According to Kissmetrics, more than 44 percent of online web visitors like their questions getting answered by a human and consider this one of the most essential features a website can offer. That's one of the reasons why, as far as customer satisfaction goes, live chat is the best customer service method.
Live chat combines the best of technology and human experience. Consider that, AI technology has yet to master one single important attribute for customer service: human instinct. The smartest computer program may fail to make you laugh, while just a kind word from a human can be very engaging.
That’s why, 31 percent of ecommerce consumers from USA and UK like to purchase a product after having a live chat session with a specialist.
So, what are the specific benefits that make live chat ideal for customer service? Here are a few:
1. Live chat support makes your brand more human
What are the existing customer touchpoints? Phone calls, texting and emails. Live chat is yet to top this list but it has the potential to. Customer service begins from the first contact and extends to way after purchase, and live chat can help you cater to customers throughout the journey.
A healthy live chat service pushes your customer service to a higher level. Any purchasing decision is not a step less process and live chat support guides a customer’s motivation to a positive decision.
2. Customers like chatting
Everyone nowadays talks to others online – and when that communication is personable and helpful, customers feel better about the brand.
Live chat is the best tool to give that feeling to your customers. Around 30 percent of online consumers globally believe that a live chat session is far more informative than an email, and that number will keep rising.
3. Customers are just a click away from excellent support
Statistically, 79 percent of live chat users believe live chat is the fastest way to get their question answered. And time matters.
If you want to get ahead of the curve you need to be faster when replying to customer queries. And it doesn't get any faster than the instantaneous service that live chat tools are built to offer.
4. Customer convenience is enhanced
Undeniably, customer satisfaction follows from customer convenience. Customers don't want to wait for a long time to reach a customer care agent on the phone, or wait for days to get an answer to their email. Of course, live chat is growing fast enough to compete with email services in the near future.
Furstperson says that, with a 92 percent customer satisfaction rating, live chat is making a big buzz in customer service niche. Moreover, 64 percent of global online users believe that they are more likely to return to a website that offers live chat service.
5. Increase conversions
As Internerretailer reports, an online apparel retailer handled around 160 chats requests a week and successfully converted 25 percent of them. How did they do that when the average conversion rate fluctuates around 2 percent?
It's dead simple. A full communication cycle with live chat is a smarter way to move customers down the sales funnel than a series of promotional emails or other communications. Live chat connects various touchpoints together and creates a complete information exchange without a break.
6. Get instant customer feedback for your sales team
Customer feedback is the single most important issue in your marketing strategy. Personally, I like to coin them as ‘checkpoints’ from where a marketing team learns about its flaws and also the right steps to be taken in the future.
A recent research suggests that it takes only 42 seconds for a live chat support staff to solve a customer query. Thus, feedback can also be gathered instantaneously.
Lastly, Helpscout found out that, a big brand never listens to more than 4 percent of their dissatisfied customers. While this may have various causes, gathering feedback from live chat may help you make faster changes and shape your strategy on the go.