Live chat is an integral part of digital communication among online businesses. Despite its existence since the 1970s, its popularity is growing as time moves on. One reason for this shift in favor is due to digitization. With advancements in technology, organizations are attempting to improve their online presence by offering 24/7 service via instant messaging platforms, i.e., live chat software.
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It provides an active online medium between customers and businesses to communicate efficiently. These tools let human agents or AI chatbots interact with customers in real time. Visitors can text customer service any time with support or product-related queries.
Live chat offers more than just customer service. It has an untapped potential of generating up to ten times more leads. The global live chat market is estimated to grow at 7.29% CAGR by 2026.
From customer acquisition to retention, these tools have the power to scale a personalized customer experience and increase conversion rates. A study by Kayako revealed that 79% of businesses have grown in revenue, sales and customer loyalty using these features.
What this Guide Covers:
- Live Chat Vs. In-App Messaging
- Why is Live Chat Important
- Benefits
- Key Features
- Why Do You Need Live Chat
Live Chat vs. In-App Messaging
It’s a myth to think terms like live chat and in-app messaging are synonymous. They refer to different forms of communication, and there’s a significant difference between them.
Live chat provides real-time interaction for visitors while browsing the organization’s website. Visitors can ask support or product-related queries using pop-up boxes on the website. These sessions are synchronous, session-based and help connect a business to its users.
A focus on the user experience is ideal for customers looking for instant support service. Topics can include payment-related queries, troubleshooting, product features and more.
In-app messaging is asynchronous. It allows users to communicate in real time or offline. You can simply drop a message and return later to check for responses. It is more conversational and connects users during live events, on-demand services, online marketplaces and online social communities.
Important Differences
Both methods of digital communication are useful for customer service. While live chat provides solutions like instant messaging, immediate response and real-time insights, in-app messaging acts as targeted notifications for active users of an app.
Why is Live Chat Important?
Think of a time you visited a website for the first time. Were you ready to buy the product or use the company’s service instantly? Most likely, you were not.
Many first-time consumers visiting websites are there for many reasons other than making a purchase or using services. As marketers, it is your responsibility to consider how customers feel about your website experience. Live chat is effective throughout the customer journey; it increases early-stage sales development, post-sales customer support and marketing awareness.
Around 63% of customers are likely to return to a website that offers live services. These tools serve as incredible support structures for multiple reasons: reducing bounce rates, lowering cart abandonment rates, capturing visitor information and more.
Primary Benefits
Live chat offers modern business opportunities that are customizable, multi-media friendly and support multiple languages. Here are some more benefits to keep in mind:
Improve Conversion Rate
Drive over 5x more conversions to help deliver 6000% ROI. Businesses with live support options make more sales than those without them. These systems also provide accessible communication with prospects while offering detailed information.
Over 30% of customers believe live chat is significantly more effective than phone calls and emails.
Boost Customer Engagement
It allows you to stay connected with your customers anytime, anywhere. It provides instant responses and clears up support requests by engaging with customers 24/7. You can start interactive sessions with prospects and help them proceed with their purchase or service. Active conversation also allows you to gather relevant information about the customer.
Improve Product Decisions
You can use chat histories and gather relevant data to share across the marketing, product and support teams. It also supports product decision-making by sorting, organizing or storing conversations for review.
Tag chats based on question type or topic, including feature and support requests, bug reports and product-related queries. Using tags, agents can quickly identify areas that need updating or support documentation.
Reduce Costs
Multiple studies mention that live chat sessions are considerably cheaper than phone calls. Since the entire conversation is text-based, it allows you to share important links, documents or any type of information the customer requests. You can start optimizing your website by personalizing web pages, providing quality product images and enhancing product descriptions.
Improve Customer Relationships
Chat with customers to instantly build business relationships. Understand their needs to form better connections while continuously asking them for feedback and suggestions. Allow your agents to build cordial rapport with customers by adjusting their tone and sentiment.
Most customers expect agents to know details like product information and chat history. Agents can use these tools to refer to chat histories without asking repetitive questions.
Key Features
Most organizations use live chat as an effective part of customer service across multiple platforms. One of the primary reasons for its use is that customers require more than just information; they expect multiple options for service.
But because of an array of options, it gets challenging to choose the right live chat solution. Let’s look at some key features to keep in mind when making your selection.
Real-Time Chats
Provide customers with an instant resolution and minimal waiting time. Agents can quickly initiate conversations with customers while browsing through the website. You can also view multiple customer details like location and browser. Make sure these attributes are predefined.
Visitor Tracking
You can keep track of potential, repeated and new customers visiting the site. Gather detailed information and monitor website activity by keeping tabs on time spent by customers in the chat.
File Transfer
Instantly exchange files like images, screenshots, videos, PDFs and documents without opening a new window or leaving the conversation.
Auto Messages
Analyze clients’ behavior and offer help by sending automated messages relevant to their questions. Check the last time they visited a particular website or webpage, time spent and their exit intent time.
Knowledge Base Integration
Ensure the software you choose has an integrated knowledge base tool and FAQs. It should allow you to instantly share helpful articles and links by incorporating these topics into a support section.
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Report Analytics
Monitor live activities, including chat history, first response time, average time spent, visitor details, customer satisfaction rate and conversion tracking. Analyze reports and define effective strategies for areas that need improvement.
Automated Notifications
Track new chats while handling multiple conversations at the same time with automated notifications. Stay informed and configure notifications in various formats like browser or audio-based, email and Callback API.
Website Integrations
Enhance chats and run effective business with multiple integration options. Manage seamless conversation from a single platform without needing to switch.
Chat Transcripts
Create a transcript of the chat after each conversation between the agent and the customer. Chat transcripts act as proof, providing customers reassurance and accountability regarding past discussions. Customers can request a copy of their chat transcripts by providing their email addresses.
Chat Routing
Maximize efficiency by rerouting incoming chats to available operators based on their current status. Automatically route chats based on conditions or rules (automatic, manual and condition-based) to ensure even workload distribution.
Canned Responses
Create and send quick replies for the most frequently asked questions. Agents can pre-set relevant responses to basic FAQs. Reduce the agent’s response time and prevent retyping the same message. Predefined responses help close conversations faster and improve resolution time.
Why Do You Need Live Chat?
Around 83.72% of the world’s population uses smartphones; while they may use them for various reasons, some might include interacting with businesses online. And with massive decreases to in-store foot traffic, most organizations are looking to reinvent their marketing and sales strategies.
Live chat can increase website conversions, demo requests and gather relevant information. As companies accelerate their shift toward online business at warp speed, they offer effective ways to communicate with customers online.
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In Summary
A successful business relies on contextual, better-informed and reliable customer support. Choosing the right software in today’s fast-paced digital era is critical for business success. To get the most out of a live chat solution, ensure it has flawless integration, boosts customer satisfaction and service, maximizes sales and provides robust customer relationships.
Do you think your business is ready to implement live chat on your website? Tell us in the comment section below.
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