Online chat has long been a staple of many retail websites. And now many senior care companies are also jumping on the bandwagon. Is online chat right for your organization? Fortunately, as technology advances and there are solutions for both live and automated support, more organizations are likely to be answering “yes.”
Responsiveness
One of the biggest advantage of online chat is that it demonstrates that you are a highly responsive company, seeking to answer a potential customer/client’s questions immediately. Forrester Research data tells us that 55 percent of American adults are likely to abandon a site without purchasing if they can’t find a quick answer to their question. Seventy-seven percent say that valuing their time is the most important thing a company can do to provide them with good customer service. Online chat lets people know you’re serious about responding quickly to their needs. If superior customer service is part of your mission, live chat helps support your brand promise.
Nurturing the Relationship
The purchase decision for many senior care services tends to be longer than for many consumer products. Someone shopping for a pair of shoes may very likely be ready to buy as soon as they reach their favorite site. People searching for the best place to spend the next 5-10 years of their life will likely do a bit more research and investigate the possibilities. Online chat allows you to engage potential customers immediately during a time they’re already interested in learning about your services. This can go a long way to planting the seed, and provides you with contact information you need for nurturing the relationship over the potentially long decision-making process.
Higher Conversion Rates
According to research done by Internetretailer.com, conversion rates are 3.5 times higher for those who use online chat, with a 15 percent higher average order. Sixty percent of online chats lead to a sale. And while this study was done with retailers, there is reason to believe senior care companies could see similar results.
Live Chat
If you already have a call center or team in place to handle customer inquiries, live chat can help drive costs down. Interaction costs tend to drop with live chat, as customer service staff can handle multiple chats simultaneously. And, since many customers may prefer chat to the phone, you use existing resources more efficiently to provide better service. Of course, having live online chat comes with some challenges. First, is the investment of time and money, which includes not only the cost of the technology, but hiring or training staff to handle the incoming inquiries. Senior care services can be a complicated business and to train employees in every nuance – including HIPAA compliance – can be a daunting task.
Automated Chat
For those organization that don’t want to invest in the technology and staff for live chat, “automated chat” presents an interesting alternative. First, it’s a fraction of the cost of live chat (typically about 1/10 the cost). Second, it’s easy to implement and support – no need to hire more staff to respond to intakes. Automated chat looks like live chat to a visitor, but instead of being connected to a live person, automated chat can guide your visitor through your site, based on a script you create. For instance, you may ask the question “How can we help you today?” with some options such as “I’m looking for a place to live” or “I need help for my mother.” After a visitor clicks on what they’re looking for, the “bot” will tell the visitor that you would like to connect them to someone who can help and asks for their name, email and phone number – giving you the opportunity to follow up and attempt to convert into a sale. Automated chat increases website conversions by about 40%. As with any website inquiry, it’s critical that your team follow up on those leads in a timely manner.
If you would like to discuss how either live or automated chat can increase your conversation rates and sales, contact us today!