Live chat software is one of the most useful tools for improving the customer experience. A live chat solution provides support for your existing clients as well as a way to generate new leads for your business. This blog post is going to cover what live chat software is and best practices for implementing it into your business.

What is live chat software?

Live chat software is a solution that allows you to easily connect and communicate with contacts visiting your business website or landing pages. Live chat connects you with either a live person or a chatbot to help answer any questions you may have about a business and its services and/or products.

What is live chat software used for?

Live chat software can be used for several different purposes. Overall, it is used to improve the quality of your customer experience. At GreenRope, we use live chat as a customer service tool as well as a way to generate new leads.

Customer support tool: Use live chat to provide an easy way for customers to connect with your support team in real time. A live chat system allows your customers to get their support needs resolved quickly and without the extensive back and forth of email.
Lead generation tool: Sometimes a lead has questions before submitting their information on your website or landing page. Having a live chat option on your website lets new leads connect with your team to inquire more about your products/services before committing to a more in-depth conversation. Live chat is a great way to talk to new leads and start the sales conversation.

Best Practices for Live Chat for the Customer Experience

Make sure your live chat availability is clear. Live chat can turn sour if you do not set expectations. For example, if you say connect with a live chat agent, and there is no one there to answer the chat, this can ruin the customer experience. Clearly define when your live chat system is available to your customers and leads.
Train your team on how to properly use your live chat system. It’s important that anyone using your live chat solution understands how to use it to effectively engage with your contacts.
Integrate live chat with CRM. It’s crucial to have your live chat integrated into your CRM solution. CRM and live chat are better together, no matter the purpose of your live chat. When you connect CRM and live chat, you can automatically add new contacts to your database (critical for lead generation), trigger follow ups, emails, and other automated sequences upon completing a chat, as well as track the conversation in the CRM contact record. Each of these tactics are crucial for managing your customer experience. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP.
Trigger follow ups for customer service chats. Send a survey or a thank you email to your customers to find out what they thought of their recent chat and if it met their expectations. This is a great way to analyze and improve your customer support efforts.
Trigger new lead sequences for leads that come through your live chat. Using a CRM like GreenRope, you can filter out current customers and leads, and trigger a nurturing sequence to help convert new leads into paying customers.
Analyze and review live chat data. If you offer live chat as part of your customer experience, it’s important to make sure it has the intended effect. Review transcripts, keep track of how many new leads you get through live chat, and find out how you can improve your strategy.

As a GreenRope user, you have access to our integration with Olark Live Chat. Use our integration with Olark to install a live chat solution right on your website. Take advantage of all of their amazing features, and tie them directly to your CRM.

Watch the webinar to learn how businesses are using Olark to boost their lead generation.

Click here to learn more about GreenRope + Olark.

Share: https://www.greenrope.com/blog/Blog750/What-is-Live-Chat-Software--How-Does-it-Work

Share Category "CRM":
https://www.greenrope.com/blog/BlogCategory8/CRM

Share Category "How-To":
https://www.greenrope.com/blog/BlogCategory2/How-To

Sales

Marketing

Operations

Creative

Implementation

Training

CRM for Agencies

CRM for Nonprofits

What is Live Chat Software & How Does it Work?