[Justbeds]

Does using a live chat on your site really improve sales ?

I've seen people ask which live chat system to use on s few site, I just want to know does it work or is it better just sticking to a phone line?

[alisonmanic]

I like using sites that have a Live Chat. If anything goes wrong it's easy to get hold of someone without having to use the cost of a phoneline. (especially if a company uses an 0845 number).

Saying that i don't live by 'this must have a live chat for me to buy', it's just a nice feature rather than phone or email.

[Tony]

I love live chat as a customer too, but from a business point of view, live chat is great if you have a call centre, or staff who never need a lavatory.

Customers won't hang around so if you can't be sure of beginning to service their enquiry within say 15 seconds I'd give it a miss to avoid shooting yourself in the foot.

Would you get away with "not available" in the live chat box? Maybe, but you know your customers and your likely availability better than we do.

You might also be the exception if you have a specialised business where you could block book times, and clients take or leave it because they have the same sort of constraints, but then you're probably into web conferencing territory.

[Strix]

I like live chat for technical discussions (especially if it's emailed to me too) as then the conversation is reviewable at a later date

I also like it when I can't get a 2 year old child to stay quiet for long enough for me to hold a phone conversation

[snoopjiggy]

Originally Posted by Strix

I like live chat for technical discussions (especially if it's emailed to me too) as then the conversation is reviewable at a later date

I also like it when I can't get a 2 year old child to stay quiet for long enough for me to hold a phone conversation

haha, that sounds familiar!

[Styleww]

I've also been thinking of this as im having a brand new website designed for the company i'm working for now. I may trial it? I will then be able to tell you my thoughts.

[willj87]

I've only used Live Chat once but found it very useful. This was a customer service issue but I should imagine that if someone wanted to buy something but had a question, then it'd be a good solution. I'd probably use it if I was in that situation, mainly because my phone reception in my house is shocking!!

[Styleww]

Originally Posted by willj87

I've only used Live Chat once but found it very useful. This was a customer service issue but I should imagine that if someone wanted to buy something but had a question, then it'd be a good solution. I'd probably use it if I was in that situation, mainly because my phone reception in my house is shocking!!

That's true and a lot of people now tend to prefer online methods rather than the 'old fashioned' phone !

[Justbeds]

Thanks for the help.