Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Add Live Chat Support & Increase Your Website's Conversion Rate

Wouldn’t it be great if every visitor to your website became a paying customer? Of course it would, but it just doesn’t turn out that way. The average conversion rate is roughly 2.3%. Adding live chat support can significantly increase that upwards of 20%. The why is obvious, you want more business. The how can be a bit more elusive. This article will hopefully shed some light on the subject for you, and help your online business become more successful. Let’s turn a casual visitor into a paying customer. There are three strategies we’ll focus on: Human interaction how cost saving measures can increase conversion, and keeping customers in the buying cycle.

Live chat support puts a human interaction into a website visit, and most visitors are still used to that aspect of the shopping experience. It makes them more comfortable, and that in turn leads to more sales. A highly trained staff will help give them confidence not only in the product that they’re buying, but the company that they’re buying from. A website visitor who is comfortable with a product and it’s seller, turns into a customer. And a highly trained staff will also provide instant answers to help ensure that conversion. You want a first time customer to become a repeat customer, so it’s important that their live chat experience is a pleasant one.

You want a higher conversion rate to increase your profit margin. And live chat support is a cost effective way of doing that. On average, it costs about 25% less than your typical call center. The main reason is that for every 4 staff members in a call center, only 1 is needed as a live chat support agent. It is also an easy system to implement. While most systems are hosted, there are a few that you can run from your own server. If you are just starting out, then a hosted live chat is probably going to be the most cost effective for you.

You want your live chat support team to be proficient in keeping your visitors in their buying cycle while online. This is key in converting them from a visitor to a buyer. With live chat support, you can track your visitors and provide them with a chat box that is pro-active. That way, if they have any questions, you can give them instant answers. This is excellent customer service, and they are 15% more likely to complete their purchase if you are able to give them that.

Most visitors to your website, upwards of 75%, would rather find all the information that they need at their fingertips while they’re there. Convenience is a big selling point, and live chat support is a big part of that. There are plenty of deals out there that can help get you started in live chat support, so you can test the waters cost effectively. You will find that adding this option to your sales arsenal can help your business grow faster, and it can continue to meet your needs as it does.

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