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You don't need live chat on your website

timharek.no

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Re: You don't need live chat on your website

#41

Post by jimbob45 »

usrbinbash wrote: post #19
webignition wrote: post #16

In my experience, the usefulness of live chat features varies wildly. If the live chat service connects me to a human who is able to resolve my query in a timely manner, I'll take that any day. Phoning a large company can result in waiting in a call queue for a long time. My attention is on the phone call instead of anything else. A live chat window can be relatively ignored and checked once in a while. Emailing a la…

Exactly. Good chat implementations are great; meaningful automated information, fast handover to human operators while also providing them with the relevant information, and all that in the comfort of my browser window is a great experience. Being stuck in a loop against what's essentially a buggy ELIZA-Clone however, or a system that somehow is incapable of authenticating me even though I've logged into my account o…

Are they better than a well-stocked FAQ with a search function?

Re: You don't need live chat on your website

#42

Post by onion2k »

chucky123 wrote: post #21

The problem isn't live chat. The problem is incorrectly implemented live chat. I run a small saas and I can't count the number of times someone messaged an inquiry and I immediately got in touch with them. They were astounded by the quick response time, which is simply not possible with contact forms.

They were astounded by the quick response time, which is simply not possible with contact forms.

I'm intrigued. Why isn't it possible with a contact form? The mechanism for routing a message to you could be literally identical whether it's a chat box or a form. You could get the exact same notification on your system. It'd take you the same amount of time to respond. The only difference I can see is that what you reply with would go to the chat window in their browser instead of their inbox. Perceptually they may see that as faster I guess but it isn't really.

However...

I run a small saas and I can't count the number of times someone messaged an inquiry and I immediately got in touch with them.

What you presumably don't see, or at least ignore, is the number of times people didn't get an immediate response from you and were annoyed by it, or were annoyed by the chat option being there in the first place, or who didn't even see the chat option, or whose browser failed to load it, or... well... lots of things.

Your claim that users like it is simple survivorship bias - you're only focusing on the positive outcomes.

Re: You don't need live chat on your website

#43

Post by Sujan »

system2 wrote: post #11

I have a feeling the author does not have enough experience with e-commerce. Adaptation of livechat increased conversion rates and sales and it is visible in the reports. Return rates also go down with livechat. Especially women's products (hair, makeup, shoes) are benefiting from instant answers and change the conversion rates dramatically. Having a human talk to you thru your screen is a game changer in e-commerce.…

Came here to point out that the right question is if it works for the company that offers it, not how a minority of users experiences it.

You answered that. Thanks.

Re: You don't need live chat on your website

#44

Post by gnicholas »

naet wrote: post #39
gnicholas wrote: post #33

I had a live chat widget on my startup's site for a while. What I found was that maybe 10% more people reached out, but the bigger difference was that about half of the contact that would have come through our email form (and not required an immediate response) was now coming through chat. This meant that we needed to respond immediately, which was a downside. The most annoying thing though was when people would try…

I think you don't need to definitely prove you're human or pass some kind of adhoc turing test. You just need to convince them that whatever need they have can be taken care of via the chat widget. If the need is to speak to a human, help them schedule a phone call with a sales rep / support rep / relevant party.

Oh, these people never have anything they want to accomplish, other than to waste the time of a person (or cycles of a computer)!

Re: You don't need live chat on your website

#48

Post by atraac »

tibanne wrote: post #47

I like the live chat option when it's just there and doesn't bother me. I don't like writing emails to support.

Only as long as the chat immediately connects you to a human and you dont have to click/write through 10 bullshit messages about nothing with some half-assed bot.

Re: You don't need live chat on your website

#49

Post by monkeydust »

atraac wrote: post #48
tibanne wrote: post #47

I like the live chat option when it's just there and doesn't bother me. I don't like writing emails to support.

Only as long as the chat immediately connects you to a human and you dont have to click/write through 10 bullshit messages about nothing with some half-assed bot.

Yes this. If your thinking of incorporating live chat then make sure it's backed by humans or at least a way to get to human easily (if your AI bot fails to address the initial question). When you don't have a human available such as outside normal business hours just hide the chat feature, people can use your contact form.

IMHO this is the only acceptable method for having a chat feature on a site.

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