We have officially launched live assistance on our main website.  This isn't exactly new technology by any means, nor is it in place to "wow" our customers.  It is what it is, and it serves multiple functions efficienty, cost-effectively, and fast.  Nearly all websites could benefit from having live assistance installed on their sites and running at least part of the time.  We only run ours live during our standard business hours.  You may occassionally find it live at other times we have someone logged on and working.  Regardless, as long as it is up during your prime business hours, you will see many benefits almost immediately.  Some of these benefits include:

Establishing Customer Relationships

Live support allows you to identify and monitor visitors to your site real-time.  Existing customers will be identified as well.  So you will know beforehand whether you need to communicate with a focus on sales or support. This type of personalized service goes a long way in differentiating you from compettor websites. 

If your visitor is an existing customer, you can pull up his profile and find out exactly what products/services he or she has purchased from you already, and you will be able to address the customer intelligently and effectively. 

If your visitor is a new customer, you will establish a pre-sales relationship, if only by first name, that gives them a more secure feeling with purchasing your offerings.  Beyond providing enhanced customer relationship building, live assistance can bring us to our next benefit... Identifying customer needs.

Identifying Customer Needs

With live assistance installed on your web server, you can monitor the pages your visitor is viewing.  Whether you have invited your visitor into a live chat, or the visitor has initiated the conversation, you will find it very easy to assess their needs. 

Most potential customers know exactly what they are looking for.  However, they almost never have time to read everything on your site regarding what you are offering.  Generally speaking, when you have the opportunity to speak with the customer, you can guide them to exactly what they are looking for in a fraction of the time they would be able to find the content themselves, all while building a relationship with them and eliminating the chance of them not finding the right information.

Saving your customers time

Your visitors are looking for something specific when they come to your site and often do not have the patience or time to search through everything, only to not find the information anyway and leave your site confused. Live assistance tools can be a very effective solution for such a visitor. All they need to do is to request assistance from a representative.

Using an easy to use text based chat, your sales rep will be able to answer the visitors questions immediately. often times, upselling services is much easier in this low-pressure alternative to telephone sales.

Even if the customer doesn't buy, you are constantly refining your own technique, giving customers the best possible experience on you site, and strengthening your brand.  Remember, your brand is every means by which you leave your mark, and one on one communication is one of the most effective tools to build awareness, trust and retention.

There are far too many more benefits to attempt to list them all.  These benefits will vary depending on your implementation of live assistance.  The possibilities are vast, and many companies can be very creative in how they utilize this powerful web tool.

R.J. Frasca
President & CEO
3 Guesses Media, Inc.