Why You Need Live Chat for Business

It’s hard to visit a handful of websites without seeing a little chat icon in the bottom right or left corner of the page demanding your attention.

Live chat for business has exploded and for good reason: it works. The best live chat software allows you to build connections with your visitors that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise. At the same time, it improves revenue and engagement.

It’s hard to believe that a little live chat website plugin can do all that. After reading this article, you’ll have a better understanding of what live chat is, the benefits it offers your business, and a few use cases to get you started.

What is live chat?

Live chat for business is similar to the instant messaging apps of days long gone. It allows real-time communication between prospects, customers, and your team.

Live chat is different from any other medium because it brings the instant communication of a phone call but allows you to juggle multiple conversations at once. One of the major issues with shopping online is the inability to talk to someone quickly and get questions answered. Only the most motivated buyers will send an email, wait for the response, and still purchase.

Live chat for business allows you to bridge that gap and deliver personal support in a timely manner. It’s also the preferred contact method for 42% of customers.

Many CRMs come with live chat built-in, which extends the usefulness and functionality of the app. An example of a CRM with live chat is Hubspot which allows you to get a complete picture of the steps (and their effectiveness) in your sales funnel.

Live chat for business has seen widespread adoption because it’s useful in almost any industry. If you’re required to support customers or sell then you can find a use for the best live chat software solutions on the market.

What to look for in a CRM with live chat

Live chat website plugins come in all shapes and sizes. There are basic solutions that only allow you to chat with visitors. There are also live chat CRM solutions that have the ability to change your business.

There are a few things the best live chat software will have.

Customizable to fit your brand

Your brand is unique and a live chat CRM solution should allow you to make the most of it. A few customization options to look for are:

• Brand colors
• Brand font
• A customized greeting or default message
• Company logo
• Team profiles

Routing queries based on custom rules

Live chat is effective when you’re available to answer your customers. If you’re not ready to be online 24/7 then it’s important to be able to set office hours.

For example, if you can only communicate with visitors on weekdays between 8 AM and 5 PM then you can set those hours within your live chat CRM. When a user contacts you outside of those hours, a different message will be shown.

Lead generation

This continues from routing queries based on custom rules. When you’re unavailable or when a visitor fulfills certain criteria, you may want to capture contact information first instead of initiating a new chat immediately.

Your CRM with live chat should be capable of asking the visitor for their email address or other contact information. From there, it’ll be stored in your database with relevant information for you to follow up with.

Benefits of live chat

The benefits of the best live chat software are too numerous to name, however, there are some that are worth highlighting.

Shorter support times

We live in a world of instant gratification and instant results. Emails are sent instantly and text messages are delivered in the blink of an eye. The same expectations apply to customer service.

A live chat website plugin allows you to create shorter support times which can be less than a minute. The end result is the perception of better and timelier support. To put that into perspective, the average email response time for the top 100 retailers is 17 hours.

Freshsales integrates deeply with Freshchat to make this rapid support times possible from a single dashboard.

Increased revenue

Studies have found that up to 77% of customers won’t make a purchase if there’s no live chat option available. At the same time, 63% of customers were more likely to return to a website when it offers live chat.

The bottom line is that with a solid live chat solution, you’re able to communicate with more customers, get them through the buying process, and encourage them to keep coming back. This results in increased revenue and loyalty.

Pipedrive has a powerful live chat CRM integration that’s ideal for this type of workflow.

Reduced expenses

There are two things you can do to generate more profit in your business.

1. Increase revenue
2. Reduce expenses

The best live chat software helps you do both. We’ve already touched on how it helps you increase revenue by communicating with customers.

Live chat CRM integrations make this possible by increasing the versatility of your support agents. Each one can handle multiple support queries so less people are needed to answer the same number of inbound queries.

You save money while delivering better support. It’s the best of both worlds.

Live chat for customer support

This is, by far, the most popular use of live chat because it’s instant and effective. Not only can you communicate with customers, but you’re also able to point them in the direction of helpful resources.

It’s also an opportunity to ensure the success of your customers and solicit feedback they wouldn’t have otherwise given you. This opens the door to genuine conversations and deep insights.

Customer support doubles as customer success which transforms it from a cost center to a revenue center. This can result in more leads and a better overall experience for both customers and customer support reps.

Live chat for sales

The other common use of live chat for business is as a sales & sales qualification tool. The key to success is being proactive. When you have a live chat website plugin, it shows you what pages people are visiting in real time. This can be a goldmine of opportunity.

For example, if a visitor is switching between closely related products while on your website it may be an indication that they’re having a hard time choosing. Initiate a live chat and help them select the best product for their situation.

Conversely, you can set up a welcome message on key pages of your website to let visitors know you’re there and ready to help.

Live chat for lead generation

Another important use case of live chat software is lead generation. Not all sales can or should happen after the first conversation. Whenever someone starts a chat, they’ll be prompted to supply a bit of personal information like name and email.

Once they’ve submitted their information, the chat commences. You may or may not close the deal but you do have a wealth of information about their interests and needs. You can use that to segment users within your CRM and send follow up messages that eventually secure the sale.

For example, when you initiate a conversation, you can insert fields that ask for name, email, and the customer’s message

Once the user submits the required fields, the chat starts. This way, you now have the user’s contact information. If they don’t convert right away, it’s possible to follow up with them later.

Conclusion

Live chat for business is an effective way to communicate with customers and prospects in multiple capacities. You can generate leads, deliver world-class support, or use it as a sales tool. As you can see, it can be used as much more than a simple contact tool. It has the potential to change your business.

Before you choose a solution, there’s an important question to answer, “What do you want to gain from live chat?” As long as you can answer that question you’ll be able to gain all the benefits of live chat for business.