As a business, you want to be as accessible to potential customers as possible. Customers unquestionably count on you to be available to them whenever they have a query or concern, and they want to receive assistance in the shortest amount of time feasible. This is a trend that many businesses are finding difficult to keep up with at scale, particularly if they are not utilizing live chat as part of their customer service strategy.
Whether you are selling items or services or have another offering entirely, live chat has the potential to significantly enhance your conversions, thereby contributing to the growth of your business while also providing an exceptional experience for your customers.
Increase your online revenue with live chat
Customers can communicate directly with your company through a live chat tool for websites at the pace that is most comfortable for them. Simultaneously, they receive information that is both dynamic and consistently helpful. This creates an instant connection between you and potential customers, which is a fantastic method to build rapport with them.
1. Adapt your business
E-commerce has expanded significantly in recent years, and the path that leads a shopper to purchase now spans a greater number of online platforms. It is not unusual for a consumer to utilize one site for inspiration and discovery, another platform to check reviews, and still another platform to learn more about your company. And all of this takes place before the visitor even visits your website.
This means that as soon as they visit your website, you should make every effort to engage with them while you have the chance. To attract the attention of clients, you need to be interesting and connect with them through discussion that is tailored to the stage of the purchasing journey they are currently in.
Keep in mind that the usage of live chat has surged over the past few years, with 79% of businesses claiming that live chat has had a positive influence on customer loyalty, sales, and revenue.
In the past, clients would frequently visit a brick-and-mortar business, where they would browse around and purchase the items they require. The first step in this process now frequently takes place online.
2. Communicate proactively
It’s great that so many businesses are using live chat as part of their marketing plans, but many haven’t taken a proactive approach. If visitors to your website rarely use the live chat feature or if the conversation topics are uninteresting, the feature is not benefiting your business as much as it could be. Because of this reactive approach, many businesses are missing out on sales opportunities and revenue.
One way to improve the strategy that is already being used is to use proactive messaging. Do not sit around and wait for your customer to start a conversation with you. This is a powerful first step in any sales process. Make the first move by starting a discussion with your customer to build a connection with them. You should personalize your message so that it corresponds to a product or page that they are currently seeing.
The numbers don’t lie: using proactive messaging gives a customer a level of customization that can’t be done with a static website.
3. Consider timing
Have you ever been in a store and been looking around when a salesperson approaches you and interrupts you? This can be hard for both of you since you are just looking around and the salesperson is trying to help you find the right product.
It should not be your intention to recreate that situation on the internet. What, then, creates an experience with a salesperson that is both pleasant and helpful when one is shopping around? Timing is the most important factor.
Adopting a proactive strategy is important and could lead to more sales. However, the timing of these moves is also important to how well they work. It’s possible that sending the proper message at the wrong time could not be effective.
Give your customers a chance to look around your website and learn about the products and services you offer as well as your brand. Then, if they have a question about a certain product or service, they can ask it.
You can even use data to detect patterns and trends that suggest the most effective times to reach out to a consumer and ask them about their experience.
4. Refine your sales process
Do not take the approach that many businesses take after they add live chat. Many businesses believe that they are finished with their work once they have implemented it. This is not the situation at all. Because live chat is always changing, you should always try out different approaches, messages, and functions.
Your conversation needs to adapt to the changing needs of your customers. You should actively look over the chats you get every month to find ways to make your current method better.
This presents you with another chance to put the data from Google Analytics and the conversation logs you save to good use in your research. You might want to take a look at the language that is producing the most successful results in your live conversations. Not sure which language would work best in this situation? Examine the conversations that took place before. Which pages are providing you with the highest quality results and the greatest number of conversions? Experiment with different iterations of what has been successful on other pages.
5. Clarify your return policy
People like to know that they can return items if they need to, especially with instant internet purchases. This helps make the sales process smoother for all.
You should not be scared to explain your returns policy. If you are using live chat, you should respond to questions about returns in a speedy and certain manner. Customers are more likely to abandon their shopping carts if the return information they need cannot be easily found on your website.
Instead of making your customers spend time trying to find your return policy, use a live chat agent who can give them the information quickly and confidently.
Use language that is uncomplicated and straightforward, so there is no room for ambiguity. This makes the buyer feel more at ease with their purchase, ultimately leading to an increase in sales.
6. Offer substitutes
You may have trouble keeping up with demand at times, especially in the current market. But instead of letting sales go down because there aren’t enough products, see this as an opportunity.
When you have a live agent who is being proactive, you will find that you may save more sales than you anticipated. There’s the option of having the agent reach out to the customer and apologize if they view a sold-out or unavailable product. This demonstrates empathy and compassion for your customer.
Then, ask the buyer what they were looking for and what it was about the product that drew their attention. You might be astonished to find out how frequently the client does not simply want a specific product. Instead, the characteristics they describe might be fitting of another one of your products. When you use live chat to find out this information, you can discover that you have other goods that are an excellent fit for their requirements and that you can recommend.
7. Prevent basket abandonment
You are not the only one dealing with cart abandonment. Even the most successful online retailers struggle with customers leaving items in their shopping baskets.
Some e-commerce sites only offer live chat as a way to help customers with questions. But this technology can be used to boost conversions during crucial times, such as when people leave their carts at checkout. Checkout typically is when customers are most likely to abandon their carts.
When you use the live chat at key points in the checkout process, you can talk to potential customers to find out what is stopping them from completing their purchases.
One of the most common reasons for customers to abandon their baskets is because they are unsure of the total cost of the shipment. As you can see, having a dialogue with them would rapidly fix that problem. A live agent can dynamically find problems with empathy, find out why customers are worried, and often help customers get past their objections.
Using live chat during the checkout process will also allow you to learn patterns from customers that you wouldn’t have learned otherwise. This will enable you to find and fix any pain points in your checkout process so that it’s seamless, which will lead to an increase in online sales.
Install live chat now
As a business, improving sales is one of the top goals. Communicating with your customers via live chat allows for a better customer experience as they can easily learn more about your company. This allows for an increase in sales and happy, informed customers. Consider adding live chat to your business’s website now.
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Alaine Meier is a blogger at LadyBossBlogger. She graduated from the College of the Holy Cross with a BA in Economics and a minor in Environmental Studies.
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