Live chats are a new increasingly used feature on websites that allow customers to have real time conversations with a company while they are on a website. This means that customers can contact companies without having to send emails, waiting for a response, wasting valuable time. Live chats allow you to speak to any client or answer queries instantly. Furthermore, the Chat software enables you to monitor any client that is browsing through your website.

There are great benefits to having this feature on your site, including the fact that it is simple, fast, and appropriate for all potential customers and visitors as it is faster than any other digital form of communication. Many business owners either manage their own live chats or have an agent managing it for them. This article will delve into both of these live chat options as well as how these options cater to businesses.

Benefits of self-managed and agent-managed chats

The benefits of using either self-managed or agent-managed live chats can reduce expenses and man hours which can increase sales without losing potential clients looking for quotations or queries via normal emails. It can improve customer service and loyalty, keeping them happy and interested in what you offer as they can gain instant access to your direct information on the services and products you supply.

Live chats can give you that edge above your competitors that use normal emails. The live chat whether it is self-managed or agent-managed can expand your market reach and your practical outreach. It can further benefit your reports and analytics allowing your site to rank higher than your competitors as you can receive more client and visitor flow to your site.

Increased loyalty

Clients, visitors, and people in general are quite lazy when it comes to getting their requirements met in the quickest way possible. It is an advantage for you to meet their requirements and provide them with easy and instant access to answers, whether it is through Frequently Asked Questions for the agent-managed chat or critical information directly from you. Above all, the client’s loyalty will get you that next sale, whether it be from them returning to your website for more business or they have spread the word about you and have suggested your company to other potentials.

Pros & cons

With the self-managed chat feature, it can be a little more work for you during the day as it does use time and manpower having to answer the chat feature yourself. However, this live chat feature enables you to keep track of your clients’ conversations, giving you all the resources at hand to answer any and all questions they may have for you and your company’s products and services.

On the other hand, the agent-managed chat feature can benefit your business as you do not need to physically allocate time to manage your company’s live chat. However, the agent-managed chat can only supply the client or visitor with Frequently Asked Questions and answers. Furthermore, if the agent managing your live chat does not have the necessary product or business knowledge, it may cause customers to turn away from your business and you could potentially lose a sale.

Optimise your site

After hearing the benefits and the downsides of the chat feature options, you may be asking yourself, what would be the point of using any of these chat features? It is important to keep in mind that the pros definitely outweigh the cons, making it beneficial to consider adding the chat feature to your website. The mutual benefits between you and your potential clients and visitors being able to use the site in the most optimised way can drastically increase the number of your retained customers and sales.

Get chatting

The best way to ensure that your website is used to its full potential is by using the chat features of a live chat, unlocking new business for your company. Depending on what your business needs are will determine which live chat feature you should go with. The self-managed feature will allow you to answer customer queries directly giving you more control, however, keep in mind that it will require constant time and manpower. Whereas, the agent-managed live chat will give you more time, but less control over your customer queries. At the end of the day, both options will enrich your business.

Furthermore, in the new age of websites, outreach and ranking are absolutely necessary to make sure any and all people visiting and using your website are satisfied. Being able to cater to a customer’s query can mean the difference between someone simply viewing your website and someone using your live chat feature to find out more about your products and services so that they can potentially use your company over your competitors.

If you are considering implementing a live chat feature, whether it will be self or agent-managed, contact us and we will get your live chat feature up and running.