Businesses understand that missed connections mean missed opportunities. Even one unanswered phone call can have a perceivable impact on your bottom line—let alone 64,909!
But not every customer interaction starts with an audible knock at the door or a phone ringing off its hook. Countless potential customers silently scroll through websites, just waiting to be engaged with. So, we ask you:
If a visitor asks a question in the digital woods, and no one is around to hear it, does it still make them frustrated?
The answer is yes. Fortunately, that’s where live chat comes in.
Adding chat to your website not only helps your business avoid losing potential customers; it’s also your key to creating meaningful connections with your online audience. Let’s investigate.
The Value of Customer Connections
Many companies put a lot of thought and care into their websites—creating eye-catching designs, optimizing speed and usability, and offering compelling content. But these efforts may not be enough to prevent a visitor from bouncing when what that person is looking for is a real, personal connection.
We’re talking about a core component of customer experience. It’s the element often missing for websites that attract visitors but fail to motivate them to take an action such as clicking a “buy now” or “contact us” button.
Here are a few statistics that highlight just how important positive interactions are to the people you serve:
- 80% of customers say the experience a company provides is as valuable as the company’s products and services.
- For 66% of customers, instant, on-demand engagement is a critical decision-making factor in purchasing goods and services.
- 67% of customers admit that their expectations are higher than ever for positive experiences across every engagement point with businesses.
It’s clear that today’s customers expect a higher level of service—and that’s a good thing. Understanding and addressing the needs of the people you serve shouldn’t feel like a chore. Instead, it’s a win-win scenario that provides day-making experiences for your customers and increased profits for your business.
People Want to Connect with Your Business Online
Around 45% of business websites receive over 500 visitors a month, and nearly half of those people want to connect with you right then and there—not via email or a contact submission form.
Live chat enables you to interact with online customers and answer their questions in real time. It’s also what many of them prefer:
- 42% of consumers prefer live chat over other communication channels.
- 77% of customers say they won’t make a purchase if a brand doesn’t offer live chat support.
- 73% of consumers report satisfaction with their live chat experiences—the highest level of all customer service channels…
- …but just 14% of companies use this technology, and even fewer use it powered by real humans.
That last statistic is particularly important. Not only is live chat a powerful tool for increasing customer engagement—it also helps you outshine the competition. This goes double for businesses that largely or exclusively interact with the people they serve virtually.
4 (More) Reasons to Implement Live Chat
1. Gather valuable information more easily
Live chat is a great way to collect information about customers, clients, or patients early on in their journeys with your organization. A live chat specialist can talk to visitors directly about what they need: What are they searching for? Why are they interested in your business? What questions do they have?
It’s an opportunity to discover, in real time, how you can better serve your market. As you begin to see trends and patterns appear, you can adjust your business’ presentation accordingly.
2. Identify authentic customers vs. general traffic
Just as important as being able to point your prospective customers in the right direction is the ability to recognize when your business may not be the best fit for them.
Think of 24/7 chat as a sieve filtering real potential buyers from the people your business is unable to serve. By gathering information about the wants and needs of your website’s visitors, and accurately communicating what you can and cannot do for them, live chat specialists can help save you valuable time.
3. Address objections proactively
Live chat specialists are trained to proactively address sales situations early and effectively. Whether your website’s visitors are concerned about pricing, contracts, or competition, the non-scripted, listening-based approach of a live chat specialist can help relieve some of that pressure.
Part of a live chat specialist’s job is to recognize sales objections early and ask the right follow-up questions—all with the goal of providing the right solutions to even the most complicated problems, or the most trivial of concerns.
4. Make high-value connections
A friendly and welcoming chat specialist can connect your business with website visitors before they’re ready to interact through voice or in person. Through chat, people are able to express their wants and needs on their own terms at their own pace.
It’s about meeting people where and when they’re receptive about your business but may not be ready for a more “official” interaction. Once they’re ready to make the leap from online connection to live phone call, your chat specialist can point them in the right direction.
Learn More About Growing Your Business with Live Chat
If hiring and training a team of live chat specialists to meet your customers’ needs is beyond your bandwidth right now—you’re not alone. For many businesses, it makes more sense, time and budget-wise, to go with a chat solution.
Enter Ruby.
Ruby ensures your website visitors are greeted by a friendly, live chat specialist, 24/7. Our chat specialists are experts in creating meaningful connections and converting visitors into customers or clients. If you’re interested in learning more about how live chat can help grow your business, our team (including chat specialists!) are here to walk you through it. Learn more.
