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"Brian Honigman\u00A0is a marketing consultant, a\u00A0freelance writer\u00A0and a social media enthusiast.\u00A0This post was originally published on Jumplead.\u00A0\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nYou don\u2019t need a master\u2019s degree in marketing to understand that quality customer service is crucial to the long-term success of your business. Your existing customers will become your most vocal advocates and help grow your customer base on your behalf if you provide a worthwhile and memorable experience each and every time.\r\n\r\nWhat does a worthwhile and memorable experience look like between a business and a customer?\r\n\r\nThis type of experience is one where the business caters to the needs of the existing and potential customer before, during and after they\u2019ve made a purchase. Questions, comments and concerns of the customer are listened to by the business, giving the customer an open dialogue to quickly deal with any issues or concerns they\u2019re having with your products or services.\r\n\r\nAn example of stellar customer service that has left many customers elated about their experience is what Warby Parker is doing to impress customers with its eagerness to help. The company created a\u00A0YouTube channel\u00A0where the team shares videos answering customer questions from Facebook and Twitter, which helps put faces to the brand and excites customers with a shout out or an insightful answer to their question.\r\n\r\nThis is the type of experience that you should create for your customers, but it is more easily said then done, right?\r\n\r\nHow can my company create an engaging experience for my existing and potential customers?\r\n\r\nStart by using a live chat service on your website to build rapport with your visitors overtime. Live chat functionality is still a relatively new tool, but don\u2019t let that imply there aren\u2019t widespread benefits for your company.\u00A0Adding live chat functionality to your website allows customers to chat with a business in real-time to ask questions, get advice and build confidence during their shopping experience, while\u00A0improving conversion rates for your business.\r\n\r\nLive chat services like\u00A0LivePerson,\u00A0BoldChat,\u00A0Comm100,\u00A0Kayako,\u00A0LiveHelpNow,\u00A0Jumplead\u00A0and others help add a human factor to your website, allowing your business to tell its story and solve customer issues all at once.\r\n\r\nHere are six reasons why a live chat program is beneficial for a business today:\r\n1. Real-time convenience to customers\r\nThe main reason above all, is that live chat offers convenience for customers right from your website without them having to leave looking for assistance on the phone, email or social media. Added convenience is what helps build strong relationships with your customers since the availability of help and the speed at which this help is delivered is often the two most cited reasons people say they had an enjoyable experience with a company.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nBy communicating with customers right from the product page on your website, your business is more likely to address their concerns and therefore, impact their confidence shopping on your website since they know someone is always there to help.\r\n\r\nLive chat is critical for answering customers issues, but is also effective for businesses looking to provide advice to customers as they shop to better inform them of their options and which options match their needs and interests. For instance, many e-commerce stores that sell apparel use a live chat function to provide style advice to customers that don\u2019t necessarily have a question or an issue, but would love direction on what to buy that would suit their personal style.\r\n2. Cost efficient\r\nLive chat is cost efficient because it often increases the average order value of customer purchases since many of these customers are getting helpful advice and insights on what to shop for matched with their interests, as well as answers to any product questions they might have.\r\n\r\nThis increased confidence helps customers feel better about what they are purchasing, since the product or service is more likely to be what they were looking for and less likely something they\u2019ll have to return later because it doesn\u2019t fit, it\u2019s wasn\u2019t what they expected or whatever other reason why many products or services online don\u2019t turn out to be what a customer had anticipated.\r\n\r\nImplementing a live chat service on your website isn\u2019t an expensive endeavor, especially since it typically pays for itself quite quickly with increased conversions and AOV\u2019s once customers know it\u2019s an option.\r\n\r\nComm100, Kayako and LiveHelpNow are some of the most affordable services for small to medium sized businesses since they offer different packages that are priced competitively to meet the needs of your staff and the amount of customer communication you\u2019re dealing with on a daily basis.\r\n3. Stand out amongst competitors\r\nThe amount of competitors present in any vertical today can be overwhelming, which is why it is as important as ever to stand out and differentiate your company from others.\r\n\r\nA live chat program will help your business focus on the needs of your customers and the experience they are having with your business at almost every major touch point in the buying funnel on your website. Live chat is one method of enchanting a customer by delivering as much value to their experience with your business and its offerings.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nAccording to a study by\u00A0Marketing Power, customers who use your live chat platform are three times more likely to buy since the method provides a direct and personal interaction with customers. The effectiveness of live chat as a platform is incentive enough to begin winning over the customers of your competitors by consistently improving upon their experience with your business.\r\n\r\nIn 2011,\u00A058 percent of U.S. consumers say they\u2019ve interacted with an e-retailer using live chat, up from 54 percent last year. Although its use is rising, this means that there are a vast amount of businesses today not yet using a live chat program and therefore, an opportunity for your business to continue to dominate your vertical.\r\n4. Develop deeper customer relationships\r\nCustomer retention is critical to the long-term growth of your business. Returning customers often spend more, refer friends and family members in their network and remain a paying customer for decades depending on your industry and the competitive landscape in that market. Using a live chat program can help foster these long-term relationships because it shows your company truly cares about your customer\u2019s input and happiness.\r\n\r\nIf your business doesn\u2019t put the customer in charge, then you\u2019re not likely to succeed in the future. The digital landscape today allows customers to be more influential then ever, which is why it is important to involve them in the process with tools like live chat to hear their input in real-time and cater to their needs.\r\n\r\nWhen customers feel their voice is heard and they chat with a person behind the company, it\u2019s more likely that they\u2019ll have a stronger connection to your business.\r\n5. Transcripts offer data to improve customer service\r\nAnalyzing the data your company gathers across the website and other digital channels is crucial for understanding what is and isn\u2019t working for your business. Installing and using a live chat program can provide your team with an unlimited number of chat transcripts to help identify trends in customer pain points, the speed at which care is delivered on a monthly basis, where your staff excels and where they might need more training and what opinions customers have about your business.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nMonitoring data points like the speed at which problems are resolved and service is administered using live chat can help your company understand the benefits of the tool and how your company can continue to innovate on its use over time.\r\n\r\nBy analyzing what questions, concerns or issues readily come up for your customers, your team can construct prewritten responses to frequently asked questions and direct customers to pages on the website that contain the requested information. This saves time for your customer support team, making your company more agile in delivering care to customers and providing the insights they were looking for more quickly.\r\n6. Increase in conversions and average order values\r\nSince the experience with your business is made more enjoyable by the use of live chat, this often results in more conversions and a higher average order value from customers that are engaging with you on the platform.\r\n\r\nOf those who prefer live chat, 79 percent said they did so because they get their questions answered quickly and 46 percent agreed it was the most efficient communication method, according to\u00A0Econsultancy. The speed and effectiveness of this form of customer support is what it takes to succeed and impact your business\u2019s bottom line.\r\n\r\nSince questions are answered more quickly and the answers provide customers with more confidence, they tend to spend more than customers who don\u2019t use your live chat.\u00A0Virgin Airlines uses a live chat platform\u00A0on its website to upsell customers with other offerings, which converts customers on chat 3.5 times more than customers that don\u2019t engage in a chat. They also found that some of their customers had a higher AOV of 15 percent, as compared to those who did not.\r\n\r\nIs your business considering the use of live chat? What\u2019s stopping your company from implementing such a useful feature to boost the effectiveness of your customer service?\u00A0Please share your thoughts in the comments below.\r\n\r\nTop image credit:\u00A0Maen CG/Shutterstock"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://thenextweb.com/entrepreneur/2013/11/26/6-reasons-consider-adding-live-chat-support-business/>