What is Live Chat? [7 Things You Must Know About]

In today's world, customers expect everything instantly, whether receiving the parcel in 24 hours or resolving the complaint in 2-3 days. For this, organizations are adopting and integrating technologies to bridge the gap between customers and people representing their companies to meet customer expectations. Live chat is one such technology that provides a platform to resolve issues.   

This article will help you understand the following things: 

1. What is Live Chat?  

2. How does live chat work? 

3. Commer features offered by Live Chat 

4. Benefits of live chat on your website 

5. Benefits of live chat for your customer  

6. What are the best practices in live chat? 

7. List of top 10 Live chat service providers  

What is live chat? 

Live chat is a tool used for real-time communication that helps connect you to the customers or people visiting your website by instant messaging. 

It is widely used for customer service support. It can help connect your organization's customer service, sales representatives, or a programmed chatbot to the user in real-time. It is a suitable option when the customer quickly needs an answer to their query.  

The amount of information that users can gain about the product or service with the help of live chat is more than that of telephone or email support. Here, the user and customer service representatives can chat and continue their regular tasks simultaneously. 

Due to its convenience, live chat has become a popular tool and has helped businesses enhance their customer experience, increasing sales and revenue. It has also helped companies in solving customer's problems more effectively. 

How Does Live Chat Work? 

Live chat works by embedding a small piece of code into a website’s backend. This code enables the live chat widget to appear on selected pages of the website. Based on your business requirements, you can customize the chat icon’s appearance, choose where it appears on the page, and design the overall look and feel of the chat window. 

Falkon Chat is our live chat solution, designed to integrate seamlessly into your company’s website. 

Live Chat Experience: User’s Point of View 

From the user’s perspective, live chat is simple and convenient. There is no need to install an app, download software, or sign up for an account. Users can access live chat from both desktop and mobile devices by visiting the company’s website or online store. The live chat widget is typically located at the bottom-right corner of the page. 

When the user clicks on the widget, a small chat window opens. They can type their questions, request product information, or report an issue. A customer service representative usually responds quickly, although response times may occasionally take up to 2–3 minutes. 

Different Views for Customers and Representatives 

The live chat interface differs for customers and customer service representatives. 

Customers have a limited view. They can: 

• Send and receive messages 

• See messages being typed 

• Use emojis 

• View images and videos shared in the chat 

  
  

Customer service representatives, on the other hand, have access to advanced features such as: 

• Tracking visitors on the website 

• Viewing dashboards and analytics 

• Seeing what users are typing in real time 

• Assigning chats to different operators 

• Banning visitors when necessary 

The more you engage with visitors through live chat, the higher your chances of converting them into leads or customers. Live chat also helps you build a database of potential customers, which can later be used for targeted marketing campaigns and business growth. 

12 Common Features Offered by Live Chat 

1. Real-time messaging  

2. Conversation history with transcript  

3. Chat routing 

4. Multichannel support 

5. Pre-written response 

6. Integrating Chatbot 

7. File sharing option 

8. Typing indicators 

9. Read receipts 

10. Chat widget customization 

11. Tracking visitors and analytics  

12. Integration with tools 

13.  Privacy feature  

Let us explain each feature at a time:  

• Real-time messaging: This feature will facilitate real-time conversation between the user and the customer service representative. 

• Conversation history with transcript: Unlike telephone support, the conversation between the user and agent can be stored and referred to when a similar problem occurs. This feature will help improve customer support. 

• Chat routing: The chat system can route the inquiry or query to the agent based on its expertise and availability.  

• Omnichannel Support: Sometimes, the live chat can be integrated into other platforms like email support, social media support, or mobile apps.  

• Pre-written response: Templates or canned responses are available for everyday inquiries, which can help reduce response time. 

• Integrating Chatbot: In some live chat options, the chatbot handles basic queries, and if the issue is complex, an agent is appointed to resolve it. 

• File sharing option: Some live chat platforms enable users and agents to share files and images. 

