Live Chat: a valuable tool and now a MUST for online business.

Live Chat implementation can simultaneously help your business cut support costs and boost online conversions. The six questions listed below should be considered when investigating Live Chat solutions. The answers I offer are based on the product I use and created, Web Site Communicator.

Question 1) How quickly can the solution be implemented?

Live chat, like other technologies, requires intentioned and repeated use in order to achieve optimization. The single most important factor affecting the time it will take you to reach an optimal state is quite simply 'how soon you can get started'.

• Answer 1) Web Site Communicator can be implented within minutes. Our step-by-step guilde will have you up and running within less than 1 hour, usually within 20 minutes.

Question 2) Does the solution facilitate a connection between human beings?

The most advanced and adaptive computer in the world is the human brain. Attempting to automate either the interactions people have while resolving problems in a support environment or their decision making in a buying context is at best illconsidered, if not reckless. Only consider robotic chat solutions if your product and service offering is totally undiversified.

• Answer 2) Web Site Communicator uses webcam technology to put website owners face-to-face with website visitors. This is the best possible human interaction solution there is, and now is available for the Internet.

Question 3) Is the pricing structure intuitive?

It should be easy to predict your total cost of implementing and operating the solution. Complicated menus of features, pay-per-chat schemes, and other confusing methodologies can hinder your ability to budget appropriately. Look for solutions with transparent pricing.

• Answer 3) Web Site Communicator's flat fee pricing is your best solution. There are NO hidden costs. One monthly flat fee, that's it.

Question 4) Does the provider guarantee uptime?

Ben Franklin’s pithy statement, “time is money,” is brought into sharp focus in an Internet world. Avoid companies that offer no uptime assurances.

• Answer 4) Web Site Communicator promises 99.95% uptime. Downtime only happens for upgrades and lasts only 2 - 3 minutes while servers restart.

Question 5) Are there required set-up fees?

Set-up fees aren’t necessarily bad; for complex implementations a professional services engagement with a team of experts can be a valuable use of funds. However, these types of relationships should be optional, not required.

• Answer 5) Web Site Communicator has NO SETUP FEES. We will assist you every step of the way, if necessary, but our step-by-step guide is often the only assistance needed.

Question 6) How much does the product cost, and what do you get for the money?

Of course, how much you’re going to pay is an important consideration – but more important is the value equation you’ll be getting. Be sure to weigh the price against the entire package of features, support, and the company’s reputation.

• Answer 6) Web Site Communicator offers monthly subscriptions with no hidden costs. It's features and benefits are worth far more than it's monthly cost and should be fully reviewed. You will agree there are HUGE advantages to this program and well worth its low monthly subscription cost. And now, we have added a Facebook app that is include FREE as part of the program. Separately, the Facebook app cost $30 per month.

Conclusion

Live Chat is now becoming, not only a valuable tool, but a MUST for any online business. I encourage you to check out my solution at http://www.websitecommunicator.com/ and take advantage of the 14 day trial.

I created this product after researching and finding there was nothing available to do what I needed. Now there is. Go there now! http://www.websitecommunicator.com/

A 'Best Practice' For Converting Visitors Into Customers

A 2009 study of Live Chat technology on websites revealed interesting data. Some of those findings are condensed for this report.

1) Live Chat vs Conversions

• Of those website visitors that convert, a median of 61% do it during the same visit in which they chat.


• Chatters are 4.1X more likely to convert than visitors who don’t chat.


• Chatters that engage via proactive invitation are 6.3X more likely to convert than visitors who don’t chat. (Proactive invitations are requests made by the website operator to encourage a website visitor to engage in a chat conversation.)

2) Live Chat Button Placement
One area that affects the relative number of chats a website gets is button placement.

• Placing the chat button on a second page increases the number of chats a website receives by a median of 53% versus sites that place the button on only one page.


• Placing the chat button on a third page increases the number of chats a website receives by a median of 21% versus sites that place the button on only two pages.


• Placing the button on more and more pages continues to drive more and more chat volume, though the law of diminishing returns does apply.

