Live chat support: Connect with clients like never before

June 25, 2024

10 min.

If you’re struggling with long wait times or can’t provide quick resolutions to your potential clients and offer personalized help, you should try live chat support.

Today, we’ll explore how live chat support can transform customer service and keep clients happy and loyal.

We’ll cover:

What is live chat for customer support?

Customer service can make or break the deal between you and your client. According to research published by Salesforce, 89% of respondents said that positive customer service makes them more likely to buy from that business again. Retaining 89% of first-time clients would be a turning point for your sales conversion.

Having live chat support on your website is the first step. It's like having an assistant ready to serve your clients' needs 24/7. Help your clients respond quickly to inquiries and feel supported throughout their purchase journey. They feel heard, and this makes them stay loyal.

💡What is live chat support?

Live chat support is a powerful tool for customer service messaging. It allows clients to interact with a support agent in real-time when on your website. The chat window appears as web visitors navigate your site.

According to digital marketing and e-commerce experts, live chat support offers immediate responses, improving customer experiences by 73% and allowing for the quick closing of deals. In contrast, emails only have a 61% customer satisfaction rate, and phone conversations come in third with only 44%. Live chat is a quick and easy approach to ensuring clients feel encouraged at every turn.

Why do you need a live chat for customer support?

Live chat support is the key to keeping your clients engaged on your site. They can easily reach you with their questions and receive a timely answer. Here are some of the reasons why you need live chat support on your website 👇

Benefits of live chat support

1. Provide instant real-time assistance

Live chat support on your website provides instant answers, reduces wait times, and keeps clients happy and engaged. According to Salesforce research, 70% of customers stated that would not buy from a company with long customer service wait times.

2. Increase your sales conversion rates

Research by HubSpot shows that 68% of consumers are willing to pay more for products and services from a brand offering a good customer service experience. Real-time customer support allows you to resolve clients’ issues, address their concerns, and guide them through buying products. This leads to more sales and increased customer loyalty.

3. Reduce spending and increase productivity

With live chat, one person can manage several conversations at the same time, allowing for less money and resources being used for phone support.

4. Ensure the highest level of customer satisfaction

Fast and effective support increases client happiness and loyalty, causing them to return to you again and again. Research also mentions that 93% of customers will make repeat purchases with companies with excellent customer service.

5. Easily collect data for analysis

By offering live chat support on your site, you can gather valuable customer insights and feedback, which help to improve your products and services.

Live chat support use cases

Here are a few use cases that demonstrate how live chat helps clients.

1. Answer questions about products

A customer may want to know more about a product before purchasing it. Your support agent might give them more information, making them feel more confident about their purchase.

Using live chat support for product inquiry

2. Give updates on an order status

A customer may want to check the status of their order, but sending an email can be tedious and does not always result in a timely reply, which can be frustrating for a client. Instead, the customer can contact your support team via live chat.

Using live chat support to give updates on order

3. Provide technical support

Some problems may arise after purchasing a product. Your support team can resolve such technical issues using a live chat. For example, a customer needs help troubleshooting a product issue and can get direct help from your support team using the live chat.

Using live chat support to provide technical support

You can also automate this by answering common issues with pre-written replies to help your clients find the answers on their own, eliminating the need for your support team to be available 24/7.

4. Resolve billing issues

A customer may have a question about their bill or want to report an incorrect charge. They can easily contact your support team via live chat to resolve this.

Using live chat support to resolve billing issues

5. Process returns or exchange requests

After buying a product, a customer might want to return or exchange it for something else. They can easily contact your support team via live chat and be re-directed to the sales team for assistance.

Using live chat support to process return requests

6. Reach out to your client first

Your live chat support can automatically contact your site visitors and ask them if they need any help as they browse through your page.

Live chat support initiates a conversation

The difference between live chat and messaging

Live chat and messaging apps differ primarily in their platform and accessibility. Messengers are standalone apps on multiple devices (smartphones, tablets, or desktops). They are often used independently of a company’s website. Live chat is an integration on a website and provides real-time, session-based, 1-on-1 support to your clients.

Live chat and messaging apps can greatly enhance customer support, and both should be considered when implementing an omnichannel support strategy.

If you are searching for one of the best solutions for your omnichannel support strategy, consider Kommo CRM. Kommo makes communicating with your clients simple and has many amazing features that make it stand out from other platforms.

Let's delve deeper into Kommo 👇

Kommo as your omnichannel support strategy

Kommo offers every feature needed to manage and improve your customer support. It’s easy to use, customizable and allows for many integrations. Its functionality is tailored to meet the needs of any sized business.

💡What is Kommo?

Kommo is a messenger-based CRM system designed to help small businesses grow in sales and enhance customer relationships.

Scale using Kommo’s live chat for support

To get the most out of live chat support, you must use a platform like Kommo. Kommo’s features make it one of the best tools for small and medium businesses looking to scale up.

Here are some of Kommo’s main benefits 👇

1. Integrate your live chat messages on your site

With Kommo, you can add live chat messages on your site or a specific page.

Example of a live chat message present on a page

2. Easily route a chat to the responsible user

You can redirect conversations from potential clients to your support team. Kommo's chatbot automatically routes conversations to the specified teams to ensure the right messages go to the right places. All of this can be set up behind the scenes, making the experience frictionless for clients while saving your team time and effort.

Routing client to responsible user

📍You can learn more about using Kommo’s chatbot to route chat to a responsible user.

3. Get customer satisfaction level

Companies use customer satisfaction scores to analyze and improve customer experience. Using Kommo, you can automatically evaluate customer satisfaction & loyalty by asking them to rate their experience and the likeliness that they will recommend your product to others.

