it to offload support inquiries and have your customers help each other with questions. You can also use it to supplement your marketing efforts with quick surveys that help you understand your target audience better. These things can increase your productivity and help you get more done in less time.

Plus, live chat can allow customers to indicate where any issues are and enable you to redirect your resources to this area, improving your response times to problems and further pushing a better customer experience for everyone.

Provide 24/7 support

Having a live chat on your website can help you provide 24/7 support, helping you better serve your customers throughout the day, not just during regular business hours. This can be useful if your customers have questions or concerns that need immediate attention. Having a live chat feature on your website means that you can provide answers to their questions as they arise. You can also use this feature to give notifications about maintenance issues or other account-related notices that may affect your customers. Having a live chat feature on your website can help you provide 24/7 service to all your customers. This can be especially helpful if you sell products or services needed at all hours of the day.

Reduces repetition

Nobody wants to repeat themselves every time they speak about their problem. 72 percent of consumers anticipate that an agent will be aware of their particulars, including their support history and product information, without the agent asking for them directly.

You can view previous conversations, learn from them, and avoid unnecessary repetition. For example, if you have a lot of customers who ask about shipping times, you can easily recall the answers to their questions and provide the information without having to type it out each time.

Improved products or services via the feedback

If you have a live chat feature on your website, you can use that to ask for feedback. One of the most common live chat uses is to solicit feedback from your customers. This can be about their experience with your products or services or their visit to your website. You can ask them to rate the product or service they just received, ask what they thought of the website and service, or offer suggestions to improve your overall business. When you ask for feedback, you’re likely to get honest answers that can then be used to enhance your business. For example, you can use their feedback to improve your website and make it easier to use. You can also use feedback to adjust your product or service offerings to suit your customers’ needs.

Conclusion

Having a live chat feature on your website can help improve your business. It can help you respond to customer questions more quickly, reduce repetition, provide 24/7 support, boost productivity, support branding and company image, improve customer acquisition, increase conversions, and improve customer experience. Having a live chat feature on your website is a great way to interact with your customers and provide them with the best possible experience. Ensuring that this feature is fully optimized will help you get the most out of it and keep your customers happy.