• Typing Indicator: This feature provides an interactive experience. 

• Read receipts: It can assure the user that their message has been delivered and seen.  

• Chat widget customization: Companies can design the widget's icon per the company’s website design for branding purposes.  

•  Tracking visitors and analytics: Some live chat platforms provide agents with insights about user behaviors that can be used to tailor their support.  

• Integrating with tools: Live chat can be integrated with CRM and help desk software to streamline the support. 

• Privacy feature: Most live chat systems offer encryption and other security features to protect customer data and privacy. 

Benefits of live chat on your website 

High conversion rates 

People have lots of queries regarding the products before buying them. Therefore, they tend to ask questions on platforms like live chat, which helps them understand the product. If this feature is not on your website, people will opt for the competitor’s product, and the company will lose the opportunity to convert sales. 

From the research conducted by Forrester, it was concluded that 40% of people who have conversations with businesses or business representatives get converted. 

Strong customer relationship:  

People feel connected to your business when they have conversations with sales representatives or customer service agents in real time. It was reported that 79 % of companies have observed increased sales after implementing the live chat feature. 

Improves customer satisfaction:  

When the customer's issue is solved quickly, this helps increase customer satisfaction. From the live chat feature, it was observed that 83% of people feel satisfied after having conversations with the agents. 

Improves lead generation: 

As mentioned earlier, live chat can store customer data and transcripts, which can be further used in marketing campaigns. This can help segment the customers and target potential customers.  

Benefits of live chat to your customers  

 

Quick responses 

The maximum time required to get in-depth information via email is two days, whereas on telephone support, the time required is less, but the information gained is limited. To get the best of both, customers prefer the live chat option. Here, the response time is a maximum of 2 minutes.  

Better customer experience 

When the customer visits your website to buy the product, you can welcome them with essential messages and mention that you are there to guide them.  

This will result in interactive sessions and improve customer relationships.  

Problems can be solved without switching platforms 

Previously, if customers had any issues related to the product, they had to leave the website to write the emails; however, after implementing live chat on your website, customers can mention the issue on the live chat window without leaving the website. 

What are the best practices in live chat? 

Live chat is a tool that provides instant response to users, but how do you use it differently than your competitors to get the most out of it?  Here are a few tips to use your live chat option wisely. 

Proactively engage with your customer 

Instead of waiting for customers to contact you, you can approach the customer. This can be done when you observe that the customer has left products in the cart and has yet to check out. By reaching out to them, you can identify the problem and make efforts to resolve it.  

This will help gain back the customer and increase sales. 

Respond to customer queries faster 

Quick responses are essential in customer service support; by using templates for basic queries and assigning the customer to the correct agent, you can reduce response time to a great extent.  

Convert Potential Customers 

Sometimes, customers check the products, and as soon as they reach the pricing page, they back out; with the live chat option, you can identify who has spent how much time on a particular page and who has backed out.  

With this, you can proactively contact the customers and identify their concerns, as well as how you can convert the potential customer into a loyal customer. You can also use Chatbots to identify this customer as they are more effective than humans. 

Collect feedback via Live Chat 

Feedback from customers can help your company improve its products or services. Once the chat with the customer has ended, you can take the feedback immediately, as this feedback would be more accurate due to fresh memory.  

List of top 10 Live chat service providers  

1. Intercom 

2. Live chat 

3. Tawk. to 

4. Falkon chat 

5. Freshchat 

6. Zoho chat 

7. Re amaze 

8. Tidio 

9. Liveagent 

10. Crisp 

Conclusion 

 

Live chat has become crucial for businesses to enhance customer experience, boost sales, and improve overall customer satisfaction. Its real-time nature, along with a range of features like chat routing, pre-written responses, and analytics, offers businesses an effective platform for customer engagement. 

For customers, live chat provides quick and convenient support without the need to switch platforms, leading to better customer experiences. Implementing best practices can further maximize the benefits of live chat, making it a valuable asset for any modern business. 

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