All You Need to Know About Real-Time Chat for Your Business

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When it comes to customer engagement, digital businesses have a range of tools at their disposal. But, with so many options to choose from and new technologies emerging all the time, it can be tricky knowing which one is best for your business and its customers. It’s no secret that chat apps are fast becoming an essential part of our daily lives. In fact, Statista recently reported that nearly half (47%) of all smartphone users in the U.S. have used a chat app on their device in the last month alone. With such high adoption rates and usage frequency among users, it’s no wonder businesses are starting to adopt chat as part of their customer engagement strategy in new ways. Here are some things you need to know about real-time chat for your business:

What is Real-Time Chat?

Real-time chat allows brands to engage one-to-one with customers in real time via an instant messaging app. You can use chat to answer customer questions, provide customer service, and conduct sales. Real-time chat can be used as part of a broader customer engagement strategy, or be the sole communication channel. Your business can run real-time chat through a platform such as an online help desk, customer support software, or a live chat app.

Why Use Real-Time Chat?

Real-time chat allows customers to quickly get answers to questions and solve problems in an instant. They don’t need to navigate to your help pages and fill out forms. They don’t even need to wait to be put on hold! Real-time chat puts your customer support team in the palm of the customer’s hand. When done well, real-time chat can dramatically increase customer satisfaction, lead times, and average ticket size. Real-time chat empowers customers to get help at their own convenience. For example, if they see a product they like and want to know more, they can use chat to ask questions and have them answered immediately. That way, they don’t need to wait to get the information they want. In fact, 60% of people expect a business to be available via live chat as soon as they come to its website.

How to Use Real-Time Chat?

Real-time chat can be used for more than just answering customer questions: - Help Desk - You can use a real-time chat to field general questions, walk customers through product use, and schedule appointments. - Customer Engagement - You can use chat to get feedback from customers and determine their pain points. You can also use chat to build brand loyalty and boost customer satisfaction. - Sales - You can use chat to upsell products and services, cross-sell related products, and solicit feedback from customers. You can also use chat to close sales and make recommendations. Real-time chat is a versatile tool that can be used in a variety of ways. You can also choose a platform that allows you to customize the message.

Pros of Real-Time Chat for Business

Real-time chat is an extremely fast way to get in touch with customers. Each conversation typically lasts just a few seconds. You can also communicate with multiple customers at once – in fact, some live chat apps allow you to manage multiple conversations simultaneously, even if you’re talking to a single customer. Real-time chat can be used for a wide range of purposes, from general product support to sales and marketing. It also allows you to manage customer expectations, by setting realistic wait times and letting customers know when you’re next available to chat. Real-time chat can help improve customer satisfaction rates and increase your conversion rates. For example, FreshChat found that customers who use real-time chat to communicate with brands are 20% more likely to buy.

Cons of Real-Time Chat for Business

Real-time chat is an incredibly powerful tool – but it also comes with some drawbacks: - It can be difficult to scale real-time chat, especially if your business is particularly chat-heavy. - Real-time chat is most effective when it’s built into your overall customer engagement strategy. If you use it as the only way to communicate with customers, both you and your customers will likely get overwhelmed quickly. - Real-time chat is a high-intensity activity that requires a lot of focus. It can be challenging for your team members to manage multiple conversations simultaneously.

Bottom line

Real-time chat is a powerful way to communicate with customers, whether you’re helping them solve an issue, selling to them, or just building brand loyalty. Once you’ve added real-time chat to your customer engagement strategy, your business will be able to reach more customers, more quickly, in more ways. And the result will be happier customers who spend more and come back more often.

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