Great customer service is and always will be key to keeping clients and patients happy and coming back. But until the advent of live chat, customer service was also a waiting game; waiting on hold, waiting for an email, or waiting to talk to someone speaking English.
In professional services like senior living, finance, the law, and health care, exceptional customer service is even more important because clients and patients can often have questions and concerns that cannot wait. For them, live chat customer service is proving to be one of the most effective means of making sure each client or patient is given top-notch service when they need it.
Fulfills expectations –
As technology goes, so too do the expectations of consumers. The better technology gets, the more consumers expect when it comes to customer service. According to ProProfs.com’s blog, “104 Customer Service Statistics & Facts of 2021,” “54% of all consumers globally say they have higher customer service expectations than they did just one year ago.” As a result, not having the latest technology like live chat for customer service can count against a practice or firm, especially when the competition does have it. Providing live chat customer service 24/7, 365 fulfills all those expectations with ease.
Shows appreciation –
Clients and patients pay hard-earned dollars for professional services and rightfully feel they should be appreciated. A speedy response and knowledgeable answers to questions can go a long way to showing that appreciation. Especially during these times of social distancing, providing live chat with respectful and welcoming live chat hosts can not only reward the loyalty of current clients and patients, but can also entice new ones to come aboard.
Delivers speedy response –
Time is a precious commodity not only for busy professionals, but for their clients and patients as well. And consumers will not hesitate to seek help elsewhere when live chat customer service is not available. According to statistics from techjury.net, “over 50% of all customers prefer to use real-time online chat” and “82% of customers are satisfied with their live chat experience.”
Shows customer service matters –
By far the majority of consumers worldwide make customer service a deciding factor in their choice of product or service brands — as much as 97% according to techjury.net! Since it only takes one bad customer service experience to lose a client or patient, live chat that is dedicated to serving each and every visitor with kindness and professionalism can make even the most disgruntled consumer feel cared for.
Provides the personal touch –
Communicating with another human being in real time is one of the most preferred methods of customer service. FAQs, bots and recorded messages are great up to a point, but when it comes to professional services, human-to-human interaction cannot be beat. Only humans can be empathetic and only highly trained chat hosts can be both empathetic and conversant in a range of questions and concerns. Learn more about the benefits of live chat in our blog “The Human Touch: How Empathetic Marketing Helps Plastic Surgeons.”
Cost effective –
Customer service can be a costly line item in the budget of any professional service firm. But live chat, well done, can actually help keep customer service costs down as measured by return on investment for several reasons. For starters, according to acquire.io’s blog, “Top 6 Reasons Why Live Chat is Winning the Customer Support Race,” live chat is preferred and “over 63% of consumers reported that they are more likely to return to a website that offers live chat.” Every client or patient retained saves money, not to mention time. More specifically, a Forrester Consulting study revealed “120% ROI from customer service chat with a payback period of 6 months (when using paid chat services).” At SiteStaff, our own results also speak to the high ROI of live chat customer service. Take a look in our “Plastic Surgeon Case Study.”
HIPAA compliant –
For professional service firms, the most effective live chat customer service is useless unless it is in strict compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 or HIPAA. There is simply no room for second best when it comes to protecting the personal health information of clients or patients. That’s why it’s so important to work with a live chat service provider that is proactively in compliance with HIPAA and can prove it by signing a business associate contract as defined in the HIPAA regulation. Find out more about HIPAA and live chat in our blog, “HIPAA Compliant Live Chat: What to Look for in a Provider.”
Live customer service via hosted chat is now recognized as the most effective option available. Find out how SiteStaff’s professionals can put live chat customer service to work for your firm or practice by contacting us today!
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