What is Live Chat? Key Benefits, Examples & Best Practices
Proactively reach out to customers and cut response time with a feature-rich live chat tools.
14 Day Trial | No Credit Card Needed | Guided Setup
Proactively reach out to customers and cut response time with a feature-rich live chat tools.
14 Day Trial | No Credit Card Needed | Guided Setup
Support your customers across their entire journey to deliver a consistent brand experience with Omni24’s modern live chat platform
Customer experience has become the driving force that gives companies an edge over their competition. Live chat is one of many approaches to improve the CX, but why specifically should businesses invest in this technology?
From improving response times and engaging customers to providing personalized solutions and understanding customers’ needs more deeply, live chat functionality can offer numerous advantages over other customer service avenues. We will look at how businesses can optimize their CX with live chat and what makes it such an effective tool for customers.
Live chat is defined as an online messaging channel that allows customers to directly interact with the support staff in real-time. It can be used to provide customer support, increase online conversions, make sale offers, redirect customers to helpful content on your website, share promotions and more.
Live chat software serves as a valuable tool for businesses to offer immediate support, answer questions, and guide visitors through their website or app. It can significantly enhance customer service, improve user experience, and increase conversion rates.
Live chat software is preferred by many businesses as it helps them to understand their customer’s wants and align their services to their expectations. Let’s explore its advantages.
The key advantages are as follows:
Customers prefer online chat because they get immediate responses. When the response time is low, customers are delighted, and their satisfaction level increases.
Key advantages for customers are as follows:
Live chat is the fastest way for a customer to reach out to a business for answers to their questions or concerns. It typically takes form in an instant messaging system, though it could include other types of interactive media such as text messages, video, or voice calls.
The live chat functionality provides customers with options so they can find exactly what they need in less time and with fewer clicks compared to traditional phone/email contact methods.
Live chat enables real-time communication between a website visitor and its operators. The used engagement becomes efficient with its prompt solution to sales & support-related queries.
Live chat offers a unified omnichannel inbox that unifies all customer conversations from various channels like live chat, email and messaging apps into one single platform. It provides businesses with complete visibility to assign, monitor and measure the agent’s performance.
Online chat empowers businesses to be proactive by engaging with customers with automated campaigns by deploying conversational bots. They collect user data from past conversations and use it to personalize campaigns that offer relevant content based on customer needs.
Live chat tool includes an integrated knowledge base, which allows customers to find solutions without reaching out to the customer service agent. It boosts team productivity by enabling agents to quickly access relevant information when handling customer queries.
The workflows and rules capabilities within the live chat tool help teams respond quickly to customer concerns while promoting better organizational efficiency. Automated rules can be set up to organize, prioritize and route conversations as per team preferences.
Leveraging AI-enabled helps brands to improve customer service interactions through an automated approach. Bots can converse with the user through natural language processing, making it easier to find what they are looking for.
Live chat software helps in collecting data such as average handle time (AHT), first response time (FRT), percentage of resolved conversations, etc., which are key metrics used to measure the performance of an organization’s customer service operations.
Looking to maximize customer engagement with live chat software? We’ve outlined the key benefits of implementing live chat technology into your customer service strategy.
1. Increase customer satisfaction: Live chat allows businesses to provide customers with personalized, real-time responses to their queries and concerns, helping boost satisfaction levels and loyalty.
2. Higher conversion rates: With live support and immediate feedback from agents, customers are more likely to complete purchases, increasing overall conversion rates.
3. Support cost savings: Live chat software can save businesses a significant amount of money compared to traditional telephone support in terms of staffing costs and operational expenses.
4. Generate qualified leads: Through monitoring and tracking tools, businesses can identify potential prospects who appear interested in their services or products and generate qualified leads immediately by connecting them with an agent via live chat box.
5. Automation & scalability: Live Chat Solutions come with automation capabilities that allow companies to scale quickly as operations expand, reducing both bottlenecks at peak times and workloads on team while meeting customer demands in an efficient manner.
