Live chat software offers startups and SMBs instant customer support, enhancing satisfaction and efficiency. It outperforms phone and email communication by being cost-effective and user-friendly. Features like proactive chat invitations and a universal inbox boost engagement.
The expectations from a business of any size today is to meet customer demands immediately, in some cases, even before customers can think of their request.
Long waiting time, whether in a queue of a traditional store or for package delivery and then a lack of instant support, is a frequent inconvenience for many customers and a cause for the complaints.
As a startup or a small business, your business plan is most likely focused on delivering the best customer experience and gaining a competitive advantage in your niche.
The importance of providing excellent online customer service is no longer an offshoot of a company’s interest but a primary motivation for success.
The key to achieving a high customer satisfaction score is effective communication, for which live chat is an ideal digital solution.
But live chat software can be more than just a simple chatting tool.
Are you interested to know more?
Let’s dive in.
For companies of any size, a website is the online representation of their brand. After all, that is where most customers will go next when they come across your products and services—for this reason, acquiring a tool that consumers can conveniently use to contact service representatives while browsing is a significant asset.
Live chat changes communication from a tiresome process of picking up the phone or writing an email to an instant messaging platform. Hence, it requires the customers’ lowest effort to receive the answers to their questions with just a click of a button.
How and where the small chat button appears on your website is based on your preferences. Generally, it is embedded on the pages that generate the most traffic. A checkout page is a great option, as that is where the bounce rate frequently occurs. The design options for the button are extensive – from the animation to the type and style. All predesigned templates are available for personalized customization.
If you cannot find the style that suits you, you can create a custom one by uploading an image or writing your HTML code. Some companies abandon the human element of their communication platforms for the sake of automation. And even though live chat does support automation of many kinds, rest assured that there is an actual human agent on that other line. And isn’t that what makes the whole experience more personal?
Convenience and ease of use are two components that tick the boxes for the customers’ idea of a reliable company. Not many customers would keep their interest in purchasing a product or procuring a service if poor customer service disrupted their buying experience. Not to mention the probability of negative feedback that can hamper the company’s reputation.
Phone and email support are not obsolete communication channels. Quite the opposite. However, the numbers show that 79% of customers prefer to chat with agents because of its immediacy compared to other channels.
Strategic budgetary planning is crucial for any business, but it goes double for small companies and startups. Implementing live chat in your customer service represents one of the best ROI as it is considerably cheaper and results in lesser expenses. Even on a small budget, you can acquire a limited but still highly effective chat tool for free .
Your customer service operators will be able to coordinate multiple chat conversations in real-time, saving valuable time and resources for the company. That allows you to switch your focus on optimizing and crafting a sustainable sales and marketing strategy.
Every contact we have with a customer influences whether or not they'll come back. We have to be great every time or we'll lose them.Kevin Stirtz, Author of More Loyal Customers
A business that puts customers first is a business that recognizes how valuable customers are. Relationship marketing acknowledges that building a long-lasting connection with customers is less expensive and generates more revenue. But to companies that are only starting, the more critical factor is to attract and convert leads and prospects into regular, paying customers.
Although startups and small businesses often get lumped together, their goals are not the same. Live chat can be utilized in three distinct stages of the customers’ journey, that empowers the support teams of both Startups and SMBs and caters to their specific targets:
As part of a complex help desk software, live chat delivers substantial benefits through its user-friendly features.
Customer service support’s primary goal is to provide a positive customer service experience, with each interaction between the customer and the brand.
The universal inbox feature enables agents to view and answer conversations received from any channel. The built-in CRM records and stores all customer data for improved organization, and its abilities can be further increased by integrating with additional CRM software.
Whether used on its own or combined with other features, proactive chat invitations can produce a remarkable ROI. When a visitor lands on your website, you can set up a time rule for the invitation to pop-up, or place it on a specific page. It’s like walking into a store and being welcomed by a smiling employee, ready to help. You can even create multiple chat invitations and target different kinds of customers.
If you run a multinational business, you can adapt the widget to display in a language you prefer. Equally to the chat button, the design, message, and style of a proactive chat invitation is customizable, and all the templates can be found in the gallery.
Proactivity from the side of the agents is what customers appreciate. During the chat session, agents can see what customers are typing into their chat window in real-time and prepare to resolve any request before they can even hit the send button.
You can improve your agents’ efficiency and ensure that the right agents are chatting with the selected customers. Choose three predefined route options – random assignment, ring to all, max utilization. If the workload becomes too overwhelming, you can set up the maximum queue limit and give your agents some breathing room.
