Live Chat Software

To be successful today, organizations must use the power and reach of the Internet to market their products and gain visibility. If you own a website that sells a service or product, then more than ever you need to reach out to gain new customers as well as maintain great relationships with existing ones.

But is it enough to merely showcase your products and services on your website? Visitors to your website will often have questions for which they don’t want to call or send emails and wait endlessly for a response. This is where live chat software makes things easier for the customer as well as the merchandise or service provider. A well-trained and knowledgeable chat operator can not only provide answers instantly, but they can even help the company promote and sell a few of its products. Live chat software is therefore a win-win for both the buyer and the seller.

If your organization is looking to obtain live chat software to convert visitors into customers, or simply to help resolve their issues, then here are some basic guidelines to help you make a decision.

Customization

Customizing the layout and theme of your chat window to match the look and feel of your website is of utmost importance. The color and text along with the placement and size of the chat panel must be customizable. Though some software providers offer high-end customization, some knowledge of CSS may be necessary to incorporate the features in your chat window.

Chat triggers help you initiate chats automatically and respond to different groups of visitors in a particular manner. The ability to customize when and how these triggers operate can also help you provide a unique and impressionable end-user experience.

Real-Time Visitor Information

It’s impossible to chat with a visitor without having at least a little information about them. This becomes even more important when serving first-time visitors. A pre-chat survey lets you obtain their name, email and any other relevant information. However, to better understand their needs, it’s important to obtain real-time information about their location, pages visited, time on site, and where applicable, the products in the shopping cart. This information allows you to not only assist them better, but also to close a sale.

For returning customers, chat history and visitor information can help you wow your customers and gain their appreciation and loyalty. The ability to add a memo or note to a chat record can help agents know the customer’s exact needs and preferences when they visit again.   

Mobile Accessibility

Internet connectivity today has made it possible for people to conduct personal and business interactions on the move. Desktop applications can help customers browse casually in the comfort of their home. But for those who travel frequently, mobile accessibility is paramount. The live chat software must therefore be accessible on popular mobile platforms. This can also be useful to extend working hours for agents or have them telecommute occasionally.

Integrations

The ability to integrate your live chat software with third-party applications helps businesses streamline their operations. Your live chat software must, therefore, be compatible with some of the more popular CMS, Helpdesk, and CRM applications such as WordPress, Joomla, Zendesk, and Salesforce, to name a few.   

Chat Reports

Chat reports are a great way to measure how well your organization is managing its chat operations. Metrics such as number of chats initiated, number of chats failed, chat duration, etc. can help you decide on your future strategy with regards to how many agents you want to engage, and what are the best times to be active.

Other Important Features

To ensure optimal utilization of your chat resources, it’s important to consider some useful time-saving features. Shortcuts and canned messages help your chat agents respond quickly to commonly asked questions. File transfers and co-browsing also cut down on response times and help resolve your customer’s issues with the least possible fuss. If you have customers in different countries, it pays to have an automatic language translation feature which ensures that your customers can communicate in the language of their preference. An agent transfer feature may also be necessary, especially if yours is a multi-department business, or if you have different teams handling customer service and sales.    

Conclusion

Live chat software lets you add a personal touch to your customer relationship initiatives. There are a plethora of features and tools on offer, but it’s important to understand which of these will be most beneficial to your business and your customers. Most live chat software providers offer a short trial period. This is a great way to find one that best fits your own unique requirements.