Monday, 22 April 2013

Online Support Service Converts a Common Web Experience into Personalized One



Creating a common web experience would seldom let you know the presence of a visitor on your page. Suppose you are running an online business of home appliances and you have created a website just having information regarding your products. Would that be enough to attract a customer and entice him to make a purchase with you? Only those lucky customers will complete the purchase process who would not find any problem, queries or other hindrances during the whole procedure. But it rarely happens. Without any proper customization your website would be a lull piece of information, where a visitor hardly pays attention because in today’s digitized world, people being more social media savvy want to have a real person to chat with to make any sort of purchasing. Talking to a real person to make a purchase enhances customers’ trust and satisfaction in your products and services. However, implementing online support service on your website you can convert a general web experience into a customized one which ultimately would bring umpteenth advantages for your online business.

Using chat software, in your website you can make your e-commerce website much more fast and interactive where potential buyers will be prompted to make a purchase with you after having a great customer service experience. With the help of this web based chat application, you can monitor visitors and their activities on your web page. Delivering a personalized experience you can make your sales conversion more effective.

Using online support service, you cannot only increase your sales but can also deliver high ROI and retain your old customers. This chat application enables you to create customized auto invitations through a chat box window. To create a more customized chat experience, the live operators gather important information about every visitor through a pre-chat survey which includes name of the browsers, key points of their issues and email address etc. Once the information is collected a specific visitor is assigned to specific operator. This way, having prior information, the operators provide more personalized assistance to their visitors. Having such a personalized chat experience your potential customers will feel comfortable and would develop a friendly relationship with you and your brand or company.

Using visitor monitoring functionality of chat software, the customer service representatives keep a track of their visitors’ activities like which page they are browsing, from which locations they have come and for how long they have stayed on a specific page.

Collection of all this information helps online chat reps to design more relevant questionnaire to carry out effective ext conversation with a specific visitor. Thus, carrying out more personalized and real time conversation, a general web experience is turned into specific one.

Thus using online support service, you can enhance your web experience by creating personalization as well as customization.

Monday, 8 April 2013

Factors behind Improved Online Customer Care



With ongoing developments in the world of information technology (IT), every small and large business today has transformed into online business. Today’s digitized business is the developed form of traditional business, as keeping the feel of a typical brick and mortar store it  has improved the customer service level by using latest tools and techniques. Progress in customer support corresponds to growth of a business. The more efficient a business is in providing customer service, the more likely it is to lead the online market race. The progress of online business has become more evident with the arrival of Online Customer Care, as it has double folded the customer service level which in-turn has increased online sales.

What has compelled online retailers to improve their Online Customer Service?  Awareness as well as latest marketing strategies has made customers more demanding than ever before. An online market survey has shown that 62% of changing customer expectations has forced online entrepreneurs to automate their customer services.

Another very important driving force behind increased customer service experience is tough marketing competition. None of the business today can claim its success unless it equips itself completely to endure the heat of steep marketing competition. Survey report has also revealed that 61% competitive pressures counts for high level of customer service.

People now have become more information hungry, they want maximum knowledge about a product or service before making a purchase, so that they can make a right decision. As per market survey, the demand for more information by customers has counted 35% towards improved customer service. Using Online Customer Care, the online operators can provide a real-time and instant assistance to all the clients. They resolve all the queries and concerns of customers and also provide information regarding incentives, promotions as well as discounts. Having this much information, it becomes easy for customers to make a perfect final purchase.
 
Improved Online Customer Service is also used as it is highly cost-effective. Customers don’t have to bear the cost of long phone calls for seeking assistance even they don’t have to stay on hold for getting response.

Monday, 11 March 2013

Providing Great Customer Care with Online Support Chat



Providing a first class customer care is becoming the foremost priority of the online retailers as it could score them life-long customers for their business. In today’s competitive business world, it costs more time and money to acquire new customer than retaining the existing ones; therefore, to bring loyalty in customers, you need to keep them happy by upgrading your customer services. Online Support Chat has helped enhancing the customer care, as a survey has shown that 56% shoppers are more likely to buy from websites with a live chat feature. However, the way live chat is being delivered matters in improving the customer support. Given below are some best practices for delivering effective live chat to improve the customer services.
Customization: Be sure that your chat icons/buttons or windows match your organization’s branding and are appealing for your online traffic.
Proactive Approach: It is becoming an increasing trend of business websites to proactively approach visitors for chat through a pop-up window. This way, they can get the visitors attention towards their services or products.
Avoid Aggressive Chat pop-ups: Make it an option for the online visitors to close or decline a chat pop-up invitation. The forced live chat pops might annoy or irritate your potential customer.
Chat Incentives: If you are offering online support chat on your business website for the first time, you can offer incentives to motivate the users. A survey conducted in 2012 revealed that 80% customers said that a free shipping offer would entice them to prefer live chat over phone calls or long waiting emails. The other 74% shoppers said that they would start using live chat if given special purchase discount.
Don’t Over Promise and Under Deliver: Delivering less than you offered or promised leaves a bad impression ultimately breaking the trust of your customer in your products or services. Therefore, don’t ever make promises with your customers which you think will not be full-filled. Always try to jump up expectations as it comes as a good surprise for your customer.
Be A Problem Solver: Online Customer Support allows chat operators to provide to the point and instant answers of the customers’ queries. Hence, don’t let your customers wait and worry; rather provide them immediate response leaving no question unanswered. A survey result has unveiled that 79% of shoppers chose to shop from websites having online chat as it provided them with immediate answers of their confusions and queries.
Effective Conversation: Always adopt a friendly and informal tone while offering online customer support to your potential and current customers. Be careful about the proper use of grammar and punctuation marks, as these carry a lot of weight in making or breaking your impression.
Online support chat in business websites is playing a key role in improving the customer support. The better a retailer is in providing the live chat; the more likely he is to improve his customer services.

