Live Chat vs Phone Support Service
Live Chat vs Voice Customer Service: What to Choose For Your Business
As a company offering services and selling products online, it is almost necessary to have at least one form of client support to attain success. Specifically, it should be conveniently utilized by end-users to send their queries.
Businesses should acknowledge that each demographic of customers have specific preferences. They need to assess their options if they want to decide between a platform for live chat vs phone support for their websites.
Focusing on a specific customer support channel for the people who support your company is one of the easiest ways to increase user engagement and traffic from site visitors.
To help you figure out which suits suitable your business demands the best, carefully answer the three questions below:
✓ What does your business need?
✓ Are the needed resources readily available?
✓ What is the nature of your target customers?
The proper assessment of these questions will lead your company gives you a glimpse of how each channel's features will influence your internal operations and improve how you initiate a stable line of communication with your audience.
Overview of Live Chat Support Service
Say goodbye to the hassles of a slow response time with live chat support. If your target audience is the younger generation, then this might suit your business more than voice support. It is typical for customers to have low tolerance in waiting; thus, a platform that acknowledges their concerns promptly will increase your customer satisfaction rating.
Don't assume that end-users are always idle. Develop the mindset that your customers are always on-the-go and therefore demand quick service that matches their fast-paced lifestyles. This is particularly true for businesses targeting a younger age bracket. If it takes you over three minutes to respond, the chances are they will find another company or product from another website capable of entertaining their concerns in real-time.
What’s in it for live chat vs call center services? Convenience!
Advantages of Using Live Chat Support
- Lesser Cost
One thing that makes business owners choose chat vs voice customer service is, instead of designating several agents on one account, live chat lets one agent handle multiple accounts. The one-to-many approach of live chat reduces operational costs since it requires a lesser number of employees by distributing the workload more effectively. It also does not require installation of telephone lines, complex platforms, or a special working place for your agents. All you have to do is find a superb messaging platform that will cater to your client’s live chat service and you’re all set.
- Faster Response Time
If you have a business that usually has to address numerous inquiries in a day, talking to them one by one personally might not be the best choice. Most of the time, the questions sent by customers are repetitive in nature. Examples of these repetitive messages are lists of prices and delivery options.
Always remember that for general and simple questions, customers only need direct answers and would not mind canned responses. As long as it aptly includes the details they seek for their query, then you’re all good. The idea is to deliver an answer in the shortest time possible.
- Accessible
Not all of your customers have the resources to pay for extra phone bills just to call customer service and not everybody has the patience to wait for their turns. People associate fast assistance with professionalism and include it in their criteria for what makes them patronize an online shop. That is where live chat efficiency vs phone call enters the picture. Compared to traditional phone calls, live chat provides an accessible customer service channel that is accessible with a single click.
- Keeping Records
Since live chat is done through written communication, responses and common questions are compiled and kept for future references. Some live messaging platforms enable the use of keywords to search for past records. Let’s say a customer has a follow-up question about an issue a couple of days ago. It saves time for your customer service agents and delivers faster solutions for the customers.
- Chatbot
Are you constantly dealing with customers who demand direct answers to general queries? If so, then incorporating an aspect of AI into your websites is a smart move. Repetitive or redundant questions are best left handled by chatbots. Chatbots allow your support representatives to concentrate on more complex customer issues and coordinate with other concerned departments in resolving each concern. As long as the key details for each Frequently Asked Question are clearly defined, automated messages can be programmed into the platform.
Overview of Phone Support service
Some may call telephone or chat services outdated or a hassle, but there are still a lot of people who prefer it more than any other form of the trendy, modern, and real-time customer service platforms. The majority of these audiences may belong to the older generation who are used to talking personally and directly to a company representative, or those who prefer actual conversations rather than having to read long conversations and explanations through chat.
Businesses may have to shed a little more of their resources for the installation of phone lines and hiring extra employees, but the added expenses will surely be replaced by the benefits that it will generate.
Advantages of Using Phone Support
- Personal Interaction
Some people prefer experiencing that human aspect when they connect to a company or contact them. The opportunity to converse with an actual agent to answer their question is an assurance that they get professional guidance all throughout. It may not be ideal for real-time response, phone support is still considered a quick manner of entertaining queries because both the agent and the customer are able to understand and explain each other’s side better.
People also prefer having phone calls when it involves sharing more personal matters and information. It keeps them safer from identity theft and fraud.
- Focus
In contrast to live messaging representatives handling several real-time messages from customers, voice support agents get more time to assess each concern individually. It enables them to provide more coherent and accurate answers to their customers. As such, they are more focused on quality responses rather than increasing the quantity of inquiries answered daily.
- Complex Analytics
Problems emerge in platforms for live messaging because messages sent via chat sometimes get lost in translation. It causes misunderstanding between the customers and the agents. When this happens, customers might end up arguing with the live chat representatives, complain more fervently about unanswered inquiries or worse, decide to ditch your company’s website.
With phone Support service, the tone and emotions of the parties involved are interpreted with more clarity. Client assistance and escalations are done in a smoother and more personal manner.
Live Chat vs Phone Support: Conclusion
Whatever platform a company chooses for their customer service, particularly between live chat vs phone, their choice will always boil down to the goal of helping companies increase engagement with their customers, boost customer satisfaction and eventually retain their loyalty. Any form of real-time support will increase online presence for online businesses, but the real deal is in selecting the proper platform for your website. Pick a channel that's compatible for both your company and your customers. If you choose to use phone support, find out which telephone service providers are the most prominent in your area. As for live chat services, look for features that align well with your current manpower and operations as well as your customers' demands.
Livechatfaries provides support services that will cater your customers' needs 24/7 while you enjoy your time thinking about how you can expand your company. Their live chat features also include multilingual services, customizable chat widget, cost-effective rates, and zero set-up fees.
