Top 7 Reasons Live Chat is Vital for Customer Support

When a server goes down for one of your customers, do they reach out through email support? Would they rather chat with someone live and get the issue fixed?

Put yourself in this situation. Your server goes down, causing your website to stop working and visitors are pouring in. Would you rather send an email or ticket to your support team and hope they get it fixed today or would you rather hop on a live chat and get help immediately?

Many surveys have shown that the preference of a customer is live chat compared to email or even phone support. Here are some of the top reasons why live chat is vital for your customer support.

Instant

Even when live chat tells a customer they are 7th in line, they know it won’t be long. It’s nearly instant and in a society where instant matters, live chat rules. Whether it’s an emergency or just an issue needing dealt with. Live chat is popular because of the quick access it gives customers to help.

However, if your live chat isn’t always available, it can disappoint customers. Nobody wants to leave an offline message and this makes your company look bad. Live chat needs to be available 24/7 or you won’t be able to provide the great customer service and support your clients deserve.

Void of Hold Music

The phone might as well be an antique at this point. People use cell phones for far more than just phone calls and some people absolutely despise talking on the phone. Even worse, nobody likes to be stuck on hold.

When you pop up a live chat help box online, you can keep on doing what you need to do while you wait. Customers prefer to multi-task during live chats, which isn’t easy or possible with phone support. In addition, they don’t have to listen to any annoying hold music.

Quicker Response

Typically, when you submit a ticket/email to a support team, it takes at least a few hours to hear back. With live chat, the answers are pretty much instant. A tech might tell you he/she needs a minute to look of the information or perform a task, but the issue is being worked on right now, which customers love.

Relationship Building Opportunities

Email is far less personal and the newer generations don’t like to use phone support. Live chat gives your company the ability to build relationships with customers preferring not to speak on the phone. Those handling the live chat have the opportunity to handle the issue fast and make the customer feel appreciated. This isn’t really possible through email.

Custom Support

Every customer is a bit different and requires a different type of support. Some may be rather irritated and the issue urgent, while others are relaxed and just need a question answered. Live chat allows for customized support to fit the urgency and mood of each customer.

Excellent Way to get Testimonials

Testimonials sell and getting them through live chat is much easier than email. Since it’s easy to gauge how happy the customer is with the support on live chat, it opens the door to ask for a testimonial when appropriate. It’s harder to gauge the satisfaction through email, which makes getting a testimonial harder, as well.

Your Competition Probably Uses Live Chat

Maybe the most important reason to use live chat support is your competition. If they don’t use it, you will gain an advantage. However, if they are using live chat and you are not, good luck keeping up.

There are several reasons to add live chat to your support options. If you want to make your customers happy and keep them loyal to you, live chat is the best choice for your support.