Myth
Web content alone is all we need for visitors to take a decision about purchasing our products or services.
Truth
You've undoubtedly invested heavily to get visitors to come to your website. Have you ever wondered why they just abruptly leave?
From my own experience, I'm constantly looking for ways to fill holes in my marketing programs or exploring better ways to accomplish my marketing objectives. Like most business professionals, I look at time as something I can't afford to waste. I use the Web as the go-to place to satisfy my curiosity. When I get to a site that I think aligns with what I need and I don't find what I'm looking for within a couple of clicks/minutes, I'm gone. What's worse is I likely won't be back. The same is true whether I'm doing marketing related research or if I'm looking for a new car insurance provider or thinking about refinancing my home.
The outcome is dramatically different if the site I'm visiting has live chat. I have no qualms about clicking on live chat to get quick answers to what I'm struggling to find from the static web pages. In almost every instance it starts me down the process of taking a decision to purchase goods or services.
It's also important to note that embedding live chat on your website is easy and inexpensive.
Need More?
After conducting in-depth interviews with large US-based financial institutions using live chat across multiple lines of business, Forrester Consulting found that the organization’s most mature deployments for sales and service achieved the following:
- Increased incremental online conversion rates and average order size - The chat-assisted application completion rate was 138% higher than self service. In addition to saving and closing otherwise lost customers, interactive chat increased the average dollar value of transactions.
- 305% ROI from proactive sales chat with a payback period of 6 months - The three-year risk-adjusted ROI of proactive chat for sales-focused activities was 305%.
- Reduced customer service costs and increased customer satisfaction - Chat enabled the organization to deflect service inquiries from more costly channels: 59% of chats would have otherwise resulted in a customer service call; 9% in email; and 13% of chats would have otherwise resulted in a branch visit. Customer service chats also had a high first-contact resolution rate resulting in increased customer satisfaction.
- 120% ROI from customer service chat with a payback period of 6 months - Forrester Consulting found that service-focused chat generated a three-year risk-adjusted ROI of 120% with a payback period of 6 months. Because the reference organization implemented chat for two distinct functions (sales and customer service) and maintained separate cost and benefit data for the two areas, this study analyzed sales- and service-focused chat separately.
Simple Rules to Follow
When adding live chat to your website, be sure to follow some simple rules:
1. Make the chat button/link apparent and place it in a prominent location - This should be obvious, but I'm often surprised at how good companies are at hiding the live chat button.
2. Create a library of standard responses - Since you have a good idea of the types of questions from past experiences, create a library of standard responses that can be readily used. Extend your library as you start to see trends in the types of questions asked. Regularly refresh the library as the questions and responses will evolve over time.
3. Use proactive chat - The major live chat vendors have a proactive chat option that opens a chat dialog box after certain thresholds are achieved such as time on site, number of pages visited, specific pages visited, etc.
4. Customize the chat experience to reflect your brand - Be sure to maintain your brand aesthetics with your live chat. The major live chat vendors offer extensive customization.
5. Align chat availability with visitor traffic - Again, this should be obvious, but take the time to analyze your site traffic to know when visitors are most active.
6. Follow-up as needed - Live chat becomes almost useless if you commit to doing something then not do it. If you tell someone during a chat session that you'll have an account manager follow-up with them, or that you will send them a proposal, etc. then do it.
When engaging visitors, focus first on making a connection with them. Keep the dialog in context of what the visitor is looking for by asking clarifying questions about their needs and craft relevant responses. As you understand their needs, you can take them down the path of becoming a customer.
Live chat gives you the opportunity to transition your visitor from reading static web pages into a conversation between two people. Chat can be the key that moves them from visitor to prospect to customer.
If your website is the portal from which you promote and/or sell your products or services, I strongly recommend you offer live chat. Having it will drive top-line growth at a nominal cost.
0 comments:
Post a Comment