How managed live chat can increase your online sales

Managed live chat is a convenient and effective way to communicate with your online visitors. This tool is essential for any customer or client-facing business in the modern world. Not only is it a popular (and, in many cases, preferred) method of contact, but it can also help boost conversions and revenue.

From providing speedy support to enabling proactive communication, managed live chat offers businesses numerous opportunities to increase their online sales. Keep reading to find out how.

1.   Answer questions instantly

Managed live chat is an excellent way to interact quickly and efficiently with your customers. When they have a question, they can reach you within seconds and get an instant response, saving them time and helping them feel confident in their purchase.

Let’s say you own an e-commerce business. A customer visits your site and finds a product they like, but they have some questions that are stopping them from committing to a purchase. They might be wondering:

• When will the item arrive if they order it today?
• Will it arrive on time for a specific event?
• Is there a discount for new customers?
• Is the product suitable for their allergies?
• What size should they order?
• Can they return the product if they don’t like it or if it doesn’t fit?
• What are the shipping costs?

If they can’t easily find answers to these questions, they could abandon their baskets and never return to your site again.

Meanwhile, live chat allows shoppers to effortlessly start a conversation with a support agent and get quick assistance. This helps reassure them that your products/services meet their needs and motivates them to complete their purchase.

2.   Start proactive conversations

A digital customer is no different to an in-person one. If you owned a retail store and someone walked in and started browsing, what would you do? You’d smile, greet them, and ask if they need help with anything. Well, managed live chat allows you to proactively interact with people online in the same way.

• See more: Top tips for building customer loyalty
• See more: Turbocharge your customer services through managed live chat
• See more: Benefits of chatbots for business and customers

A simple greeting message can go a long way with this. For example, it could say: “Hi there, is there anything I can help you with today?” Or, if it’s a returning customer, it could say: “Nice to see you again. We’re here to help.”

These basic prompts really stand out and create a personal and warm brand experience. This is a powerful way to build trust and persuade people to choose your brand over a competitor.

3.   Give customers more choice

Nowadays, consumers want—and even expect—to be able to choose how they engage with companies. The most suitable option depends on various factors, such as time, location, age, and the query itself.

According to a Salesforce report, which surveyed 11,000 customers worldwide, 71% said that they prefer different support channels depending on the context. Maybe they’re on a noisy train home from work, and it’s too loud to make a call, so they choose live chat instead. Or, maybe they feel more comfortable contacting you via social media.

Having said that, while consumers want to have the choice, over 72% of them opt for live chat every time, making it one of the most popular engagement channels.

By implementing managed live chat into your customer service options, you can accommodate a wider range of customer needs and circumstances. This helps make your business considerably more accessible, thus increasing your chances of converting potential customers into confirmed sales.

4.   Facilitate a real connection

There’s no denying that technology is incredibly sophisticated nowadays and can benefit businesses in many ways. However, no matter how advanced AI becomes, it will never be able to create a real human connection the way managed live chat can.

Why is this so important? The Salesforce report also revealed that consumers still want to speak to a person when they contact a company, and 77% of them expect to interact with someone as soon as they get in touch.

But here’s the problem: only 15% of companies make it easy to reach a human. The result? Poor customer service and, therefore, lost sales.

To give you an idea of just how significant that impact can be, customers say that human connection is the key to good customer service. Astonishingly, nearly half of them are willing to pay more to receive it when they contact a business.

Millennials take the lead in prioritising high-quality service, with a whopping 59% of them ready to pay more for effective support. But it’s fascinating to see just how much this matters to all age groups.

Therefore, implementing live chat is highly valuable as it can help you meet your customers’ needs, enrich your customer support quality, and increase your online sales.

5.   Drive repeat purchases

Attracting new customers is crucial for new businesses, but it can also be quite challenging. After making that first sale, it’s important to focus on nurturing relationships and encouraging repeat business, as this is essential for long-term revenue growth.

Exceptional customer service is the key to retaining customers, and this is where managed live chat comes into play.

This tool is your secret weapon for providing high-quality, effective service and a positive experience that will make shoppers eager to return. In fact, according to an analysis by the helpdesk platform Gorgias, repeat business can generate 300% more revenue than first-time customers.

6.   Access valuable data

Managed live chat provides access to valuable data that can help you improve your services. For example, you can track:

• Visitors’ personal data, such as their name, age, and location, allowing you to understand your target demographic more accurately
• Users’ browsing and purchase history
• Your website’s traffic data and dwell time to gauge how people are spending their time on your site
• Chat transcripts to analyse previous interactions and train your team to improve their services
• Customer satisfaction reports
• Common concerns and FAQs

These analytics are crucial for improving your customer service strategy and quality. They ensure that all customers, current and potential, receive exceptional support, thus encouraging them to shop again.

7.   Identify upselling opportunities

Communicating with your online shoppers in real-time is a great opportunity to upsell. A basic example is suggesting similar or related products that they may be interested in based on the nature of their query.

So, for instance, if you sell beauty products online and someone contacts you with a question about a particular lipstick, you could draw their attention to the matching lip liner and prompt them to purchase the set – maybe at a discount if they buy both.

You can also propose personalised recommendations for a more meaningful and memorable shopping experience. Let’s say a repeat customer returns to your site and is speaking to a live chat agent.

The agent can use the personal information the customer entered in the contact form to access their account and purchase history, identify their individual shopping trends, and upsell specific items that they are likely to be interested in based on their shopping trends.

Essentially, managed live chat opens a variety of sales opportunities that can increase a customer’s order value. However, it’s essential to be mindful of their specific needs and offer genuinely useful solutions. Otherwise, you can appear out of touch and risk losing their custom entirely.

8.   Capture sales leads

Many managed live chat services use chatbots to add a contact form to the chat widget. This collects your online visitors’ personal details (such as their name, contact number, and email address) before the live chat starts.

Your teams can then review this information post-chat to capture valuable sales leads. It can help them adapt their sales and marketing strategies to convert those leads into happy, returning customers.

Unlock the power of managed live chat with Bizik

Our chat is managed by real, experienced, and professional customer service agents, who will provide instant and interrupted support around the clock. And with the help of intelligent tools, we make it our priority to convert your visitors into customers.

Excited to see how managed live chat could transform your business? Get in touch and give Bizik a try for free.