The Value of Having a Chat Function on Your Website

People have always appreciated fast customer service, but in today’s market, people demand it. Immediate customer service can be quite challenging for companies to deliver, especially for those that aren’t large enough to employ an internal or external call center. One of the best solutions for speeding up your customer service is using a chat function on your website.

Beat the Competition

When potential clients are searching for a company to give their business to, you probably aren’t the only office they contact. After all, if you’re in need of the best product or service you can find, why limit yourself to only one option? If you are only relying on phone calls or emails, odds are you’re not the first one to respond to them. Unless your lead was subject to poor customer service or was quoted unrealistic pricing by the office that responded to them first, they are likely to go with the first responder.

However, when you use a chat box, you get a notification on your page that someone is trying to reach you and can respond in real time, likely within minutes of when you got the message. This drastically increases your chances of getting back to the lead before your competitors, which also increases your chances of gaining a new customer.

Handle More Requests at Once

One advantage of using a chat box is it’s dedicated to answering questions for your leads, whereas your email may be harder to keep track of. And when it comes to answering the phone, you can only put so many people on hold before long wait times may cause them to look elsewhere.

Unless you want to spend money hiring additional staff members to handle all these requests, a chat function may be your best solution. It’s far easier to keep track of multiple requests displayed in a chat box than it is to keep track of multiple phone calls or emails. And chatting allows the person in your office handling the request to ask questions without putting someone on hold or telling them they have to ask someone else for the answer. You can even outsource your chat if you prefer. Several companies have trained phone agents available around the clock to respond to chats based on the information you give them when you start using the service.

Build Trust

Having a live chat function has actually been shown to increase confidence in your customers that you will be able to help them, which builds trust right off the bat. In addition, the informal nature of chat boxes, combined with their efficiency, gives you the perfect opportunity to build a connection that feels genuine while you are answering their questions.

“Extend” Your Business Hours

When you install a live chat function, consider investing in a chat bot. Advances in AI have made automated messaging systems more accessible and more sophisticated, meaning you can install a system to answer a wide range of questions without breaking the bank. Being able to give your lead a good answer outside of regular business hours will be a pleasant surprise for them, which can be a powerful way to make your business stand out.

By using a chat function on your website, you can get an edge over the competition and gain more satisfied customers without constantly checking your email or hiring more people to answer your phones.