12/15/2010
Why was live chat created?

As more businesses turn to e-commerce, the expectation is that customers would be able to purchase at any time, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, without the need to first interact with sales or customer service representatives. The products or service would be able to sell itself, and if there were any problems then the customer would contact the company for support.

However, that representation would prove to be wrong and the demand for customer support quickly soared. The self service model unfortunately does not recognize that some still want the assurance of live chat communication. Consumers want to feel that the customer support is available and easily accessible. Many websites that sell products may look very professional but are in fact a virtual business, with no contact information, run on a part time basis, with no commitment to customer service.

Phone support has been entirely time consuming, costly, frustrating and at most times a complex process. Consumers would search for a contact phone number, dial the number, wait for an operator or automated operator to answer, go through automation or be directed to the appropriate department, which would hopefully bring them to a live customer representative and not an answering machine.

12/26/2010
Is Outsourcing Live Chat Services Cost Effective?

As many online businesses see the potential and move towards providing live chat support services, there remains a burning question, "Do we outsource live chat services for our website?" or "Do we create live chat support services in-house?" In order to decide the correct path to take, a business must analyze the cost, time, effort and return of investments for such a vital campaign. Outsourcing live chat for your website can be very beneficial for the following reasons:

a) Cost effective services, by providing higher level quality of services for a much lower cost. The responsibility of hiring, managing, training, monitoring and supporting new operators is then shifted to the outsourced company. This saves the business company time, money and reduces the cost associated with supplying resources such as computers, monitors, printers and other peripherals.

b) Having outsourced live chat service for the company's website, the company is able to have complete 24/7 coverage support for customers at lower costs. Most online businesses with in-house live operator support will only cover normal business hours, all the while routing the customers to the general voicemail. With outsourced round the clock support, operators can also be trained to up sell, promote, and/or push a company product or services 24/7, potentially generating an unlimited amount of revenue, through live communication with the customer. One company which supports having dual roles, customer support and sales, is G5LIVE a small live chat support outsourcing company based in Sterling, VA.

c) Reducing expenses means increased profits. With all of the cost savings and potential increase in revenue from outsourcing live chat operator support; a company can project to increase its profits and revenue all the while keeping expenses low.

Armed with this kind of knowledge it is easy to see why many small to mid-size and even large companies would outsource their customer support center. One of a business' formulas for success is to increase profits and sales while reducing and keeping company expenses low. Outsourcing chat for your website is a perfect tool in the equation to increase sales while reducing company expenses.

01/12/2011
What are the advantages of adding chat operators to your website?

Spontaneous live customer sales and support through on-call chat operators. Customer will have 24/7 access to customer support with just a click of a button. Increase the likelihood of converting web visitors into customers by 20-35 percent. Proactively engage potential customers before they slip away to competitors, who have chat operator support. Chat operators can recognize opportunities to up-sale or cross-sale your product and/or services. Decrease shopping cart abandonment by having live chat operators to intercede and assist customers to through the purchase process. Chat operator services also include real time visitor monitoring and tracking to better boost increase marketing strategies. Reduce costly telephone services and maintenance by having low-cost live chat operator service. Create an image of your company as one that cares about its customers and is willing to assist at a moments notice.

02/08/2011
How to explode your online sales by 30% or more

Before the Internet and online shopping became part of our daily lives, sales efforts always involved human interaction. With online shopping becoming ever so popular, how does a company push and convert more sales virtually via their website? One of the most efficient ways to convert more sales is by providing Online Live Chat Support. This opens up many avenues to increase sales and revenue. Forester Research reported that in 2003, 30% of online customers used Live Chat Support Service for customer service when it was available, whereas only 19% used it in 2001. Live Chat Service is estimated to be used by nearly 60% of e-shoppers in 2007, according to Forrester.

If you have Live Chat Service installed on your company website, you can effectively use Live Chat Operators to answer questions and inquiries about your products and services. Live Chat Operators serve as the face of the company and bridges between a company's website and the site visitors. They provide answers/solutions to questions and inquiries that potential customers may have, which in term builds trust in the company. Jupiter research reports that companies using proactive chat average about 30% increase in sales. Proactive click-to-chat interactions have been shown to encourage up to a 20% increase in conversation rates.

Customers will have 24/7 access to customer support with just a click of a button which increase the likelihood of converting web visitors into customers, again, by 30% or more. Proactively engage potential customers before they slip away to competitors, who have Online Live Chat Support. Live Chat Operators can recognize opportunities to up-sale or cross-sale your product and/or services. Decrease shopping cart abandonment by having Live Chat Operators to intercede and assist customers through the purchase process.

Now in 2010, Live Chat For Website is becoming mandatory for any online retail websites as users find it more trustworthy and saves more time for customers. Live Chat Operators eliminate the usual lack of human interaction in the virtual world by providing a human voice. Furthermore, Live Chat Operators are also trained to gather site visitor information and the data collected by Live Chat Operators using Live Chat Service can then be forwarded to a database of prospective customers in addition to increasing marketing strategy effectiveness.

02/16/2011
Boost marketing campaigns with live chat for your website.

In today's world, one of the most influential tools to market your products and services is through online marketing. You can boost your sales and marketing manifold by simply using some simple tips and ideas. For example, you may consider adding live chats for your websites to push sales, providing live chat support services to customers, and adding website live chat software to boost marketing efforts. To utilize and get maximum results you can also hire some professional live chat services that offer live chat operators to support your website.

Live chat operators serve as the main link between the company and the customer. If they are trained and provided adequate knowledge about your products and services, those operators can help resolve any inquiries for your customers and can push promotions. In addition, adding live chat for website enables customers to contact customer service almost instantaneously. Live chat operators can be trained to ask various questions or to collect certain information from the customer while interacting with the customers in order to boost marketing strategies. There are many occasions when consumers may not be willing to share certain information through filling out an online form but a skilled live chat operator is able to gather information while interacting with the customer. Live chat operators can also guide visitors through the purchase process thereby removing any purchasing doubts and increasing the chances of completing the purchase.

Your e-commerce business can use live chat services to conduct surveys by asking the customers to evaluate the product and services and to snag testimonials for those who highly favor the product and services.

Adding live chat support services to your website is a win-win situation for both your online business and the customers. The consumers benefit by having live customer support with a click of mouse. Also, purchasers are able to contact live chat operators even after the sale is made, thus creating shopper confidence and company trust. Timely and satisfactory resolution to the customers not only builds brand loyalty, but it also ensures that the purchaser becomes your most powerful brand ambassador. At the same time, adding live chat support services to your website adds powerful sales tool to market your product and services face to face with your customer.