Live chat has been one of the biggest trends of the past few years, and for good reason. It gives customers a change to communicate “live” with your company, without having to pick up the phone or walk into a dealership. It’s the perfect initial communication medium for sale sales or service process that raises questions, as customers can find out the answers quickly and conveniently, and move from chatting to booking in a matter of seconds.
Despite these obvious advantages, and a growing expectation for retail outlets to provide some form of live chat option, a number of dealers are still reluctant. They understandably worry about resourcing the live chat provision professionally and accurately – which is of course the key to running a successful live chat strategy.
However, there are now multiple Live Chat support options in the field – such as ContactAtOnce offering chat management, and automotive-experts CallItAutomotive’s UK based live chat support. Dealers can always make use of these services either in the interim whilst training their team, or in the long-term to offer comprehensive, experienced management.
With all these options then, Live Chat is a more than realistic prospect. So how can it benefit your dealership?
1. Support servicing bookings
Aftersales services are generally one of the most complicated areas for consumers, and a lot of car drivers won’t know what their vehicle requires and what the difference is between various servicing options. The result is that they have a lot of questions – and live chat helps them to answer these without the pressure of a phone call.
2. Out of hours or in-work enquires
If you are in work and browsing for your next car, likelihood is you can’t pick up the phone to enquire about it. Live chat is a much more accessible option. In a similar vein, people browse for cars online surprisingly late. If you are making use of a support product to handle your out of hours live chats then someone will be available to help those late evening and night-time browsers, maximising the conversion potential.
3. Looking good
Believe it or not, having Live Chat available on your website helps you to look authentic and professional to customers – companies with Live Chat can seem more trustworthy and genuine. Would you feel a company available to chat are more professional and grown up than one who can’t provide the service?
Do you use Live Chat? If so, what benefits do you think it brings to your dealership?
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