The way in which we can communicate with our clients has changed over time, thanks to the arrival of new technologies. New media were added to the classic communication channels that help us maintain the relationship with our contact database . Among them, in recent years webchat has become popular, that is, a tool that allows the creation of customer assistance centers via fast and efficient chat that improves the experience lived by the user.
If you want to discover everything you need to know on the subject, you found the perfect article for you. We are going to tell you what web chat is, what are the aspects to take into account and what incredible benefits this next-generation conversational tool offers you.
What is webchat?
Similar to Live Chat, Webchat is a powerful tool that can be integrated into the brand's business website to allow instant communication between the store and the customer in real time. Known by many as digital self service , this strategy has become popular in a short time because it offers an interesting series of advantages. However, before presenting you with the benefits that webchat can offer you, we must have a wealth of detail about what this tool is and how it works.
The webchat is a functionality that can be implemented on a web page as the main communication channel capable of addressing frequent customer queries that are related to sales, support and assistance without having to leave the business website. In a few words, we can define web chat as a tool that allows direct access to the support center, speeding up response times.
In most cases, webchat is very easy to recognize because it is presented as a floating widget placed on the website's home page or help page so that the visitor can find it quickly. At the moment in which the client clicks on the button, a navigation system similar to a menu opens with different lists of options that can be chosen by users to automatically resolve the query or request to start a conversation with an area of the specific support center.
With that said, we're sure you must be wondering what web chat should be for. In simple words, it is a fast, easy-to-use communication channel used to provide real-time support by starting a personalized conversation that enhances the customer experience.
Aspects to take into account before implementing web chat to provide optimized customer service
The role of web chat
As we have mentioned before, web chats become the contact points that allow users to solve their doubts more efficiently, saving time. That is why it is essential that, before implementing the service, you analyze what role it will have in your company. What do we mean?
The webchat will be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, so the client can always be assisted but in a different way. On the days enabled, the user can interact with a human agent if they wish to be assisted during the purchase process. On the other hand, outside office hours (Monday to Friday), the client can manage all their doubts through the drop-down menu of repetitive questions .
So, in order to use this service correctly, you must take into account its double function. Likewise, we suggest considering the fact that web chat is not only useful for offering fast and efficient service to the user, but that it can also help increase sales , becoming a successful digital marketing strategy.
Define an answer manual
With webchat you can answer frequently asked questions in a few seconds. To be able to do so, you must define which are the doubts that are repeated, answer them in detail and integrate all this information into the online messaging service of the web chat. This will allow you to create an interactive dropdown menu that will guide the visitor to the answer they need.
Determine business hours
However, before integrating the web chat on your website, you must also configure the opening hours to optimize the service offered. In this case, what you should do is establish the days and hours in which the customer support center will be available, even indicating which are the holidays. This type of configuration must be implemented in all the departments of the assistance center to later plan and integrate the rapid response bot .
The advantages offered by web chat and good practices that you should implement
However, we must point out that webchat, in a short time, has become popular thanks to the large number of benefits it offers both companies and customers. In fact, as some recent statistics show, 73% of website visitors say they appreciate web chat as a direct, fast and customizable means of communication. Interesting, right?
It seems clear, then, that this channel is really effective, so it should not be surprising that it offers all the competitive advantages that we are going to tell you about below.
- Streamlining and optimization of customer support center
Although webchat can offer an interesting series of benefits, it is important to know that its main advantage is related to the fact that it allows speeding up and optimizing the user assistance service . This omnichannel medium allows the entire customer support center to be centralized using bots so that the user receives an answer to their frequent question in a few seconds by scrolling through the interactive menu. If you need to start a conversation with an agent, you can do it in real time, an operator that can take advantage of the speed of messaging services to handle multiple conversations.
- Ease of delivery of quick answers to frequently asked questions
Responding to customers in real time through the bot and managing various conversations today is possible with this medium. Indeed, thanks to the artificial intelligence behind this tool, the response times of the customer service team are reduced. Let's not forget that, with the functionality of web chats, it is possible to take advantage of the integration of a menu of answers to frequent queries, while the available agents will be able to deal with solving problems that require personalized attention.
- Reduction of the cost of training and management of customer assistance operators
Increased efficiency and automation that can be implemented with web chat help reduce online help desk management costs . Because? For a number of very interesting reasons. On the one hand, automated chat tools offer the possibility of consulting the most frequent queries without having to resort to the assistance provided by a human operator who can dedicate himself to solving the most complex problems, reducing management times and promoting the specialization of the human agents. On the other hand, live chat allows you to reduce training costs because the company will not need to have too many staff. Most of the queries, which are repeated over and over again, will be resolved by the chatbot.
- Increased conversion rate in the sales sector
One of the main benefits of customer service via chat has to do with its ability to increase conversions , that is, to increase the level of sales made. Indeed, if you want to sell more products and services, a good practice that you should implement is to use web chat as a service channel that has a positive impact on sales volume. Because? The chat support tool helps users make faster decisions, minimizing purchase time and the doubts that may arise thanks to the guidance that chatbots can guarantee.
- proactive communication
Another great advantage of the online chat service has to do with the possibility of initiating proactive communication with the customer that can not only improve the customer experience in case they need help, but can also encourage conversion to sell more, increasing sales. profits achieved.
- Detailed reporting
Finally, another interesting benefit of the messaging application through online chat is the possibility of creating detailed reports of the conversation between support agents and users in order to offer the best service. In fact, it should be noted that customer service via chat allows you to collect very valuable information for two reasons. On the one hand, you will be able to centralize and monitor the online chat, while on the other hand, you will have available the data on which are the most frequent queries of the users to analyze how to best implement the automation of the responses.
summarizing
In conclusion, companies of all sizes should consider implementing online chats to streamline customer support. Creating quick responses, reducing assistance management costs and optimizing operations is now possible with web chat.
So, what are you waiting for, get in touch with Afilnet, the number 1 provider of telecommunication and marketing services, to take advantage of all the advantages offered by instant messaging and automated customer support services.