How managed live chat can improve your business website

Since its launch in the late 1990s, managed live chat has become one of the most popular communication methods between customers and companies. It allows customers to receive instant and convenient support from any location, and companies can boost sales and improve overall customer satisfaction.

Below, we explore the benefits of managed live chat and how it can improve your business website.

Meet customers’ expectations

According to a Salesforce report, consumers prefer different communication channels depending on the context of their query. For instance, they’re happy to resolve fundamental questions via social media; they might prefer to call for more complex matters.

The study also found that, despite live chat being one of the top five ways customers want to contact a business, only half of businesses offer it as an option.

There is a significant disconnect between what customers want and what they get. Put simply, too many businesses fail to meet their customers’ expectations, hindering their overall experience and satisfaction.

If you haven’t already, implementing managed live chat into your website is a simple way to improve this. Giving users the option and choice of how they prefer to contact your business is paramount.

But it’s not simply the presence of managed live chat that will improve your website. For it to work, you need to:

• Respond to messages promptly
• Ensure support teams are available when the live chat widget shows you’re online
• Facilitate a seamless conversation through a reliable internet connection
• Avoid lengthy pre-chat forms to allow users to connect to an adviser effortlessly
• Prioritise personalised, empathetic, and high-quality support over speed

The above elements are key to improving the customer experience and making managed live chat successful on your business website.

Connect with your audience anywhere, anytime

Did you know that, according to CM research, 67% of UK customers expect a business to be contactable 24/7? They want to be able to contact you at a time that suits them, no matter the time or location.

They expect convenience around the clock, and managed live chat can make this possible–even if your team is off duty. That’s because live chat platforms tend to include a chatbot element, which normally starts the conversations before connecting customers to a live adviser.

Chatbots used to have a bad rap but have come a long way in recent years. Nowadays, they’re so sophisticated that they can mimic an authentic, natural conversation without the customer noticing.

They can answer questions, make recommendations, and direct customers to helpful resources, which have an incredible effect on engagement and satisfaction. Under the right circumstances, many customers are more than happy to receive chatbot support, as shown below.

The above data clearly shows that chatbots are extremely useful. For 25-34-year-olds, there is almost a 50/50 split between automated and human support as their preferred source of help.

However, chatbots alone are not enough. While helpful, they should be used with live support, which customers prefer. That’s why at Bizik, we offer a 24/7 service, meaning your customers can reach a human adviser anytime—day or night.

You can exceed their expectations and develop trust, confidence, and loyalty to your business. You can offer customers a real person 24/7 without the challenges of running a 24/7 team.

Offer proactive customer support

In the same way, some customers might feel uncomfortable making the first move when they visit you in a physical store, but your online visitors may not always want to send the first message–even if they have a question. However, managed live chat allows you to initiate interaction, offer proactive support, and enhance the customer experience on your business website.

This is another way that the chatbot functionality comes in handy. You can program them to detect if it’s someone’s first, second, or tenth website visit and activate a relevant conversation.

A first-time customer will likely see a simple message asking if they need help. Meanwhile, a returning shopper might be greeted with: “Hi there, nice to see you again. How can I help?”

These messages are typically instigated by a chatbot, which can answer basic questions and route the user to a team member if needed.

You can also schedule chat widgets to open at certain stages in the buyer journey. For instance, when someone first lands on your website, when they’ve been browsing a product for a certain length of time, or if they’ve added an item to their basket and navigated away from checkout.

• See also: The benefits of an out of hours answering service
• See also: 7 customer service KPIs your business needs to measure
• See also: Live chat vs. WhatsApp – which is best for your business?

Not only does proactive messaging deliver instantaneous support, but it’s also a great way to resolve any concerns in the customer journey. Maybe they’re hesitant to purchase because they’re unsure if it’ll be delivered on time, or they have a question they can’t find the answer to on your website.

These are all pain points that taint an online shopper’s experience of your brand and deter them from wanting to purchase. However, proactive engagement via managed live chat shows you’re attentive, available, and dependable, thus creating a meaningful and positive user experience.

Upselling opportunities

Managed live chat is an excellent upselling and marketing opportunity. Let’s say someone messages your support team to ask a question about a particular product they are interested in.

To enhance the customer’s experience, the adviser can offer other complimentary products based on the customer’s interests and browsing history. If the customer hasn’t used managed live chat during their visit, you can activate proactive messaging to offer timely recommendations

These personalised interactions allow real-time, one-on-one conversations tailored to each visitor’s experience and needs. They’re also a great way to build rapport with your audience via your business website while providing support and increasing the chances of upsell success.

Access valuable data

Managed live chat isn’t just for communicating. It’s also vital for capturing valuable insights about your online customers and their experience with your brand and website.

One of the main data sources is the pre-chat form. Before connecting with a team member, customers normally see a short form in the live chat window asking for their details, such as name, contact number, and email address.

This information gives you a deeper understanding of the buyer, their interests, and their previous experience(s) with your brand (if any), allowing you to personalise their future journeys through your website.

For instance, you can suggest relevant products based on their purchase history. Or if they’ve been in touch via managed live chat before and were unsatisfied, your team can prioritise them next time and ensure they receive effective support.

Other key metrics to capture through managed live chat include:

• Response and queue wait times: How quickly does your team reply to customers’ initial and subsequent messages? Did they have to wait in a virtual queue to speak to someone?

Ideally, they should get a reply in seconds, as lengthy wait times can seriously discourage online consumers from using or revisiting your website. However, be careful not to compromise the quality of care. Ultimately, that’s more important.

• Chat duration: How long does the average customer spend talking to a managed live chat representative? These insights will help you understand how efficiently your team resolves customer queries and allow you to find ways to increase speed without losing customer care quality.

• Missed chat and abandonment rate: Are you experiencing any abandoned sessions? This can be when a customer starts a live chat but leaves because they didn’t get a reply or when they leave mid-chat. Ideally, you should have no missed chats. Addressing this metric and making relevant improvements is vital if it is present or increasing.

• Feedback rate: Once the conversation ends, every customer interacting with your brand via managed live chat should receive a feedback request. This is a crucial data source for you and your team, showing you the positives and negatives of the user’s experience and spotting areas for improvement.

Managed live chat provides vital insights into your website and overall business. It’s essential to analyse them regularly to understand what’s going well and what could be better and make relevant changes that enhance the user journey and boost satisfaction.

Transform your website with managed live chat

Managed live chat is a familiar website feature and one of the most popular among consumers. The mere absence of managed live chat can significantly impact your customer journey and satisfaction rates.

At Bizik, we can help transform your business website. Our team of customer service experts is highly trained and professional and available 24/7. They know precisely what customers expect from an online experience and will ensure that your visitors always receive the best service.

If you’re ready to see how managed live chat can improve your business website, try Bizik’s free seven-day trial. You can also speak to the sales team on 020 3917 7444.