Leveraging Live Chat as a Conversation Tool

This blog is an excerpt from our latest e-book “Turning the page: Preparing for the next frontier of e-commerce” by Gorgias, the ultimate e-commerce customer service helpdesk for your brand. You can check out the rest of the e-book here.

While offering live chat can seem like a daunting undertaking, it’s worth the effort. By leveraging live chat as a conversion tool, you can eliminate pre-sales concerns, gather customer data, and create positive experiences for current and potential customers.

The benefits of using live chat in 2024 and beyond

Without a live chat support strategy, you risk missing out on crucial sales opportunities. According to recent data, live chat can increase conversion rates by 12%. The reason live chat can be such an effective revenue tool is because it:

• Allows you to answer pre-sales questions and ease concerns in real time
• Helps you capture valuable customer data
• Lets you offer better customer experiences

1) Answer pre-sales questions and concerns in real-time

When a customer writes in with a question before making a purchase, you can resolve that question and follow up with any additional information the customer needs.

By offering real-time support, you can guide customers through the purchase process, address any concerns, and provide relevant product recommendations. This could be as simple as helping a customer find the bike you shared in an Instagram post, or as complicated as recommending the right skincare products.

2) Capture valuable customer data

Through conversations with customers, you can gain valuable insights into their preferences, pain points, and buying behavior.

For example, you might find that the same questions come up frequently when customers are trying to assemble your product. Rather than waiting for those questions to come in, you might develop a package insert, help center article, chat automation, or post-purchase email to eliminate any friction.

The data you get from live chat conversations can help inform marketing strategies, product changes, and overall improvements to your customer support program.

3) Offer better customer experiences

According to data from PWC, 80% of customers feel that a swift and helpful response is the most important thing when it comes to getting great customer service. Embracing live chat can help you delight your customers by doing just that.

When customers receive help quickly, they’re more likely to return for future purchases. Speedy resolutions via live chat boost customer trust and create less friction, as people know they can get help right away if they need it.

Tackling the immediacy of live chat

Many teams are weary of live chat because they’re concerned that they can’t keep up with demand. In reality, there are ways to implement a live chat strategy - even if you’re short on team members and on time.

Set business hours for live chat, and offer self-serve resources and automation for the rest. Even if you can only offer one hour of dedicated live chat per day, that’s a great start — just make sure you communicate the hours that your team will be online to your customers.

During offline hours, set up automated answers based on common questions. In Gorgias, you can set up quick response flows that automate responses based on incoming questions. Or, choose to share relevant help center docs to common FAQs.

Stay ahead of the curve

Providing consistent, magical customer experiences is what will differentiate your brand from others in the industry - and prioritizing live chat is what can help you make that a reality.

In our latest e-book, we into what e-commerce businesses should be thinking about as we turn the page and head into 2024. Ryder and a handful of our top partners are bringing clarity to an uncertain landscape where recession is looming and customer retention has never mattered more. Download “Turning the page: Preparing for the next frontier of e-commerce.”