Good customer service is the backbone of any business. In fact, 90% of people say customer service is a deciding factor when choosing between companies.
In 2021, good customer service is all about letting your customers contact you when they want, how they want. Gone are the days where customers are prepared to wait in call queues for more than a few minutes. And the phrase “Due to coronavirus, our response times are longer than normal” no longer generates much patience.
Live Web Chat – when done well – can be a powerful tool to help you diversify your customer service offering and speed up resolution. Here are 3 reasons why it should be part of your approach.
1. Customers love it
In the past year, 73% of people who used live chat were extremely happy with the experience. Compare that to phone and SMS, which have satisfaction rates of just 44% and 41%, respectively, and it’s clear how powerful a tool it is.
And it’s no wonder. Live chat lets customers communicate with you while they get on with other tasks – a must in our busy, on-the-go world. Indeed, 51% of customers prefer Web Chat because it lets them multi-task. And a massive 79% like it because it gets them answers quickly, particularly for routine (yet important) issues like WISMO queries or changing a delivery date.
2. It has a higher ROI
Call centres are notoriously expensive to run. The average cost per call is £3.50, but it’s as much as £10 or more for some businesses. Live chat is much cheaper and easier to set up.
For a start, there’s less equipment needed. Agents can speak to customers with just a laptop and a single piece of software.
What’s more, while answering calls and replying to emails can take a long time, responding to Web Chat messages is much quicker – not least because customers are usually in a hurry and so give you all the relevant information more speedily. That means agents can get through more queries, saving time and ultimately money.
3. It helps build long-term customer relationships
Remember that 73% satisfaction rate for Web Chat? That doesn’t just help keep customers happy in the moment – it helps keep them happy long-term, too. And happy customers are more likely to be loyal customers.
Research shows that 89% of customers have stopped doing business with a company after a poor service experience. Giving people convenient, fast and high-quality digital service can therefore help turn them into a customer for life.
Now is the time to win the customer service race.
If you want to deliver five-star customer service that keeps people buying from you, Web Chat should be an essential part of your strategy. To find out how to add Web Chat support to your digital channels, speak to an Engage Hub expert.
