The firm Ability Commerce reported that potential customers who use live chat are 3 times more likely to purchase from the company. This and several other statistics prove how chat support is an inevitable part of company’s success.

Live chat support is applicable for multiple industries like e-commerce, business solution providers, hospitality industry, real estate and educational institutions to name a few. Good thing about live chat is that is can be utilized throughout the customer life-cycle especially during stages like promotion, direct engagement, closing the deal and after sales support.?

Why chat support is gaining popularity?

Live chat hits the chord among millennials as they do not prefer to call the company and wait in queue for clearing their doubt or resolving an issue.

Various companies from different industries have reported positive outcomes through implementation of live chat on the website. In several cases, the rise in conversion was as much as 30 percent after few months of using live chat support services. But this is just one facet of live chat!

This mode of communication also tells a company what common issues are faced by the users who visit the website. Regular issues faced by customers can be used to improve the information on the website making the experience more comfortable for the visitors. Companies also love this medium as they don’t have to spend a fortune in order to derive benefits of live chat.

Therefore, multiple companies are going a step ahead and using live chat support for their business to establish themselves as a trusted name.

Questions are generally asked by the customer on live chat

The questions asked by the customers vary on the basis of the type of brand and product offered by them. Some commonly asked questions on live chat support include:

B2B Services

The most basic question can be the itemization of the cost related to services offered by the company. Another question can be associated with the technology used by service provider for offering the services. Experience of the firm in the industry along with name of some renowned clients or details about previous work can also be asked by the potential clients.

E-commerce/Online Shopping Website

The common question is associated with the specifications of a product available on the company’s website. Also, working conditions needed for operating the product are asked by the customer. Special discounts and offers associated with the product are also asked by the users.

Tour and Travel Firms

Common question includes hidden costs related to a specific tour package. Users also ask what is included and what is excluded from the package offered by the company. Customers also like to confirm about what essential things should be carried by the travelers during the trip.

Real Estate

One of the basic questions is documents needed to purchase a property. Questions associated with taxation and government policies are also commonly asked by the website visitors. Loans are another important part linked to queries from real estate sector.

Tips and Techniques for Chat Support

Every process in business world needs the use of proper techniques and tips to reduce the possibility of failure. Some essential tips and techniques linked to chat support include:

• Agents should handle maximum three chats at one time for proper efficiency. More than three may confuse the agents resulting in inappropriate answer to every user.
• A well-designed pre-chat survey having few basic questions can help in allocating the most suitable agent for the chat.
• The agents can initiate the conversation by posting a question like ‘How may I help you today’ or by just saying ‘Hi.’
• Provide the service round the clock. You can outsource the live chat support services if you are unable to provide service for 24 hours of day.
• Make sure to share screenshots and files wherever necessary to provide more comprehensive solution of customer queries.
• Visitor information can be passed to sales team so that they can keep follow-up with potential customers.
• Make use of typing indicator for predicting what customers are about to type on chat screen. This will help in preparing you for much improved response.

Conclusion

In upcoming years, the growing popularity and convenience linked to live chat may turn it into leading customer support channel. Therefore, make sure to derive maximum benefits of this amazing channel.