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Live Chat Software Buyer's Guide
Table of Contents
- » What is the meaning of live chat?
- » What is Live Chat Software?
- » How does the Live Chat Software work?
- » Is it worth investing money in Live Chat Software?
- » What are the features of Live Chat Software?
- » What are the benefits of Live Chat Software?
- » Before choosing any Live Chat Software
- » How to choose an ideal Live Chat Software?
- » Questions to ask a vendor when buying Best Live Chat Software
- » How Much Does Live Chat Software Cost?
- » Conclusion
Live Chat is one of the most preferred ways for customers to reach you. It gives you a more productive way of serving your customers. However, before choosing any live chat software blindly, it is imperative to spend some time analyzing its Pros and Cons in order to save yourself from future problems. But analyzing a live chat system is not that easy. Unless you know about its maximum reach, possible features, and best-buy pricing, closing a profitable deal with a vendor will be a difficult task. In this regard, this buyer’s guide will help you get answers to your questions for getting able to choose the best live chat software for the website.
» What is the meaning of live chat?
Live chat is a term used for conversations taking place between a customer/prospect and customer service representatives of a company on the company website’s chatbox. These are real-time interactions to cater to the customers’ needs and queries promptly.
» What is Live Chat Software?
Live Chat Software adds a chatting pop-up to your website that directly serves as a medium between you and your customer. It is one of the most efficient ways to engage your customers online. It comes with a number of features to serve your customers with any kind of information they want irrespective of its format i.e. files, audio, or video. There can be traditional conversations or can be more intimate conversations with audio and video chat. It comes with features to let your agents know who is who so that your customer can get personalized treatment.
» How does the Live Chat Software work?
Live Chat software helps in converting the leads into customers. It simply appears on the browser window and allows customers to directly connect with company agents by tapping into the live chat box. On the other hand, it ensures to quickly assign the customer to an agent in order to maintain a faster response rate. Needless to say, responding faster means more leads. You can also add some pre-written custom messages to help your customers when your agents are not there. The software displays important customer information such as their names, geographical locations, service record with the company etc. in order to make agents answer their queries confidently.
» Is it worth investing money in Live Chat Software?
It is not a hard fact to understand that the key to the success of any business lies in quality customer service. Your happy customers can bring more organic customers to your website by spreading good words of mouth. You can spread your customer base by anything. In this regard, one of the easiest ways to keep your customers engaged and informed is by installing live chat software in your system. It serves as a great asset to your marketing and selling strategy. Looking at all the above said benefits, investing money in a Live Chat Software could be stated as a good decision to make.
» What are the features of Live Chat Software?
Developed to provide customers with instant solutions in real-time the live chat software is equipped with a myriad of features. These features are hardwired to work together under a single software to help individual reap benefits. Hence, let’s have a short briefing on the different aspects of the software to gain a deep insight into the working of the live chat software.
› Proactive Chat Support
Many best live chat software companies are using proactive chat support in their software which allows companies to proactively chat with the users. This serves as a more feasible option as the customer would not have to search across options for contacting the customer support desk.
› Real-time Tracking
Real-time tracking helps companies to count the number of users who visited the website, the total time they spent on the chat asking about a specific product, along with their behaviour and orientation, and more. Using the data companies can change their marketing strategies to attract more customers and make engaging products.
› Chat Tools
The chat tools in the live chat software help to route customers according to their specialty and availability to avoid elongated waiting durations and ensure efficiency in the management operations. Moreover, users often rate the chat experience they had which further helps in enhancing customer support and gain a deep insight into the lacking areas.
› In-Built Responses
Previously developed responses help in cutting down the time required for thinking and replying to common questions. Almost all the best live chat software comes with preinstalled response systems which do not require user interference.
› Compliance with SmartPhones
Nowadays most people use a smartphone for browsing anything and everything. Hence, the live chat tool should also work on mobiles without any response issue.
› Offline Forms
In case if the agents are completely packed and the chat pressure is too high, then offline forms can be used to contact the customer desk. Hence, the best live chat software also comes with the option for offline forms which allows customers to fill in basic details, which can then be used to contact the customer directly.
› Ticket Slot
A new addition to various live chat systems, the ticket slot assigns a unique ticket number to each customer where the time for interaction initiation is mentioned by the side. This helps the customers to get an estimated idea in case of high chat volumes.
» What are the benefits of Live Chat Software?
The various aspects of the live chat tool have an extended number of uses which enhances the company’s productivity by streamlining the processing time. So, let’s have a look at the various uses of the live chat software.
› Lesser Waiting Time
Various reports state that the customer support provided by the live chat software out pars the call center results due to less waiting time. A number of best live chat software for the website also allows users to access other services while waiting for solutions.
› Increase Brand Value
An instant and effective customer support desk helps in improving the company’s value as customers can easily get the products they are looking for. Many studies have concluded that users prefer companies offering numerous products with good characterization or based on their problem-solving skills.
