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Is Live Chat a good idea even if you're never on it???

by aceshigh888
12 replies
Is Live Chat a good idea even if you're never on it???

I found this free one. Seems like there's a few of these poping up. I don't think I'd pay for to set up a live chat account simply because I really don't think I'd operate it much. It would more be for marketing purposes. The one I found is: purechat.com

Any others worth considering???
#chat #good #idea #live
  • Profile picture of the author thatkeywordguy
    Whenever I try to get help on those things, they always say "offline"

    So i assume most people don't use it much except for big companies
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  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
    Banned
    Originally Posted by aceshigh888 View Post

    Is Live Chat a good idea even if you're never on it???
    No; if you're not going to be available regularly enough to justify displaying it on your site, then it's clearly a negative to have it there. For most small businesses it's completely unnecessary anyway, and announcing that it's currently unavailable is simply drawing attention to something negative.
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    • Profile picture of the author JimDucharme
      Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

      No; if you're not going to be available regularly enough to justify displaying it on your site, then it's clearly a negative to have it there. For most small businesses it's completely unnecessary anyway, and announcing that it's currently unavailable is simply drawing attention to something negative.
      Alexa is right on. Don't ever promote any channel if you are not accessible via that channel! It's a huge negative -- it gives the impression that your business is so slow that you don't even have anyone watching the store.

      This shouldn't mean you have to be tied to your desk either. I'd look for a client which provides alerts via email and allows you to access chats on multiple devices and OSs. This way, you can be on the go, but be there when someone taps the counter bell for help.

      One pet peeve I have with live chat is when the site owner has farmed this out to some service and that service doesn't understand well the site, policies or even the products they are selling. If I'm using chat then I want snappy answers and not generalizations.

      Regards,
      jim
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      • Profile picture of the author drewfioravanti
        Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

        No; if you're not going to be available regularly enough to justify displaying it on your site, then it's clearly a negative to have it there. For most small businesses it's completely unnecessary anyway, and announcing that it's currently unavailable is simply drawing attention to something negative.
        Originally Posted by JimDucharme View Post

        Alexa is right on. Don't ever promote any channel if you are not accessible via that channel! It's a huge negative -- it gives the impression that your business is so slow that you don't even have anyone watching the store.

        This shouldn't mean you have to be tied to your desk either. I'd look for a client which provides alerts via email and allows you to access chats on multiple devices and OSs. This way, you can be on the go, but be there when someone taps the counter bell for help.

        One pet peeve I have with live chat is when the site owner has farmed this out to some service and that service doesn't understand well the site, policies or even the products they are selling. If I'm using chat then I want snappy answers and not generalizations.

        Regards,
        jim

        I've read the complete opposite...that it is beneficial to have, even if it is always "offline".

        To say absolutely one way or the other without testing on your site with real visitors would be a bad idea. Test it out and see if you notice an increase or decrease in conversions.
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        • Profile picture of the author JimDucharme
          Originally Posted by drewfioravanti View Post

          I've read the complete opposite...that it is beneficial to have, even if it is always "offline".

          To say absolutely one way or the other without testing on your site with real visitors would be a bad idea. Test it out and see if you notice an increase or decrease in conversions.
          I'd definitely like to see the data from any testing on this issue. I'm thinking about that commercial on TV right now where they replace a counter employee with a blender and no one seemed to like that idea .

          Regards,
          jim
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  • Profile picture of the author aceshigh888
    naaaahhh they probably got sunk by the g---v like usual. They went in, raided them, stole the money and so they had to shut down.
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  • Profile picture of the author marketinguk
    I have tried having live chat on one my sites and have noticed a significant increase in conversions thus far. I would say especially so at night time after regular working hours as they don't want to phone me late on so live chat is a great alternative.

    That's been my experience so far anyway and am more than happy to pay $20 a month for the privilege. It's a tiny price to pay for an increase in conversions IMO. If you're never on it though then I can't really see the point of having it.
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  • Profile picture of the author Raydal
    I've had live chat on some of my sites for close to 10 years now
    and hardly anyone actually uses it. But I think it says, "I'm here"
    and available. The same reason you place your mailing address
    on your site even though prospects wouldn't actually snail mail
    you.

    -Ray Edwards
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    The most powerful and concentrated copywriting training online today bar none! Autoresponder Writing Email SECRETS
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  • Profile picture of the author mattjay
    I have noticed that just being available to potential clients on some sort of chat or IM client has increased conversions significantly. Keep in mind that I'm not making myself available 24 hours a day, and I don't have a chat client on my website. But, in sales threads and sales pages, I always make an option to contact me to discuss on a live chat situation. It helped my business substantially.
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  • Profile picture of the author JimDucharme
    Ray and Mattjay make good points.

    The message of being accessible across multiple channels is extremely poweful in and of itself.

    Regards,
    jim
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  • Profile picture of the author Social App Zone
    If you can provide 24/7 Chat support do it, if not don't.

    Nothing says "part-time non professional" like off-line chat support.
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  • Profile picture of the author Handdy
    No. If you are not going to be available most of the time for Live Chat, it is better not to offer it.You are making the web visitor expect something and then eventually not providing it. That said, visitors can forgive you if you are gone only a few minutes/hours.
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