As a startup or small business, one of your main goals is to build your customer contact list and generate more leads. You can activate the pre-chat form feature in the settings so that it will automatically request contact details from the customer at the start of a chat session. The offline form ensures that customers will reach out to your service team, even outside of business hours, keeping the support live 24/7.
The opinions and feedback from visitors are essential for startups and small businesses as it helps to build the brand and provides a chance to reflect on the tactics and strategy. Allow your buyers to give feedback on a chat session, product review, or the agent’s efficiency.
Positive customer reviews can then be used as social proof and posted on the website to elicit referrals. Alternatively, collected data can be used for content creation, in a FAQ section, or a blog. It can also uncover previously unreported navigation website issues that help optimize your website. You can also use this feature to build loyalty and trust. If a customer requests it, you can send the chat transcript and be as transparent as possible.
Chat overview allows you to observe and collect information about the visitor’s location, URL, or time spent browsing the website for further use in a marketing strategy.
If you wish to see proof of your efforts for acquiring new customers, track conversions from live chat in Google Analytics.
Agents should focus on how to handle different points of conversation and follow the rules of online etiquette:
Online communication allows flexibility and creativity to a degree. It is especially evident when it comes to canned responses and predefined answers. These short texts are part of one bigger script, but they can be tailored for each different situation and conversation. It reduces the need to type in each response manually, especially to the frequently asked questions.
Agents can develop several responses that can be stored, shared, and used as templates across the departments. Therefore, no matter which department or team member the customer will converse with, the right tone and language will be consistent across the board.
A non-conventional way to use live chat is for training purposes. Chat software is mainly used to communicate with external customers, but it can also be used as a communication tool for the internal ones – the employees. Looking for new employees can be a daunting task. But it goes both ways. The potential candidates will have some questions that the simple job description post cannot cover. Business owners and recruitment teams can use live chat to ease the onboarding process.
Live chat is a great tool to use in cross-departmental communication and engagement. Therefore, it can be instrumental in training the staff. Each department can have one or several internal chat groups to provide quick support to individuals or teams.
When you sign up and receive access to your account, integrating a live chat widget to your website is done by simply copying and pasting a short HTML code—no need to download any additional software. If you wish to integrate with third-party software or an app, it is fully supported.
Receiving numerous inquiries from all sorts of different platforms can pose a considerable security concern at an all-time high. Anyone who wishes to establish a strong online presence must take the necessary steps to protect themselves and their customers.
For that reason, you can check the security features page or learn more by reading LiveAgent’s Security Privacy Policy. LiveAgent provides comprehensive security features:
Still not sure if live chat is the right tool for your company? Start a free 30-day trial, no credit card required, and join 35,000 businesses already using LiveAgent.
If you want to learn more, head over to our knowledge base for additional information on live chat software, customer support best practices, and implementation guides.
Live chat software is an instant messaging platform that allows customers to communicate with service representatives in real-time while browsing your website. It changes communication from a tiresome process of picking up the phone or writing an email to an instant messaging platform, requiring customers' lowest effort to receive answers with just a click of a button.
Live chat offers several advantages: 79% of customers prefer to chat with agents because of its immediacy compared to other channels. It's considerably cheaper than phone support, allows agents to handle multiple conversations simultaneously, and provides a more convenient experience for customers who can get instant answers without waiting.
Live chat can be utilized in three distinct stages of the customer journey: service support, sales and loyalty, and marketing and promotion. It helps attract and convert leads into paying customers, provides excellent customer service, builds long-lasting relationships, and generates valuable customer feedback for business optimization.
Agents should focus on proper online etiquette, including starting chats professionally, handling holds and transfers smoothly, managing complaints effectively, and wrapping up conversations appropriately. Using canned responses and predefined answers helps reduce manual typing and ensures consistent tone and language across departments.
Yes, live chat can be used as an internal communication tool for employees. It's useful for training purposes, onboarding new staff, cross-departmental communication, and team engagement. Each department can have internal chat groups to provide quick support to individuals or teams.
Integrating live chat is simple: sign up for an account, copy a short HTML code snippet, and paste it into your website. No additional software download is needed. LiveAgent also supports integration with third-party software and apps for extended functionality.
Yes, LiveAgent provides comprehensive security features including IP banning, 2-step verification, HTTPS encryption, multiple data centers for backup, and GDPR compliance. These features protect both your business and your customers' data from security threats.
Daniel oversees marketing and communications at LiveAgent as a member of the inner product circle and company top management. He previously held various managerial positions in marketing and client communication. He is recognized as one of the experts on AI and its integration into the customer service environment.
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