The biggest of the live chat benefits is that you help visitors at the moment they are unsure. The rest follows from that: more enquiries from the same traffic, less pressure on your team and better insight into what customers want. If you first want to know how live chat works, that is covered in a separate article.
The benefits do not come automatically, though. They depend on who answers, how quickly and what happens to the conversation afterwards.
The seven benefits of live chat
Live chat delivers seven benefits, from faster answers to better customer insight.
1. An answer at the moment of doubt
A visitor with a question is on your site at that moment. If they get an answer straight away, they stay; if they have to fill in a form or phone, they often drop off. Live chat catches exactly that question.
2. More enquiries from the same traffic
A chat conversation can end with contact details and a next step, such as a test drive or a quote. That way you get more leads from live chat, without extra advertising budget. Lead generation through live chat is all about that step from question to enquiry.
3. Available outside office hours
Many visitors do their research in the evening and at the weekend. With AI and a staffed chat, you are available then too. If you cannot staff that yourself, you can outsource to professional chat specialists.
4. More conversations at once
A member of staff can hold several chats side by side, while a phone call helps one person at a time. AI handles the standard questions, so your team has time for the questions that need attention.
5. Insight into what customers want
Every conversation is in text. In it you can read which questions keep coming back, where visitors get stuck and which information is missing from your site.
6. Trust for big purchases
With a car, a kitchen or windows, a customer wants to know who they are dealing with. A quick and knowledgeable answer in the chat builds that trust, even before there is an appointment.
7. One conversation across all channels
A conversation that starts in the chat can continue through WhatsApp or email. With all channels in one inbox, your team sees the whole conversation and the customer does not have to repeat anything.
Who benefits: visitor, sales, service and marketing
Live chat delivers for not one department, but four at once.
- The visitor gets an answer straight away, without phoning or waiting for an email. They can keep browsing your site while they chat.
- Sales gets enquiries with context: the transcript shows what someone was looking for and what has already been discussed.
- Service gets fewer calls and emails about standard questions. If you want to improve your customer service, chat takes the pressure off the phone line.
- Marketing sees in the conversations which questions visitors have and which pages raise questions.
When the benefits fail to materialise
The benefits of live chat fail to materialise if the chat is not set up properly. These are the four causes we come across most often.
- The chat is not staffed. A chat button that gives no answer in the evening backfires. The visitor waits and leaves.
- The chat only waits. Without an invitation at the right moment, hardly anyone starts a conversation.
- There is no knowledge base. Without the answers, staff constantly have to refer people on or call back.
- Nobody follows up. An enquiry from the chat that sits for days delivers nothing.
Whether live chat suits your situation is covered in the article on live chat for business.
Tips to get more out of live chat
With six tips you get more out of live chat, whether you are just starting or have been chatting for a while.
- Start on the pages with the most buying questions. Think of model pages, pricing pages and pages about bespoke work.
- Invite with context. An invitation that fits the page works better than a generic “Can I help you?”.
- Respond within seconds. The longer a visitor waits, the greater the chance they are gone.
- Ask follow-up questions. Behind a technical question there is often buying intent. Ask about the next step.
- Send the transcript along. Have every enquiry reach your sales team with the whole conversation. Nielsen Norman Group also recommends letting visitors keep a transcript of the conversation.
- Read the conversations back. Look every week at which questions come back and add to your website and your answers accordingly.
If you mainly want to get more visitors into conversation, read more about increasing conversions with live chat.
What chat conversations tell you about your website
Chat conversations show what your website does not say. At Bconnect we draw insights from the conversations for the usability of the website, for purchasing and for trends in customer questions.
An example: if the same question about lead time or a specification keeps coming back, that information is not clear on the page. We feed that back to the client, so the page improves and the chat keeps room for the questions that really need a conversation. In our own dashboard, the client sees how many conversations, leads and handovers there are, and which pages convert well.
It works the other way round too. Pages where many conversations turn into an enquiry deserve more traffic.
Live chat delivers when the conversation is set up well
The benefits of live chat are clear: an answer at the moment of doubt, more enquiries, availability outside office hours and insight into what customers want. They only come if someone answers quickly, asks follow-up questions and follows up. A chat on your website with AI and people combines the speed of AI with people who steer the conversation towards an appointment.
Frequently asked questions about the benefits of live chat
What are the benefits of live chat?
Live chat gives visitors an answer straight away at the moment they are unsure. That delivers more enquiries from the same traffic, availability outside office hours, less pressure on your team and insight into what customers want.
What are the disadvantages of live chat?
Live chat requires staffing and setup. A chat that is not answered backfires, and without a knowledge base and follow-up it delivers little. If you cannot arrange that yourself, you can use AI or have the chat staffed.
Does live chat deliver more revenue?
Live chat can deliver more revenue if conversations end in enquiries that your sales team follows up quickly. The chat itself does not sell; it makes sure more visitors request an appointment, quote or test drive.
Is live chat better than a contact form?
For questions during the visit, yes. A form waits until the visitor makes an enquiry themselves, while the chat catches the question that comes before it. For detailed enquiries with attachments, a form or email remains useful.
What are the benefits of live chat for customer service?
A member of staff can hold several chats at once, AI handles standard questions and every conversation is in text. That means fewer calls, shorter waiting times and a clear overview of recurring questions.
What does live chat cost?
That depends on the form. Software you staff yourself costs a licence and your team’s hours. With a staffed or outsourced chat, the balance between AI and people, the number of conversations, the channels and the integrations determine the price.
How quickly do you notice the benefits of live chat?
Usually within a few weeks. Start on the pages with the most buying questions and look at the number of conversations, the share that becomes an enquiry and which questions keep coming back.