Live Chat for Social Care – 5 Reasons Why Your Website Needs It
Posted on | Posted in General, Care Home Marketing, Home Care Marketing, Live Chat, Blog
Searching for care for a loved one can be an emotional experience, so it really makes a difference when you are able to provide a personal touch.
While browsing online can feel impersonal, connecting to a real person through Live Chat can be both reassuring and helpful.
Live Chat also allows your business to stay competitive in today’s market. We’ve likely all encountered a live chat widget on a website at some point in our lives. They’re the digital equivalent of a friendly shop assistant welcoming you to the site and asking if you need any help.
In fact, live chat is fast becoming a demanded feature by consumers – not just a fancy add-on.
Now, some of you may already be sold on Live Chat or it may be something you’ve been thinking about for some time, but the rest of you probably want to know why live chat is so successful…
We’ve put together 5 Reasons Why Your Care Business Needs Live Chat on its website:
1. Social Care Customers Want the 24/7 Availability of Live Chat
A large amount of traffic to social care websites occurs during the evenings and on weekends. This is when users actually have the time to make the effort to go onto your website. However, offices are generally closed during these times, so users can’t just pick up the phone and call you. Plus, we all know how common it is to forget a website once we’ve left it!
Live Chat allows you to provide a memorable service. Imagine you are a consumer with multiple tabs open looking for further information regarding care. How do you decide who to go for? A company who can speak to you there and then, or a company who you’ll have to wait until 9:00am to contact?
2. Live Chat Improves Engagement on Social Care Websites
It’s much harder than you would imagine to create a website that entices the user to actually want to engage. More often than not, a user will not venture past your homepage. You might have all the information they could ever want and need, but when it’s spread across separate pages, most won’t find it.
Utilizing Live Chat reduces the level of information users have to digest independently. It encourages them to speak to a trained representative who has all the information from your website at their disposal, instantaneously. This means that the potential customer not only gets information about your business, but they stay on your site longer to do so. This is hugely beneficial to you, as it increases the chances of them converting.
3. People Often Can’t Enquire About Care When Working
Let’s face it, in this day and age, with our constant multitasking and short attention spans, we’re not working 100% of the time at our desks. People may have a quick browse of care provider websites at work, but most won’t feel they should be making personal calls during that time.
Live Chat provides a way to discreetly enquire about care from the comfort of their desk. They can do other things in between the representative’s messages and even browse around your site. This ultimately increases the chances of them converting to a care lead for your business.
4. Live Chat Answers the Questions Your Website Can’t
You may have created the most incredible, informative website, but things change on a daily basis in the care sector. It’s virtually impossible for your website to include answers to all potential questions any user might have about your services.
Instead of losing a potential customer, (based on the misconception that you don’t offer a service they need), they can ask your Live Chat agent. They will get a memorable first taste of the helpful nature of your business and will be provided with a clear route to the answer – a call with your sales team.
5. Live Chat Suits the Increase in Text Based Communication
Over the last 10 years there has been a drastic shift in how customers prefer to communicate. Many are now beginning to favour text based messaging that allows them to multitask, rather than methods that require more time and effort, like calling. Think SMS, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, they’re less disruptive by nature and allow customers to get real time answers – no one likes being placed on hold!
If executed well, using Live Chat within your social care business can work wonders for your customer service and lead generation.
Live Chat support is fast, efficient and convenient. It can improve the support experience for your customers, it helps you acquire new ones, allows you to provide 24/7 support, increases customer engagement and above all it can give you an edge over your competition.
Today’s consumers are getting more and more comfortable with live chat technology. And not only do they prefer it, they expect it, too.
For more information on Live Chat itself, check out our e-book ‘Boosting Care Leads with Live Chat’
If you would like more information on how to utilise Digital Marketing within your care business, take a look at our blogs, e-books, or call or email our team today!