Like any other tool, live chat must be used strategically to achieve the desired results. Here, we will discuss six best practices and tips for utilizing live chat effectively for sales, support, and customer experience.
1. Personalize the Chat Experience
Ensure the chat widget is customized to reflect the brand’s tone of voice and deliver a personalized chat experience to the customers. Greet customers and use positive language as it shows empathy.
2. Be Quick to Respond
Speed is crucial when it comes to live chat. Customers expect a quick response, so deliver instant responses when a chat comes in. Longer wait times frustrate the customer who eventually can abandon the chat.
3. Have Pre-Written Responses Ready
Having pre-draft answers can speed up the workflow and help agents respond more quickly. It can include standard replies to FAQs, such as delivery times or refund policies. Ensure that your responses are personalized and not robotic.
4. Leverage AI Chatbots
AI chatbots can manage chat volume and provide more precise answers to simple inquiries. A bot can be trained to automate the common queries without losing the human touch. The complex queries can be directed to the support team for efficient response.
5. Establish Agent Guidelines
Consistency is key to delivering excellent customer service. Agents should be trained to follow the brand’s tone of voice and have access to all necessary resources to provide the best possible support. Establish clear guidelines for your agents to follow during chat interactions.
6. Follow Up After Chat
Following up after a chat conversation is an excellent way to reinforce client relationships. Thank them for their time, ask for feedback, and ensure their issue has been fixed. It shows customers that you genuinely care about their experience and are committed to their satisfaction.
With so many options available, businesses can find it confusing to choose the right live chat software for your needs. We’ve curated an extensive list for you to refer and decide.
Great Live Chat Software for top-notch customer support
Omni24 is a customer experience software that offers live chat, email automation and a knowledge base to support businesses in providing excellent customer service. The platform allows for seamless integration with various e-commerce platforms and boasts of powerful features for easy customization as well as management.
Keys features:
Pricing: Omni24’s pricing starts from $29/user/month and goes up to $149/user/month based on the features. All plans come with 14 days free trial that include a shared inbox, knowledge base and omnichannel support.
Best Live Chat Platform with comprehensive messaging solutions
Veemo Chat is an omnichannel live chat software that helps businesses communicate with their customers in real-time, providing a seamless customer support experience. Businesses use Veemo Chat to offer instant support to website visitors, resolve issues and provide personalized recommendations. One of its use cases is sales, where businesses engage with potential customers, address their concerns and guide them towards making a purchase.
Key features:
Pricing: Veemo’s pricing plans start from $29/user/month and go up to $129/user/month based on the features and add-ons. The software pricing is also customizable as per business requirements. Sign up to learn more!
Excellent Live chat tool for easy marketing solution
Drift is a conversational marketing and sales platform that includes live chat as one of its core features. It incorporates chatbots and artificial intelligence to handle routine queries and qualify leads before handing them off to human agents.
The software allows businesses to proactively engage website visitors with targeted messaging and offers based on their behavior and profile. Drift enables customers and prospects to easily schedule meetings with sales or support teams directly from the chat window.
Pricing: Starts at $50/month for the Premium plan with custom pricing for larger teams and enterprise-level features.
Best Live chat solution for exceptional CX
Zendesk Chat is a live chat solution that is part of the broader Zendesk customer service platform. It integrates with other Zendesk products, enabling businesses to provide seamless omnichannel support across multiple channels.
The software provides agents with customizable workspaces that display relevant customer data, knowledge base articles and chat history. It allows businesses to set up automated triggers based on visitor behavior, enabling proactive engagement and support.
Pricing: Starts at $15/month per agent for the Growth plan with higher-tier plans available for more advanced features.
Innovative Live chat tool to achieve real-time satisfaction
Freshdesk Messaging is a live chat solution from Freshworks that can be integrated with its customer service platform. The software enables agents to provide real-time co-browsing assistance to customers, allowing them to view and interact with the customer’s screen.
Freshdesk Messaging supports automated chat workflows, enabling businesses to streamline and standardize their support processes. The software integrates with various channels like email, social media, and messaging apps, providing a unified customer communication platform.
