You might have noticed that now-a-days there are several websites which have live chat support as part of their customer service. The reason might be unclear for you, which is understandable; some people just hate chatting. But if you are running an online forum of some sort or a business website, you should read on to find out more about why it has become so popular among the respondents. 

The reasons are simple but yet so effective that they would guarantee success for your business:

1. People like to Chat

People like chatting especially if it is about the object of their interest. According to e-Digital Research, one message from the customer service has the potential to increase the conversion rate by 50%. Two messages further increase it to 100% and a conversation of approximately six messages take these chances to 250%. It is unbelievably simple. Also, it was reported that the customers were comparatively happier after the purchase they made following live chat conversation. This leads to the second point:

2. Live Chat Support is preferred over a call

For a lot of the respondents, it is an easily accessible way. People, in general, prefer live chat over a phone call. Emails might be too much for a few as well. While many websites provide the customer with an emergency email, it usually takes hours and sometimes days before the client gets a response. It can especially be off-putting.

Because live chat is text-based, it is easier to handle. You can deliver your messages and terms utterly professionally. It is substantially useful for keeping a track record too. Every interaction that happens between the support team and the client is registered. A good company would usually use these responses as feedback to improve their products and services.

3. Availability is your key to success

Availability is the root cause of building trust with the client. This trust leads to the returning of the same customer. Hence you experience an improvement in the conversion rate.

According to a few social media resources, people prefer a variety of tools but live chat support is widely admired because of its flexibility of hours. You are not required to make an account online to seek general help. For example, you are willing to buy an electronic device but you are not sure about its specifics. You just have to click on the live chat box (usually present at the lower right corner) and start the conversation.

These live chat support are normally offered for office hours. Some websites like outsourcelivechats.com ever provide it for 24/7 which can be extremely helpful.

4. Take the Sales to the Sky

According to Forrester Research, online customers said that 44% of the time if their question is answered during the process of purchase, they are more likely to return to the same website. If a customer leaves happy then he would return happy too.

The greatest advantage is that like mentioned earlier, live chat increases the chances of purchase by 250% if there is a conversation of six messages between the client and the support team. In short, it means that your business would benefit more if it is done intelligently. You have to play smarter rather than harder. In order to gather most responses from the respondent, you have to be as specific as possible. Instead of guiding him in the wrong direction just for the sake of dragging on the conversation, try sticking to the point. The clients would appreciate it more.

5. You are in the End Game of Competition

In a survey, it is estimated that only 9% of the websites use live chat for customer support. This number may sound small to you but it is not. There are approximately 1.5 billion active websites on the internet. 9% would still make up to 135000000 websites that use live chat support. You have a lot of competition but there is a catch. While these websites use live chat, they use it poorly. Most customers complain about the unprofessionalism found on these live chats. The cure for it is to train your staff properly. If your business support team knows how to handle them, only then you can hope to get your desired results.