How to Power Online Sales With Chat
November 21, 2014 Amit Kachhawa
The benefits of utilizing live chat seem to be endless. Each and every day more and more companies who are taking advantage of this competitive edge are finding more benefits and positive outcomes that they did not experience previous to implementing live chat. Whether it be providing real-time customer service, or having the ability to walk a customer through a technical process, live chat continues to deliver. For the purpose of this blog however, we are going to focus on the positive effect live chat can have on increasing a company’s overall sales conversion rates.
Live Chat Enhances Sales: The Evidence
If any company can attest to the value of having a live chat program it is, Everything Everywhere (EE). EE revealed that, during their first year of implementing live chat, not only did their overall customer satisfaction score remain at a stellar 83%, but they also saw a remarkable boost in sales conversions of 40%. Of the 30,000 contracts they sold that year, their online chat operators were not only outperforming their telephone and physical store teams, but they were doing so with authority. With an average rate of one new customer every two hours, their online team was twice as effective as their telephone sales team and a whopping ten times more effective as colleagues in brick and mortar stores.
Different Ways to Use Live Chat
One of the reasons live chat is such an attractive means of communication is because of its versatility. Whether it is used to answer general questions and assist in the visitor’s overall experience, or if it is strategically placed to assist at just the right moment, live chat is there.
The potential is virtually limitless so let’s take a look at some of the most common places companies implement live chat:
- Specific Customer Questions: The most common use of live chat to increase sales is to answer questions from customers whenever they might have one. Customers want answers immediately and if there is a live chat agent there and ready to answer that question, their chance of buying and converting to a sale significantly increases.
- General Conversation: A lot of the time we see customers visit a site who are not 100% sure on what exactly it is they need. In this situation having a live chat agent there to actively listen to the customer and understand what they are looking for works wonders. A competent chat agent will use this conversation to identify the customer’s needs and then suggest a solution.
- Behavioural Analytics: This tactic requires a little more work. By observing real-time visitor behaviour on a website, the chat agent can recognize certain sales cues as to what the customer is trying to achieve. Having the knowledge the products and after observing the customer’s behaviour, the chat agent is able to strategically time their chat to come in and offer to assist at just the right moment.
- Following a Visitor’s Footprint: Sophisticated tracking analytics can also determine where a visitor has arrived from. For example, they may have followed a link from another website or clicked on a promotional ad. Every step a customer takes on their path helps paint a picture of their goals which helps the chat agent to affectively communicate with them.
- Other tools: Some live chat services can integrate chat buttons in social media posts, outbound emails, affiliate sites and search results. This further increases the chances of interaction and sales.
At the end of the day, it comes down to the fact that customers want assistance and communication in the easiest and fastest way possible. Chat is continuing to prove that it is the most effective means of communication when it comes to customer choice and effectiveness. As for EE, they believe their results speak for themselves with a conversion rate that is five times higher with live chat assistance than when visitors have to self-serve. Contact us today to see how live chat can help you!