3) Proactive Chat
Another way to drive chat volume is to implement proactive chat.

• The median percentage of website visitors that accept proactive invitations to chat is 6%, on average. This number continues to rise and people are exposed more and more to Live Chat technology.

The report suggested several ways to improve the "take rates" of invitations:

• Visitors invited either in the 0-10 second or 30-60 second ranges have a 67% higher acceptance over those invited after a minute or in the 10-30 second range. This seems to indicate that the best performance occurs when visitors are either invited early or allowed to spend some time on the page first.


• Visitors invited on or after the second page view have a 47% higher acceptance rate.


• Visitors invited after being on site for two to three minutes have a 79% higher acceptance rate than those invited earlier than that.

Live Chat Increases Sales
For the average website, adding live chat will increase conversions. The combination of chat engagement and the increased likelihood of chatters to convert indicates that conversions would increase by between 4% and 86%. The use of proactive chat could drive the conversion even higher.

Conclusion
The findings in this report are based on what I consider old fashion text chat technology. The Internet continues to evolve and website owners need to rapidly adapt to it's evolution or be left in the dust of their competition.

I have been testing a NEW chat technology for some time and the conversion rate is extremely high. I contribute the success to the fact that this new technology uses face-to-face webcam technology as its chat platform. When visitors can see the operator, LIVE face-to-face, then it is more effective in closing sales.

The HUMAN ELEMENT has to be part of the conversion equation, otherwise you remain in the shadow of your competition.

Check out http://www.websitecommunicator.com/ and take the 14 day trial. You may discover the 'missing link' you've been looking for. And, for avid Facebookers, there's a Facebook app included (for a limited time) that makes it possible to add a live chat box to your profile page. Now you can communicate with Facebook friends using your webcam on your Facebook profile page.

Increase Sales Using Live Chat Technology

A 2009 study of 264 US-based "regular Internet Shoppers" revealed significant findings for business that sell products and services online. Here are a few of those findings.

1) Live Chat Is Influential During The Sales Cycle

Those surveyed indicated that live chat does impact their likelihood to purchase and that the scenarios for which they are most likely to engage in a session are clearly more sales than support oriented.

2) Online Merchants Not Currently Offering Live Chat Are Missing Desirable Opportunities

Live chat tends to be a more important and influential technology for certain kinds of shoppers. Those that shop more frequently and those that spend more. These people are more likely to choose live chat in a sales interaction and they rank its positive influence much higher than other groups.

3) Live Chat Has a Loyalty Effect, Especially Among Desirable Shoppers

The study showed that people who have had experience with live chat are more likey to return to, and make repeat purchases from sites that offer the option. In general, chatters choose the technology over other methods during the sales cycle.

4) Live Chat May Be Even More Critical to Service Companies

Many features of a company's website, such as third-party verification, testimonials, awards for service, etc, had less influence on a visitors decision to buy than if Live Chat was available. As such, live chat's relative importance should be recognized.

5) Retailers With Live Chat Can Improve Results By Following Consumer-Driven Best Practices

Retailers that offer live chat ought to ensure that their solution connects human beings with other human beings.

Conclusion

There are many different so called "live chat" programs available on the Internet. They are basically simple text chat programs that let you type your questions and wait for someone to type their response. BORING!

There's a new kid on the block that is truly, LIVE CHAT. It's the solution talked about in item #5, above, that connects human beings with other human beings. It lets users stream their webcam video LIVE on their websites and also on their Facebook profile pages. It's effectiveness is in letting website visitors connect using their webcam for two-way LIVE interactive video. Now that's LIVE CHAT.

To learn more simply visit http://www.websitecommunicator.com/ and check it out for yourself. Take advantage of the 14 day trial offer and begin increasing sales and customer loyality in a matter of minutes.

People who work with partners or other agents will benefit from the Operators List and the Associates List. It gives steroids to the term "team work." You have to see it to fully appreciate it. And, there's the built-in Buddy List, internal Instant Messenger Program, that let's people stay connected with others using the tool.

Go ahead. Make a change in your business today. http://www.websitecommunicator.com/