3 Ways Live Chat Can up the Potential for Your Small Business

Everyone has had the experience of shopping online for something when that chat box appears. But how does offering a live chat help with business? Here are 3 ways live chat can up the potential for your small business.

1. Chat Can Lower Expenses
The bottom line is what most small business owners are concerned with and lowering business expenses is one way to help ensure success. Many entrepreneurs find that live chat helps lower their customer service expenses because offering chat means that one customer service representatives can handle multiple chats at once. Offering a chat option can divert some incoming questions from the phone line to the chat box, meaning that not as many representatives are needed to wait around for that phone to ring.

2. Chat is Convenient for Customers
Offering immediate access to help can be the difference between making a sale or losing it. 44% of online consumers say having questions answered by a live person is the most important feature a website can offer. As a small business owner, you know that great customer service is the driving force behind a successful business and the ability to offer that service in multiple ways is one way to provide an excellent end user experience. In a survey by emarket.com, it was found that as much as 38% made a purchase due to a chat session. In a similar study by ATG Global Consumer Trend, 90% of respondents reported that they found live chats helpful.

One reason is because live chats often have smaller wait times than a call center, without the stress and hassle of having to navigate a 1-800 numeric operator. This is especially true for those who can’t easily use a phone for customer service, due to disability or something as simple as they are shopping in a public place, at work, or with kids around. Chat allows customers to get the support they need in a way that is less intimidating than making a call and quicker than sending an email, helping your business to close more sales.

3. Live Chat Raises Sales
Offering a live chat can help stop customers from bouncing from your webpage just because they can’t find the answer they are looking for. Some customers want to make sure that a product will work the way they want or that they’ll get a certain discount before they pull the trigger and if they have to stop what they are doing to research it, they are more likely to price shop. Offering customers a direct line to the support they need helps close sales and also keeps customers coming back. In the emarket.com survey, 63% of respondents said that they return to a particular website because they offer chat.

Another way chat can help drive sales is because having an open conversation with customers allows for the possibility of and up sale or add-on. It also helps to ensure that full shopping carts make it through check out by having representatives offer to help customers through the check out process—thus closing the sale.

Live chat is the bridge between your customer and your customer service representatives that can help them offer assistance in an immediate way without the hassle of a phone call. It can help drive sales by opening a dialogue that provides the opportunity for selling and closing the sale. Live chat can also lower your payroll expenses because it allows for fewer representatives to connect with more customers.