Gauging customer satisfaction

4. Support your clients round-the-clock

Kommo's live chat functions even while you're not online. Due to the chatbot’s automation features, your business can converse with website users and inform them of your availability. It can also ask your clients to leave a message and contact details so you can contact them when you are available.

Kommo’s chatbot builder

📍You can learn more about Kommo’s chatbot from our chatbot ultimate guide.

5. Supports different forms of interaction

Kommo’s live chat support allows you to send messages that cater to your clients’ needs or interests.

Different ways of communicating with clients

6. Organize all messages to a single, central platform

With Kommo, you can interact with your customers through multiple means, not just live chat, without switching between platforms. Kommocentralizes your messages in one location, preventing any loss of chats from your website or any mistakes made when transferring between chat apps.

Kommo’s unified inbox

7. Chat with other members of the support team within a client profile

Within every client’s lead profile, you can easily chat with other support members or members from another team. You can take notes for team members and set reminders or tasks relevant to each client. This makes understanding each client and their needs easy and avoids confusion when resolving issues.

Chat with other members of your team

8. Provide personalized support

Based on your client’s lead card data, you can provide information specific to their needs. Your chat history and other activities with that client help you understand how to address them uniquely.

Kommo’s lead profile

9. Forward templates for quick chats

Improve customer support by quickly responding to client inquiries using chat templates. Templates allow you to transmit much information extremely quickly, making clients feel that you truly care about them and their experience. You can also add rich media or client information to the template using Kommo.

Template in Kommo

10. Fully understand your customer support process at a glance

With Kommo's sales pipeline, you can quickly view every conversation. Customers who have just messaged you via live chat can be clearly identified. You can modify this pipeline in any way you desire to help with customer management and maintain an effective workflow.

Kommo’s sales pipeline

Adding a live chat support software to your website

Adding a live chat for customer support in Kommo is very easy. Before starting, make sure you have the following 👇

  1. A Kommo account
  2. A website
  3. Connected messengers (for example, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp)

Go to your Kommo account. Click on Leads >Automate >Add source, then choose the Website Chat button.t

Connecting live chat support to your website

Once you click on the website chat button, you’ll see a variety of channels to add to your website. Choose any platform for your web visitors and clients to contact your company.

List of channels you can add to your chat button

You can use one communication channel as a stand-alone chat button option. Depending on your brand’s needs and what is easiest for you and your clients.

Creating a standalone live chat plugin

5 best practices for successful live chat support

After setting up your live chat support, here are some good practices for a successful experience:

1. Respond quickly

One of the key benefits of live chat is speed. Ensure clients are welcomed and involved in the discussion within a few seconds of starting it. When you respond quickly, customers will be more satisfied. You can implement automated welcomes to manage first contacts effectively.

2. Be conversational and professional

Try to be friendly and personable while still maintaining a professional attitude. Introduce yourself, mention the customers by name, and speak casually. This develops rapport, and the conversation becomes more personal. Maintaining a balance between friendliness and professionalism guarantees clients feel valued and at ease.

3. Give information that is precise and clear.

Consumers who want accurate and timely information turn to live chat. So, keep explanations simple and free of jargon. Respond to their inquiries directly and understandably. If a problem is complicated, walk the client through it or offer to escalate the discussion to a phone call or an email follow-up with more details.

4. Make use of templates wisely

Although templates guarantee consistency and save time, they should only be utilized thoughtfully. You can personalize them to make them unique to the conversation's context toavoid sounding robotic. When used appropriately, prepared responses can increase productivity without compromising the human touch.

5. Gather clients’ feedback

Ask clients for feedback after addressing a problem. Use a rating system or a questionnaire to measure satisfaction. Analyzing this feedback makes it easier to find areas where your service can be improved.

📍You can learn more about how Kommo’s chatbot can automatically collect feedback

Implementing these practices will enhance the effectiveness of your live chat support, leading to higher customer satisfaction and better overall service quality.

Create your unique live chat support using Kommo

Kommo lets you see your live chat support's appearance before launching it. Customizing it can make your live chat stand out.

1. The view of the live chat

The view of your live chat plugin can be modified to match the design of your website. The button can be animated and positioned vertically or horizontally to the left or right. You decide to keep it visible or fade into the background.

Live chat plugin view

2. Size of the live chat plugin

While some businesses find that a larger live chat attracts more visitors, others prefer a smaller one that is less intrusive. This is dependent on the goals of your brand. You can also adjust the margin to keep your website organized and out of the way of the rest of your website.

Live chat plugin size

3. Color of live chat

Kommo understands that every brand has a distinctive color. For this reason, Kommo allows you to customize the live chat's color to reflect your brand.

Live chat plugin color

4. Live chat conversation starter

You can customize your pop-up message to include live chat and deliver client-specific messages. You can customize the chat by changing the titles of chat headers or adding a display picture. Finally, you can use Kommo's chatbot feature to automate your discussions.

Live chat plugin conversation starter

5. Key actions

Understand what your website visitors do by setting up key actions.

You can see how long visitors have been on your site and what product pages they have visited. After that, you can utilize this data to personalize your communications.

Live chat plugin key actions in Kommo

6. Web vs. mobile preview

With Kommo, see how your live chat plugin looks to customers who connect using their web browser or phone.

Live chat plugin web vs mobile preview

Experiment with many personalization choices, select the one that closely fits your brand, and effectively engage with potential customers.

FAQ

Bottom line

Are you ready to offer a premium customer experience using Kommo’s live chat support? Start your free trial today!

Oluchi Nifemi

On a journey to help people make the most of their lives, whether by writing content at Kommo or sharing behavioral life hacks, the message is one.

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