Pricing: Starts at $14/month per agent for the Suite Team plan, with higher-tier plans available for larger teams and advanced features.
Reliable live chat tool to elevate your customer experience
Olark is a live chat software that focuses on simplicity and ease of use. It allows businesses to monitor and track website visitors in real-time, enabling proactive engagement and support.
The software stores chat transcripts and history, enabling agents to quickly review previous interactions with customers. Olark offers a highly customizable chat box that can be tailored to match the brand’s design and user experience.
Pricing: Starts at $15/month for the Fold plan, with higher-tier plans available for larger teams and more advanced features.
Live chat software is perfect for businesses looking to enhance overall user experience. While you’re familiar with the traditional uses, there are many creative ways to leverage this tool.
Live chat allows website visitors to communicate with customer service representatives in real-time, improving their overall experience.
Here’s how to do it in just one line for each step:
If you’re considering implementing online chat for your organization, here are a few factors that should be taken into consideration before buying live chat software:
Undoubtedly, live chat is becoming an increasingly popular tool for businesses, so it’s important to measure the performance of their live chats. Here are some key metrics to consider when it comes to measuring live chat performance.
Omni24’s omnichannel live chat software is a powerful tool for enhancing customer engagement and support. Providing real-time communication allows businesses to address customer inquiries instantly, leading to improved satisfaction and loyalty. Customers appreciate the convenience of immediate assistance, fostering a positive experience that enhances their overall journey.
Implementing live chat streamlines communication and significantly reduces response times. Agents can manage multiple conversations simultaneously, ensuring efficiency while maintaining personalized interactions. This capability boosts operational productivity and elevates the overall customer experience across various channels.
Embracing Omni24’s live chat ultimately strengthens relationships with customers. Consistent and timely responses lead to higher retention rates, driving long-term success for your organization.
Omni24’s DCX platform harnesses automation and AI to deliver unified customer experiences across digital channels, while keeping human touch.
Yes, live chat is suitable for businesses of all sizes and industries. Whether you run an e-commerce website, a service-based company, or a B2B organization, live chat can be customized to meet your specific needs. It helps to understand your customer concerns, needs, and expectations so that you can align your brand messaging and service accordingly. The software provides the capability to the support team to deliver instant responses to sales and support queries that increase sales by helping in quick decision-making and increasing their satisfaction level through real-time answers.
Yes, most live chat platforms offer integrations with popular customer support tools like help desk software and CRM systems. This allows you to streamline your support processes and provide a seamless experience for both your team and customers. Businesses, irrespective of their industry or size can integrate live chat with their existing customer support tools and deliver a delightful customer service experience.
Training of support staff on how to use live chat effectively is extremely important. To train your team, provide them with thorough product knowledge, teach them proper etiquette and communication skills, and establish guidelines for responding to different types of inquiries. Regular training sessions and ongoing feedback can also help improve their performance.
Yes, many live chat platforms offer automation features such as canned responses, chatbots, and proactive messaging. Canned responses can be created for the common FAQs and the support reps should be well-trained in its usage in the right manner. These can help save time, provide quick answers to common questions, and engage with website visitors proactively.
Live chat platforms prioritize data security and privacy. Look for platforms that are compliant with industry standards and regulations, and offer features like end-to-end encryption and data protection measures to ensure the safety of customer information.
Once you implement live chat, evaluating its effectiveness is important to understand how far you are able to meet your customer expectations. To measure effectiveness, track live chat metrics and KPIs like response times, customer satisfaction ratings, conversion rates, and the number of resolved queries. Analyzing these metrics will help you identify areas for improvement and optimize your live chat strategy.
Live chat involves real-time conversations between customers and live agents, providing personalized support and assistance. Chatbots, on the other hand, are automated programs that use artificial intelligence (AI) to simulate human-like conversations. While live chat relies on human agents to respond to queries and provide assistance, chatbots can be programmed to handle common questions and tasks without human intervention.