Top 10 Benefits of Live Chat
for Your Business

Thinking of adding live chat to your website but not sure if it’s worth it? Well, this article is for you. Spoiler: It’s definitely worth a try!

Let’s see how your business can benefit from using live chat.

Live Chat Benefits for Businesses:

1. Live chat makes support faster

One of the greatest benefits of live chat is the high speed of response and resolution, which is incredibly important for customer satisfaction. Live chat helps streamline communication and support processes thanks to multiple features.

First of all, operators can prepare canned responses, which allow them to answer common questions in just a few clicks or keystrokes. There’s no need to repeat the same answers over and over, which is the case with phone support.

Also, in most modern live chats, operators can view what visitors are typing in real time. This feature helps operators understand customer questions faster and start preparing answers or searching for information even before customers send their messages.

Another important thing is the ability to instantly share files without switching to other channels. By sending screenshots, videos, and documents, customers can better explain their issues, and operators can provide more detailed answers and solutions.

Interface of the app for live chat operators

2. Live chat allows multitasking

Live chat fits perfectly with today’s fast-paced world because it allows users to multitask. Operators can handle multiple queries simultaneously, easily switching between the chats. Experienced agents can even take on up to six chats at once. This gives live chat a huge advantage over traditional phone support, where you can handle only one call at a time.

In terms of multitasking, there are also great benefits for customers. Live chat doesn’t require as much time and attention as phone or email, and allows them to do other things during the conversation. Plus, live chat gives customers more freedom and the ability to reply at any convenient time.

3. Live chat is available 24/7

Another important benefit of live chat is its 24/7 availability. No matter when visitors enter your website, they can always drop you a message via live chat. Even if you can’t stay online 24/7, you can still receive messages and reply to them later when you are back at work.

To keep in touch with your customers, you can collect their contact details during your offline hours. For example, many live chats let you use pre-chat forms to request customer names, emails, and other info.

In some live chat apps, you can create chatbots, which can interact with customers even when you are offline. For example, they can answer frequently asked questions, collect information, and direct chats to operators.

4. Live chat is easily accessible

Live chat is super easy to access. If your visitors have any questions, they can quickly contact you with just a couple of clicks.

Moreover, some live chats can be integrated with messengers and social media, allowing you to receive all messages in a single app. Thus, your customers will be able to use their favorite channels, and your support will literally be in their pockets.

From the operator’s side, live chat is also easily accessible. Most modern live chat solutions provide mobile apps, allowing you to receive and answer chats even on the go.

5. Live chat makes communication easy and less stressful

Technology has dramatically changed the way we communicate with each other, and today, messaging is becoming a predominant mode of communication.

Many people find it easier to send a text message via live chat than make a phone call. This is especially true for millennials and Gen Z, who are the most active mobile users overall.

In fact, there are multiple reasons why people feel more comfortable talking in live chat.

First of all, messaging is a less demanding means of communication. In face-to-face or phone conversations, people expect each other to respond immediately, and too long pauses can make you feel awkward. However, live chat gives you more time to think of what to say.

For example, live chat will be a good option if a person doesn’t speak the language in which you provide support very well or if they just have anxiety about phone calls (which is actually quite common in many people today).

Plus, live chat allows users to remain anonymous. Some customers are reluctant to share their contact details, so they would rather use live chat on your website than contact you by email or phone.

6. Live chat increases sales

One of the biggest benefits of live chat for businesses is that it increases sales opportunities. Actually, there are multiple ways in which live chat can increase your sales.

Firstly, live chat allows you to respond immediately. The faster you respond to your prospects, the more likely you can convert them into customers. If your response times are slow, you risk losing sales to your more responsive competitors.

Secondly, live chat allows you to increase the number of interactions. You can use automatic messages to welcome your website visitors, inform them about your special offers, or invite them to chat with you. Such a proactive approach will help you generate more leads and convert them into customers.

Adding live chat to a checkout page also reduces shopping cart abandonment rates. It makes it easy for customers to contact you whenever they have any questions or doubts. In fact, 38% of online customers have said that they have made a purchase after having a good chat session with an agent.

7. Live chat helps reduce costs

Live chat is cost-effective. As we already mentioned, live chat allows operators to easily handle multiple chats simultaneously, which significantly increases their productivity. Thus, it takes much less time to process customer queries, and therefore you need fewer employees in your support team. This will help you reduce your staffing costs, including salaries, training, holiday pay, and more.

Additionally, implementing live chat is much cheaper than maintaining a call center. Live chat doesn’t require any additional equipment other than a laptop or computer. Live chat software is also more affordable than call center software: you can even find some free solutions on the market.

8. Live chat provides valuable insights

Live chat can give you valuable insights into your customers. In addition to collecting customer contact details, live chat provides you with important information about your audience and their behavior. For example, you can see what countries they are from, what language they speak, and what pages they view on your website.

What’s more, most live chats provide detailed reports and analytics on your chat activity, which also helps you better understand customer needs and improve customer experience. They may contain details on response times, customer satisfaction rates, conversions, and more.

Chat ratings report in Chaport

9. Live chat provides you with context

Have you ever had to repeat the same information to several customer service agents in a row? If you have, you know how frustrating it can be. In fact, according to the Microsoft report, 72% of customers expect support representatives to have access to all relevant information about them. Fortunately, live chat provides a solution to this challenge.

Even when operators transfer chats to each other, they see the full chat history with customers. Some advanced live chats can also recognize users and show the previous conversations, regardless of the devices they are using.

If you already have information about your customers (for example, in your CRM), you can pass it directly to the chat so that operators can see it when a customer starts a chat. To provide more context for your teammates, you can also leave internal notes in the chat.

Customers can also view the chat history, which is very convenient. If they forget the answer to their question, they can read the conversation again at any time. To make sure that the conversation is not lost, you can also send chat transcripts to customers’ emails.

72% of customers expect support reps to have access to relevant info about them.

10. Live chat helps automate your workflow

Modern live chat software solutions provide multiple automation options, such as automatic chat assignments, automatic replies, and chatbots.

For example, automatic assignments will be especially useful for big teams that have to handle large volumes of queries. You can automatically distribute chats evenly among all operators, or assign chats based on various criteria, such as chat start page, customer language, etc.

Another automation tool used in live chat is a chatbot. It’s a great way to increase the productivity of your team, allowing them to focus on higher-priority tasks. Let your chatbots handle all the routine work, such as initiating chats with visitors, answering their FAQs, and collecting information. If a customer needs more help, the chatbot can connect them directly to a human agent.

To sum up, live chat stands as a versatile solution that can transform the way you engage with customers. With its capacity to enhance support, streamline communication, and provide valuable insights, live chat is an essential tool in the digital age.

Are you ready to reap the benefits of live chat software? Start your free trial with Chaport today and get the live chat your customers will love!

Top 10 Benefits of Live Chat for Your Business