› Is Budget-Friendly
Handling customer support over phone calls can be both complex as well as time-consuming. This is because while handling a call, an agent has to listen to the grievances carefully which may otherwise put a negative impression on the company’s value. However, in live chat systems, an agent can handle more than two live chats at a single time depending upon the need of the hour. Thus, installing a live chat system is more budget-friendly than hiring a call center specialist to resolve customer issues.
› Analyzing Customer Details
The live chat software can be used to analyze the customer behaviour and orientation which can be later used for addressing customer pain points, creating lucrative offers and discounts to attract traffic. Hence, the input and chat histories can serve as an important factor to stay updated with the latest market trends as well as devise tailored products.
» Before choosing any Live Chat Software
There are some points which one should always remember before choosing a particular live chat tool over others to come with the best results. In this list, we have hand-crafted some of the most common points to help you in ensuring the best chat experience for your customers as well as the company.
› Understanding the Company’s needs
While choosing the best live chat software, the most important thing one needs to do is to note down the company needs. This helps in streamlining the choice making process by narrowing down the list based on your software choices.
› Number of Users
Apart from the facilities and tools provided in a live chat system, the total number of users who will be using the software is also a major factor which should not be overlooked. If you have a rough idea on the number of users of the software, you can avoid any future headaches.
› Decide if it is actually required or not
Although implementing a live chat software can be pretty overwhelming due to its benefits, it is not always necessary. The benefits of live chat tools are best suited for medium and large-sized organizations which require constant customer interaction in their day to day activities. Therefore, run the pros and cons. If the latter precedes the former then it’s better to give it a go.
» How to choose an ideal Live Chat Software?
The task of choosing the Best Live Chat Software for a website among the heaps of others can be a very intimidating affair for anyone and everyone. Loaded with different facilities and tools, separating them often takes a lot of time and hard work. Hence, here we will discuss some of the tips and tricks which can be used to choose good live chat software. So, let’s have a look at them.
› Cloud-based platform
It becomes very necessary for the companies to remain updated on a daily basis to be able to provide customized solutions fitting customers’ needs. Moreover, a cloud-based platform provides mobile accessibility which can be used to access the software’s performance from anywhere at any time.
› User-Friendly Interface
A live chat system which allows anyone and everyone to use it has more subscribers than a complicated one. This is because a user-friendly interface does not need any prior technical knowledge. Moreover, it also allows the hiring company to make changes as desired such as changing the language, styles, colours, fonts, and even let’s personalize the company’s brand logo.
› Compliance with Existing Tools
If the live chat software you are hiring supports your other third-party business tools, then it is definitely an add-on. This saves you from the tedious work of again searching compatible tools and software to the live chat tool.
› Security and Recovery
Every single information of a company is very precious which makes them an easy target to data breaches leading to exposure of crucial information. Hence while looking for a good live chat software one must look for the one providing promising security patches such as activated firewall, two-factor authentication, etc. Moreover, the software should also allow easy backup and recovery options in case the data is deleted.
› Pricing
Pricing of a live chat system is also equally important as the software itself. Depending on the facilities and tools provided, the pricing plan varies from software to software. Go for something that best compliments your budget and promises the best return on your investment.
› Reviews
The reviews left by previous customers who have already used the software also help analyze the actual services offered and their quality, before actually completing a trial with them. You can find a number of reviews listing websites. In case you doubt them to be inorganic, ask for peer advice.
» Questions to ask a vendor when buying Best Live Chat Software
1. How long will the installation process take?
2. Does the product offer integration with other organizational software and applications?
3. Is the live chat interface easy to move around?
4. Is the system scalable to fulfill the growing volume and future requirements?
5. What type of support do you offer? Is there any regular maintenance cycle?
6. How often would the software get fixes and releases?
7. Is the software platform-independent?
8. Can it run equally well on mobile devices, or are there any restrictions?
9. How rapid is the software’s on-the-go functionality?
10. Does the software come with reporting tools?
11. Do you offer personalization, and at what level? If yes, will you be charging extra for it?
12. What are your security standards?
13. Is the solution an on-cloud one or I can host it on-premise?
14. Are there any terms of service I must know?
15. Can I use this live chat system on more than one portals/websites?
» How Much Does Live Chat Software Cost?
As discussed above, the pricing of a live chat system mainly depends upon the number of facilities and tools available, the total number of users using the software, the duration for which it has been hired, and more. While the lowest hiring price of the software can be as low as $7/month, the highest price can go up to a high of $399/month. Many software companies are also coming up with a pay-as-you-go facility which allows users to implement newer facilities and tools as required after paying a basic fee for the software. However, it is highly advised to always start with the free version of the software before clicking on the premium plan. This is because using the free version can let one gain a deep insight into the quality of the services provided.
» Conclusion
Now that you have fully understood about Live Chat Software, it will be easy for you to choose the best one for your website. However, it is imperative to note that you shouldn't go for any software after receiving a couple of warm offers from vendors against your RFP. Critically analyze each software and ask the vendor for clarifications wherever you feel messy. Start with a trial version and see what it has to offer. If the software truly stands on what it promises, go for it else give it a go.