Friday, 1 March 2013

Online Customer Care Resolves Apprehension in Booking a Stay



Tired of the day-to-day work routine? Then, it’s the best time to apply for an annual leave. Under U.S. federal law, employers are mandated to give employees a paid vacation, typically 10 to 20 work days! You can make use of this period by going on vacation. According to a study by WHIP (World Independent Hotels Promotion), hotel websites and booking engines are used in conjunction when planning a trip. While this study illustrates findings made in Europe, American hotels can use the information to understand how potent their websites are. They should integrate Online Customer Care to attract traffic to their website. This web-based tool enhances the visitor-to-conversion rate by delivering superior customer support.

An internet booking engine (IBE) is defined as an application used by the tourism industry to book flights, hotels, holiday packages, insurance and other services online. Although, it is more commonly used by airlines, travel associations around the world are using IBE to fulfill tourist’s needs. According to the information graphic, “Booking Patterns of Guests in Independent Hotels”, despite the presence of IBE websites, more consumers prefer to book their stay on a hotel’s websites. In fact, a customer will spend 14 minutes on a hotel website while they will spend only 11 minutes on a booking engine. Although, 20.2% of customers discovered the hotel through an online travel agent, they prefer to book directly on the hotel website!

In order to maximize conversion, hotels can add online customer care. This online CRM application connects visitors to a customer service representative (CSR) through live chat. CSRs play out the duty of a personal concierge. From the moment, a guest arrives at the website; they are individually greeted by a CSR and are proffered assistance. Although, a visitor is at liberty to respond, they will find it is in their benefit to live chat through Online Customer Service. A hotel chat representative uses online metrics such as referral URL, keyword searches, and webpage duration to comprehend a visitor’s activity. Online customer service then proactively engage customers into a meaningful discussion to help resolve booking concerns such as negotiating prices and to learn about amenities in detail.

Friday, 22 February 2013

iPhone and Android users prefer Online Support Chat



Choose a side: iPhone or Android? Everyone has their favorite but according to information graphic, “The Battle for Smartphone Supremacy”, the two-horse race between iPhone and Android is still raging on. In 2012, Google’s Android had the greatest global market share (61%) whereas Apple’s iPhone came in second place (20.5%). Despite the gap in market share, e-tailers claimed both mobile devices are responsible for a 103% increase in website traffic. Digital marketing company Monetate discovered iPhone had the larger slice of total Smartphone website traffic (5.41%) while Android users are credited for a 3.31% of total website traffic. Instead of preferring one Smartphone user over another, retailers should adopt tactics to improve m-commerce revenue. They can accomplish this goal by making better mobile versions of their websites and by integrating Online Support Chat.

According to an information graphic, ‘How Mobile is Impacting Retail Commerce”, shopping trends are evolving. There is an ongoing trend to purchase products via mobile devices. In the past, 72.7% of customers shopped in-store. Today, that figure has dwindled to 56.6%! M-commerce retailers give credit to customers who switch on their Wi-Fi connection and browse online after watching an attention-catching television commercial. They no longer have to get up from their couch or bed to access a desktop browser. Big Commerce revealed 53% of customers have abandoned in-store shopping because of showrooming. It is a practice by which they examine merchandise in traditional retail establishments but consummate the purchase transaction online.

Over the past years, the m-commerce industry has made headlines. It is predicted to grow 33% annually to $31 billion in the next five years. Big Commerce admits 30% of Smartphone customers have found a superior price online! Monetate states m-commerce enables shoppers to carry out product and price research online (35%) and make a purchase (26%). Despite the convenience of owning a Smartphone, the average order value for both iPhone and Android rivals that of buyers who purchase from a desktop browser! Retailers can encourage shoppers to spend more mobile money by creating better mobile versions of websites. Many websites either lacks a fast checkout solution or does not possess image-zooming capabilities. They should also supplement Online Support Chat on their mobile website.

Online Customer Support is an online CRM application which connects users to a customer service representative (CSR) in real-time. The web-based tool was originally integrated on e-commerce websites but it is now functional on iPhone and Android phones. Online Customer Support is designed to increase the conversion rate. CSRs are available around the clock to communicate in the customers’ preferred language choice. They welcome guests the moment they arrive and take on the duty of a personal concierge. They also navigate customers around the website to help them locate the products which they covet.