In today’s cutthroat marketplace, a company that doesn’t provide exceptional support to its customers will quickly fall behind the competition.
Providing excellent customer service can be crucial to retaining existing clients and attracting new ones. Businesses typically assist clients by means of live chat and telephone assistance. While both options are worthwhile, your company may find that one is more suited to its needs than the other.
So how do you decide which one is right for your business? Let’s dive in.
Live Chat Support
Live chat tools are used to talk to customers in real time as part of customer service. Customers can type in their questions or worries and get a quick answer from a customer service representative.
They can communicate with a business in real time through a chat window on the company’s website, app, or social media channels with live chat support. They can also get quick and convenient answers to their questions or concerns with live chat support, which can be manned by human agents or automated chatbots.
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Popular features used in live chat include chat transcripts, customizable chat windows, and the ability to send files or images.
Live chat has a lot of benefits but one of the best aspects is its accessibility. Thanks to the accessibility of live chat, customers can communicate from any location and at any time. It also lets companies offer support in more than one language, which can help customers from other countries. Making it one of the more effective ways to offer help.
Live chat support is used by a lot of businesses, especially those in the tech field, as their main way to help customers. But there are some things that live chat support can’t do.
For example, some customers may prefer to talk to a real person over the phone, especially when the problem is complicated or personal. live chat support also needs people who are skilled and can handle multiple chats at once, which can be hard for some businesses.
Phone Support
Similar to other forms of communication, phone support allows customers who want phone help to call a business and talk to a customer service representative directly.
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Phone support makes it easy to talk to a person, and customers can ask detailed questions or explain their problems in depth. Phone help also lets customers solve their problems right away since they can talk to a real person.
One of the best things about phone help is that it lets you talk to a real person. Some customers may want to talk to a real person to make sure their problems are heard and understood. Phone support can also help people who don’t know much about technology or who have trouble using the internet.
Phone support can be helpful, but setting it up and keeping it running can be expensive. There needs to be enough staff at a business to handle new calls, and phone systems and equipment may come with costs. Also, phone support may not be available all the time, such as after hours or on the weekends. This can be a problem for customers who need help right away.
Comparison between Live Chat and Phone Support
Just like most things, live chat support and phone support have their pros and cons or advantages and disadvantages. In order to make an informed business decision, it is important for you to learn the difference.
Live Chat Support Advantages
- More handy and easy for customers: Live chat support can be reached from anywhere with an internet connection. This makes it easy for customers to get help when it’s most handy for them.
- Faster response times: Because multiple chats can be handled at once, live chat support can often respond faster than phone support.
- Can support various languages: Live chat support lets you translate in real time, making it easier to help customers who speak different languages. Because workers can handle more than one chat at once, they don’t have to hire as many people to handle the same number of customer questions.
Disadvantages
- Live chat support can sometimes feel impersonal or robotic because agents may have to use canned answers to handle multiple chats at the same time.
- Live chat support may not be available after hours or on weekends, making it hard for customers to get help outside of normal business hours.
- Managing multiple chats requires skilled staff: Live chat workers need to be able to handle multiple chats at once while giving accurate and helpful answers, which can be a hard skill to learn. They also need to learn how to handle frustrated customers across multiple chats without losing their professionalism.
Phone Support Advantages
- Personalized communication: Phone support lets customers and workers talk to each other in a more personal way, which can help build trust and make customers happier.
- Allows customers’ problems to be solved right away: Phone support is often the fastest way to solve a customer’s problem because agents can walk customers through the steps of fixing in real-time.
- Can help customers who aren’t good with computers or the internet: Phone support is a better choice for customers who aren’t used to using computers or the internet.
- Gives a personal touch, which some customers like: Some customers would rather talk to a real person than type their questions into a chat box.
Disadvantages
- Can be costly to set up and keep up: Phone help costs money because it needs hardware, software, and people.
- Fewer options after business hours or on the weekends: Phone support may not be available outside of normal work hours, making it hard for customers to get help when they need it.
- May need a lot of staff and equipment: If there are a lot of calls, phone help may need more than one person, and the cost of the equipment and software can also add up.
Now that you understand the pros and cons of both, here are some important comparisons to note while making your decision.
Comparison of Live Chat and Phone Support
Customer Satisfaction Rates
Live chat and phone help have different customer satisfaction rates, but in general, both are good ways to solve customer problems. Studies have shown that customers who use live chat support are more likely to be happy with their experience than those who use phone support. But this could be because live chat support is often faster and easier to use, which can lead to a higher satisfaction rate overall.
Response Times
Since workers can handle multiple chats at once, live chat support usually has faster response times than phone support. Average response times for live chat support are less than a minute, while response times for phone support rely on the number of calls and the availability of agents.
But it’s important to note that answer time is not the only thing that affects how happy a customer is. Both the quality and correctness of the answer are important.
Costs
The size of the business and the number of customer questions will determine how much it will cost to set up live chat support or phone support. In general, setting up and running live chat support is cheaper than phone support because it needs less staff and equipment.
But live chat support may need more resources to teach workers how to handle omnichannel support at once and make sure they can give correct and helpful answers. Phone support, on the other hand, needs more people to handle high call volumes, which can make it more expensive to run.
When comparing prices, it’s also important to think about how much it would cost to lose customers because of bad customer service. Good customer service can help keep customers and boost sales, which can eventually cover the cost of setting up and running support channels.
Both live chat support and phone support have their pros and cons, and the choice between the two will rely on what the business needs and what the customers want. live chat support is usually easier to get to and more convenient.
It also gives faster responses and needs less staff and equipment. Phone support, on the other hand, gives customers and agents a more personal link, makes it possible to solve customer problems right away, and gives a human touch that some customers prefer.
Factors to Consider when Making your Final Decision
When deciding between live chat and phone support, there are some things to think about.
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Type of business and industry:
While planning on how to grow your business with communication, you need to understand that one type of support may be better for some businesses than others. For example, tech companies may benefit more from live chat support while healthcare companies may need phone support for sensitive medical issues.
Preferences and demographics of your customers:
The preferences and demographics of your customers can also help you figure out which service option is best for your business. Customers who are younger might like live chat support, while customers who are older might like phone support. Also, some customers may have unique ways they want to talk to you based on their culture or language.
Availability and resources of the business:
Your choice of help option can also be affected by how available your staff and resources are. If you don’t have a lot of staff or money, live chat support may be a better choice because it needs less help. If you have more resources available, phone help may be a viable option.
Integration with Other Customer Support Channels: Some companies use more than one way to help customers, like email and social media. To give customers a smooth experience, it’s important to choose a help option that works well with your other support channels.
Conclusion
In the end, deciding between live chat and phone help comes down to knowing what your customers want and need, as well as what your business can do. live chat support is easier to get to and more convenient, but phone support is more personal and has a human touch. In the end, businesses need to look at their own needs and figure out which support choice will give their customers the best experience. Businesses can build trust, improve customer loyalty, and boost sales by giving great customer service.
