For business owners, faster lead generation, efficiency, and saving both time and money should sound interesting, right?
Many people associate live chat with the B2C sector and eCommerce - you know, that chat window that pops up, available for questions and complaints.
This is one purpose of live chat, but it can be a whole lot more - a lead generator, a goal measurer, and a marketing solution for targeting.
You should keep in mind that the generations who grew up with phones in their hands are the business leaders of tomorrow and expect to have an answer within minutes after sending a request. Calling back a week later won’t necessarily make the impression you were looking for - be there or be square.
A study from Forrester Consulting also revealed that there are major benefits to implement a proactive chat strategy:
- 305% ROI from sales chat with a payback period of 6 months (when using paid chat services)
- 120% ROI from customer service chat with a payback period of 6 months (when using paid chat services)
- 59% of calls are deflected
We listed our three key reasons why active online engagement through live chat is crucial for B2B sales.
Faster lead generation
Outbound marketing and cold calling are becoming harder by the day. You call to hear that the person is busy or does not have time right now, or in most cases - does not pick up the phone. Yet, you need leads to grow your business.
So, assuming your business is interested in qualifying new leads and landing customers, you probably have some kind of contact form on your website. Now, we’re not saying a contact form is of no use, only that many potential customers will go unseen.
Think about it, where would you go for research if not online? And what could be a better time for that sales rep to reach a prospect, than when they are browsing your website, in the right mindset, looking for information about a certain service or product?
It might be an automated message or an intelligent action pushing the visitor in the right direction. Either way, having the possibility to engage directly with you online will lower the barrier to reaching out. This gives your salespeople the chance to do what they do best – lead the conversation further and turn more visitors into leads.
Making your data more actionable
We‘re better than Sherlock Holmes. Wouldn’t you want to see real-time analytics on which prospective companies visit your site? This might help you with prospecting and eventually turning those prospects into leads.
How about finding out where visitors usually give up on your page, or understanding what type of information they search for before a purchase decision? By tracking your visitors it’s easy to set up customized messages and intelligent actions for returning and new visitors. Do you have a killer case study? Make an action to promote it. Do your clients seem to have difficulties finding some specific information? Help them out.
When you’ve set up goals for your online business it’s easy to measure the results of your actions. If you aim to collect leads or increase sales, there is absolutely no point in having pop-up windows or chats, if you do not measure the value you are getting out of it. There are more than a few tools to collect this kind of data, but the key is how you implement the data you receive.
Better customer experience
Only a few people want to sit and queue in line for customer service in the middle of their working day. According to Salesforce, 32% of millennials would rather go shopping on Christmas Eve than call customer service. So the pain is real.
On average, a live chat agent can manage to keep up around five conversations at once, compared to handling just one phone call or one email at a time. A chat service will make your service more efficient and your clients won’t be frustratedly swearing over the phone listening to that monotonous ‘wait in line’ music.
And even though you might not receive hundreds of calls an hour, replying in real-time to existing customers, prospects, partners, job applicants, and other page visitors, will spread a positive brand image and leave happier clients. We all know happy clients mean more money for you, which might make you happier too.
