Conversations are the backbone of great customer relationships. When you build conversations online via live chat, you create a personal connection that drives positive metrics across the board – from increased conversions and revenue to improved CSAT. That said, live chat can be unduly marred by myths regarding its efficacy. Let’s bust these myths and see what truth may lie beneath them.
MYTH #1: Live chat is just robots.
An all too common misconception is that chat is always a bot, but live chat is powered by people. It’s true that there are often chatbots within live chat, however these smart bots and Guide Bots work in-tandem with real, human agents. Most times, bots are there to direct you to the best agent for your particular issue, ensuring speedy resolution. The human-chatbot combo is syncretic, and always designed to provide the best possible customer experience.
If you can have a real, human interaction with one of your visitors, that emotionally positive experience will almost certainly be transferred into brand loyalty.
MYTH #2: You need to have agents available to chat 24/7.
Although the true effectiveness behind live chat is the power to communicate with website visitors in real-time, this doesn’t mean that you have to staff agents for online availability around the clock. Most businesses don’t have the bandwidth to operate sales and support functions 24/7, and that’s completely normal. Humans are humans. Luckily, bots fill in these hours as well, so when you’re sleeping, on holiday, or generally busy being a person, chatbots are always there to provide quick self-service options to visitors.
MYTH #3: Live chat is too expensive.
Live chat actually saves money. It’s implementation removes the need for dual-licenses, drastically reducing exorbitant costs. Instead of constantly having to pay for chat additions from leading MarTech, Sales CRMs, or Help Desks, you can invest in digital conversation technology that unifies your customer experience and unifies your workflows with robust integrations.
MYTH #4: Live chat is too impersonal.
Customer engagement essentially boils down to connection. Live chat offers the option of immediate connection and rapid. real-time problem-solving and behind-the-scenes data transfers. That said, be sure to use real agent photos in the chat window. A simple photo alongside an agent’s name can instantly forge a connection with your visitor.
Lean into your brand voice. Do your customers know you for being approachable, fun, professional, maybe all three? Use language that matches your brand and customer relationships, whether that means utilizing emojis and exclamation points or language that is direct and straight to the point.
MYTH #5: Live chat is used only by young people.
While many recent studies have confirmed the popularity of live chat among younger generations, we continue to see an appreciation across all demographics for the immediacy that live chat brings. As older generations adapt and become accustomed new technologies, and more mainstream brands offer live chat as a communication channel, the usage of real-time communication will assuredly continue to climb among all audiences.
We can’t discount the importance of younger generations altogether, though. After all, they are the future of the marketplace. So regardless of what your audience currently looks like, chat is both a universal truth and ultimately entirely necessary for younger generations entering the fray of adulthood. At some point, every company will need to adapt to the youngest generation’s communication standards and norms – and it’s best to always have a head start.
