Guest Post: What Marketers Should Know About Social Live Chat

With the advent of a lot of businesses and entrepreneurs nowadays, the battle often boils down to whose best at marketing. Experts have devised a lot of marketing strategies in this field, but as far as we know, most people will be using similar strategies. So, a good question to ask if you’re new to these marketing strategies is what you can do to be ahead of the game?

Today we will be answering that question by introducing you to one of the best tools you can use to improve your marketing endeavours, this tool is called social live chat. A lot of marketers and business owners have been investing a lot to make use of this effective method of engaging with their customers to improve their business. Here are some of the reasons why:

1. Live Chat is more convenient and is the Top Choice for customers

A lot of customers would prefer to chat with someone rather than talk to them over the phone. This is basically because most business owners would resort to the so-called BPO companies which use offshore agents to deal with customers, thus, creating language barrier. This is exactly the reason why most customers would easily engage on a live chat window rather than answering a phone call from someone they know they would not understand.

According to a study done by ATG Global Customer Trend, about 90% of customer would prefer having live chat support during an online session while 63% of customers would return to a website where live chat support is being offered. These positive responses only prove live chat is a convenient and effective tool to help you meet your business goals.

2. Live Chat helps in lowering down your expenses

Considering the point above, there is a good reason why you should use live chat over live customer service representatives over the phone; it can help you cut down your expenses. Live chat can cut any language barrier. Hence, this means you can utilize offshore agents to get the job done. They are low cost, and they are also not that hard to find thanks to the different online platforms for freelancers over the world.

Taking this into consideration, there is also no need for one to have a large number of headcount on board since one agent can cater to multiple customers and transactions at a time versus those who are answering phone calls.

3. Live Chat can help in meeting your sales goals

Because a single person can accommodate multiple customers at a time while on a live chat, this, in turn, increases the possibility of closing multiple sales at the same time. One of the major differences between agents over the phone and live chat is time. A person who is engaged in a live chat is more likely to spend time with a representative compared to someone who is talking over the phone. This will also give time for the live chat support to build rapport, and explain each feature and benefits in detail which could be hardly done over the phone by an offshore agent due to the language barrier.

Further, links and screenshots can be used by someone using a live chat tool making website navigation a lot easier for the customer. High satisfaction among customers can result in higher chances of closing a sale.

4. Live Chat can give you edge over the competition

One our most reputable sources, TELUS International revealed a recent discovery regarding some of the world’s top names in the world of business. Most of these marketing giants do not utilize live chat. Hence, this is clearly an avenue or an edge you can use if you’re new to the competition. Basing on the positive effects live chat can give to your business, it’s time for you to up your phase a little bit. Start building your live chat platform now!

For the meantime, here are some tips you can live by to make sure your live chat platform will go the extra mile.

Consider hiring those with sales experience

People with presupposed sales knowledge are more likely to be able to hit targets compared to those who do not. They are the ones who know how to build rapport, position benefits and are more likely to close additional orders with the customer.

Train your team well

Hiring people with sales experience is already a big plus, but remember, product knowledge plays a significant role in customer satisfaction. As much as possible, avoid prematurely letting new hires handle chats, this will lead to customer dissatisfaction and loss of revenue.

Empowerment and Social Media presence

Always let the customer know about your social media page. This will give them an idea that they should also help you out with your business growth. Many businesses start a blog to help them establish a strong presence online. Consider using your page as a self-help option by telling them many frequently asked questions could be located on that page as well.