Live Chat for Business: The Best Investment?

By Josh Wardini on January 3, 2018 - Fact checked by Dumb Little Man

by Josh Wardini January 3, 2018

If you are like most entrepreneurs, you’re probably aiming to increase engagement, conversion, sales, and traffic to your site.

That’s actually not a problem.

Getting traffic has become relatively easy these days with the plethora of advertising opportunities available. Using Google or Facebook and spending a few bucks on targeted ads, for example, can instantly deliver traffic to your website.

Conversion and engagement, however, are a completely different thing. You need a well-planned and structured website to get the best results. Boosting sales also requires a well-formulated campaign to ensure that you convert new viewers and keep the existing ones happy.

Customer service, therefore, is an absolute must if you want your website and customer base to grow more.

Customer service is a primary key to online success and using live chat for business is a great way of building rapport with your audience. Live chat statistics demonstrate that adding a quality live chat solution to your site can have an immense impact on the success of your website and business.

Here are some good reasons why you need to consider investing in a live chat for business.

Live Chat Boosts Your Site’s Credibility & Reputation

The internet is full of scam artists looking to exploit naïve visitors. Because of that, it has become increasingly hard to determine which sites are not credible and which ones are trustworthy.

Adding a live chat feature to your website can instantly boost your site’s credibility. It lets your customers know you are ready to address any issues or concerns they may have.

Studies suggest 29% of consumers prefer to interact with retailers through online chat. Also, 41% of shoppers trust a brand when they see that live chat is available on its website.

Hence, adding a live chat function to your site is a great way to invest in your brand’s image and credibility.

Live Chat Boosts Your Sales, Engagement & Conversion

Adding a live chat feature also increases the sales and conversion rates of a website drastically.

A customer is 51% more likely to purchase from a site that has live chat available than from one that does not. Additionally, with live chat, support is nearly instant and that is exactly what customers are looking for. It is a fact that 53% of online shoppers will abandon a purchase if support is not quick.

If you fail to satisfy their needs or answer their questions as fast as possible, your customers will likely leave your site.

When it comes to conversion, customers who chat before buying can be more easily pushed towards a purchase and are 40% more likely to convert. Also, these same customers that chat prior to purchase spend on average 10% more per order.

As a general industry standard, a chatting customer is highly engaged and is usually worth 4.5 times as much as a non-chatting visitor.

In essence, an investment in live chat integration is an investment that converts more customers who spend more per checkout and will return in the future to increase further growth and returns.

Live Chat Pays for Itself

Live chat is also very cheap and easy to implement, considering its benefits.

From an ROI (Return on Investment) perspective, the average live chat software has a return of around 300%. This is because a customer who chats before purchasing poses a 48% increase in revenue per chat hour.

Live chat is also highly cost-effective compared to other forms of customer support. It is generally cheaper to implement than phone support. Also, when it comes to effectiveness, the average chat agent can do the work of 15 email support employees.

Considering all these factors, the cost savings alone mean live chat is an investment that not only delivers but also essentially pays for itself.

Live chat is a tool that all businesses should incorporate into their websites and online sales funnels. Live chat on your site can immediately boost your credibility and perceived support reputation.

With how it can boost sales and conversion and lower the costs of customer service delivery and ROI, it becomes obvious that live chat is very likely the best investment you can make right now to strengthen your brand.