4 Reasons Why Live Chat Increases Sales and Customer Loyalty
If you look at Votiko’s website and blog, you’ll notice that we understand how important live chat customer service is for both large and small enterprises. Our research of 500 consumers and businesses backs this up. After all, over 41% of the customers we spoke with said they prefer live chat to email, phone, or social media help.
But the most important takeaway from our research is that live chat (done correctly) has the ability to increase revenue and client loyalty. Why? Why does live chat outperform every other customer service channel, despite the fact that 47% of customers have had a negative live chat experience in the last month?
Let’s look at the four primary reasons why live chat is so effective at growing revenue and increasing client retention—and how your company can take advantage of them.
1. Customers purchase from businesses that provide live chat.
One piece of information that our research uncovered intrigues me the most. Nearly four out of ten customers think they are more likely to buy from a company that offers live chat. Simply having a live chat means that 38% of customers are more likely to conduct business with you. Isn’t that a lot?
In the end, customers want to buy from people that respect their time and care about them. They want to cooperate with companies that make their customers’ lives easier. Live chat assistance is a telltale sign of a company’s dedication to its clients.
One method of showing that commitment is through a little chat box. Live chat shows customers that your company is approachable and focused on their needs. To potential customers, communicating your customer-centric approach says a lot. It can give customers more confidence in their decision to do business with you, resulting in more conversions and purchases.
2. Real-time Customer Service Increases Loyalty and Provides Upsell Opportunities
It’s sociological research when we talk about consumer behaviour trends. Because we are all consumers, major advances in technology and culture have an impact on our buying patterns and wants. The mentality of quick satisfaction is a perfect example of this.
We can obtain nearly anything on demand thanks to technology—entire seasons of TV series, groceries delivered, 2-day shipping on millions of products… it goes on and on.
When it comes to customer service, the desire for rapid gratification continues. Gone are the days when you had to fill out a support form and wait days for a response by email. Customers demand effective, efficient, and real-time support.
This is where live chat is useful. We understand that clients who receive immediate assistance are more likely to be satisfied and loyal. Live chat support that is both seamless and speedy can help you develop that loyalty and retain more consumers for longer. Customer retention also has a significant impact on revenue, with a 5% increase in retention leading to a 95% increase in earnings.
Customers who are loyal are worth their weight in gold. They are more likely to continue with you in the long run and to trust your business and suggestions, making upselling to them much easier.
3. Proactive Live Chat Can Help You Close a Sale While You’re Browsing
When it comes to customer service, we sometimes have tunnel vision when it comes to quick post-sale support. Customer service and experience, on the other hand, begin long before the transaction and continue long thereafter.
In fact, the period leading up to the sale may be the most crucial for getting customer service properly. After all, according to Forrester, up to 55% of buyers will abandon a purchase if they can’t get rapid answers to their product inquiries.
That’s one of the reasons why people who interact with your business are more likely to become clients. As a result, proactive live chat has grown in popularity as a means to capitalise on it. Proactive live chat encourages customers to interact with your company, making it easier for your team to assist them on their way to a sale.
The greatest live chat technology (in our completely unbiased opinion, Votiko) integrates with your ecommerce platform to provide support employees with the knowledge and context they need to deliver outstanding proactive chat sessions. By providing crucial information to sales staff about where consumers have been and what has made them stuck or hesitant.
When it’s time to open up a conversation and turn it into a sale, your team will have a leg up.
4. Real-time feedback improves the product and the customer experience.
A sense of reciprocity, more than anything else, is what promotes client loyalty and retention. Customers want to believe that their devotion is reciprocated. They must believe that your team is as invested in their success as you are in yours.
One thing drives truly customer-focused firms beyond all else: client feedback. There’s no replacement for hearing directly from your consumers about their needs and issues in their own words.
Your team will benefit greatly from this input because it will enable you to produce a better product and a more seamless customer experience. That’s why incorporating a customer feedback loop into your sales and support procedures is always a good idea.
Having real-time access to customer feedback allows you to consistently enhance your product, make consumers feel heard and supported, and demonstrate your devotion to customers, which will increase their loyalty.
The appropriate avenue for getting this feedback is through live chat assistance.
Getting clients to offer you feedback is one of the most difficult aspects of creating a customer feedback loop. You may construct a trigger for that exchange because you can reach out to customers proactively via live chat. Live chat sessions, unlike email or phone support conversations, leave a clear and full record of the dialogue for your staff.
With all of the context provided by integrated live chat, your team has a better understanding of the customer’s issue, making it easier to find and implement a more comprehensive solution for all customers.
Your Competitive Advantage is Live Chat.
It should be evident by now that live chat has enormous potential for increasing sales and encouraging client loyalty and retention. So why aren’t more businesses providing the type of live chat experience that customers want?
According to our research, 56% of customers can’t recall having a great live chat experience. Eighty-four percent of customers have dropped out of a live chat because of delayed or insufficient responses.
Your opportunity lies in the gap between customer preferences and the reality most firms provide. Turning great live chat experiences into a competitive edge will benefit your bottom line.
