4 reasons you need live chat on your website

More leads, increased sales and happier customers. These are just a few of the benefits of installing live chat on your website.

Imagine visiting a store. The products on the shelves seem really interesting. Your look around, trying to find someone from the staff to ask for help. But behind the counter… there is nobody. Then you realize, that the whole store is empty! There is nobody to answer your questions. There’s just a small mailbox right by the cashier, where you can leave a written message.

Now, how likely would you say it is that you will go ahead and buy something in a store like that? Probably not very likely. And yet, this is exactly how customers are often treated online.

You’ve spent time and money on everything from product development to marketing and web design. You’ve finally managed to break through the noise, stand out and attract a visitor to your website (hey, well done, by the way!).

But then what?

If your website doesn’t have live chat, chances are you’re missing out on a lot of business opportunities.

1. More leads and increased sales

Customers expect speed

Customers today are used to immediate service. Easily distracted, impatient and busy, we’ve all grown used to information being just a few clicks away. If it takes longer or feels too tedious, we’ll simply move on and ask Google for a different provider.

As much as 44% of respondents in a survey made by Zendesk, stated that access to instant help from specialists through live chat is one of the most important features a company can offer online.

Long response time = lost leads

In a large survey by the company Drift, the response times for online requests among 433 sales teams were compared. The correlation between response time and lead generation was measured, and the results were crystal clear.

The odds of making contact with a lead quickly decreased. And after as little as 5 minutes, they were down with 10X less, than with an immediate response. If response time exceeded 15 minutes, a majority of all leads were lost.

Increased sales with live chat

This is why we love live chat so much. It provides an invaluable and immediate means of communication with potential clients who are interested in your offer – right here, right now.

According to a survey by Forrester, a visitor who has used live chat is 2,8 more likely to go ahead with a purchase than those who haven’t. On top of that, customers who’ve engaged through live chat also spend on average 60% more than other customers.

2. B2C: Your customers prefer live chat

A competitive advantage

Think about it. How do you prefer to communicate in your personal life? How often do you actually pick up the phone to call someone, or sit down to write an email? And how often do you opt for a quick text message on the fly instead?

If you’re like most people, you probably send text messages more often than you make phone calls or send emails.

The fact that we like “texting” is old news. As early as 2016, a survey made by Twilio showed that 9 out of 10 consumers want to be able to send text messages to companies in the same, easy-going way we do to friends and family.

And yet, this is a field where a large number of companies are lagging behind. What does that mean? It means that offering live chat is a quick, easy and effective way to give your company an immediate competitive advantage.

Happy and loyal customers

If you’re serious about creating a positive customer experience, live chat is simply a must. A survey made by Zendesk clearly shows how live chat, with a staggering 92% rate of customer satisfaction, is way ahead of channels like call (88%), email (85%) and social media (Facebook 84%, Twitter 77%). 63% of the respondents even stated that they will be more likely to revisit a website that has live chat and that they will also come back more frequently.

An immediate answer to questions

No matter how great and informative your website, visitors will always have questions. A live chat gives your team the ability to solve problems and respond to any objections or hesitations, the same moment they arise.

If you have no live chat, you are instead facing the risk of your prospects bouncing back to Google, in search of someone (read: a competitor) who does.

3. Better customer support

Increase productivity with 3X

Live chat does not only make your support team more accessible, but it also allows for more efficient workflows and processes. Being able to handle several conversations simultaneously can mean as much as a threefold increase in productivity. With live chat, parts of every conversation can also be automated, making it even more efficient.

Provide guidance 24/7

Not every company can afford to offer live chat around the clock. But even during the hours when nobody is around to answer your chat, you can use the chatbox to point visitors in the right direction using preset messages or a chatbot.

Shorter response time

Nobody likes waiting. Live chat means less waiting. The customer can also multitask while waiting for an answer, which means less stress and frustration. With our unique chat widget, you can even display the estimated wait both in the live chat and on the phone – so that your visitor can choose what option to go with.

4. B2B: A shorter sales cycle

Quicker deals

Live chat turns the traditional sales funnel upside down. If you use it well, it can dramatically decrease the time span from the first contact on your website to a closed deal. Instead of a long process that takes detours via forms, email and CRM before the first actual and in-person connection is made, live chat provides the opportunity to engage in a conversation immediately.

Qualify leads at an early stage

With a smart first message or question, you can use your live chat to segment your visitors, qualify leads and send them to the right people in your sales or support team. Live chat makes this process smoother, even unnoticeable, for the visitor. 

From sales pitch to conversation

There’s a reason why conversational marketing och conversational sales will be buzzwords in 2019. That reason is very simple: it works. When the client, instead of the sales rep, initiates a conversation, an important shift in roles occur.

When leveraged well, live chat allows you to take on the role of helper and enabler, instead of seller. And therein lies, as those who are successful in sales already knows, the key to great results and happy customers.

Telavox's live chat widget

The Telavox chat widget has a range of features, essential for maintaining and improving your customer service. Here are some of the features:

• Show the estimated wait time or the number of people in the queue.

• Display the contact number to the company and the name of the destination.

• Click directly on the presented queue number to initiate a call.

• Display email address to visitors with the ability to click to open local email client.

• Shows queue/company opening hours.

• Visitor can leave contact information and get a call instead of waiting. 

• Ability to place the widget wherever you want to on the webpage.

• Visitors can direct message an agent at the company from the website.

• Select which message a visitor should be greeted with when opening the live chat.

• Depending on which page a visitor is on, different intro messages are triggered when opening the live chat.