5 interesting Chat Applications for Websites

Customer service is an integral part of every business. If you are not able to provide good services to your customers/visitors, they would most probably move on. The best way to provide the best service to them is through chat applications.

Chat applications help website owners to communicate directly with their visitors and boost sales. As this is done in real time, customers are able to enjoy timely assistance and they, in return, are happy to get help and secure a good deal.

Before browsing through 5 of the most popular chat applications in the market, let’s explore why chat services are much better than all other customer communications options:

A) Traditional phone services could get queued up

The problem with traditional phone services is that there could be hundreds of calls going in at the same time. Businesses often find it difficult to handle all the calls physically, because they need to have large teams of people, and that could be a huge resource drainer.

A chat service eliminates this problem because the customer can receive an answer to his query almost immediately.

B) Easy to access from anywhere

Your customers would be spread across the world. And the timings would also make it hard to provide good and timely service.

Through live chat, you can provide support any time of the day, and if it is after working hours, then you can promise to respond within a few hours, or the chatbot can take over.

C) No need to manage call centre operations

You have to maintain call centre executives in order to clear customer queries and doubts. This means maintaining adequate amount of tools and other infrastructure.

With chat support, you don’t have to worry about maintaining a physical infrastructure for providing support.

Now check out 5 great chat applications that would help transform your website:

1. Helloify

Helloify is a sophisticated, yet simple to set up live help application that makes communicating with your visitors a piece of cake.

It would help turn your visitors into potential buyers. Just add the required line of code, and the app will be installed in your website. When the customer sends a message, you can instantly chat with the person, and clear whatever problem they may have.

Your customers would love it too because it’s got a fast and efficient user interface, with amazing technology and design. The data that you share with the customers will be protected, and you can stay connected with them either through the desktop app or through the mobile app.

You can integrate the app with any CMS platform, making it easy for you to reach out to your customers irrespective of the platform you choose. The app allows you to have a business account, where you can add additional members, so you can have a team attending to your customers.

After the initial 14-day trial, you can choose the $9/ month plan to continue using the services.

2. Userlike

Userlike is a highly rated chat tool that comes free and in paid version too. If yours is a startup, then you can easily choose the free version of Userlike, and set it up with a single agent, a single chat widget and perform unlimited chats on it. The app starts a conversation with you, and then connects to a real person.

This is how it works:

  1. The visitor enters the website.
  2. The bot collects the information you’ve entered or saved and sends it to a team member.
  3. The team member comes on board and continues the conversation with the visitor.

One of the best features about this chat app is that you can tweak it to fit your website, so it gels well within it, and can be made to be tailored for your brand. The app also gives the customer the freedom to chat with whichever team member they prefer.

It lets you set the chat behaviour to align with the business goals, by integrating intelligent chat. As soon as the customer enters the website, a Chat Butler pops in, and introduces himself and asks the customer the problem that’s troubling, and then conveys the information to the human chat support team.

3. Olark

Olark aims to make your business human, according to their slogan. The software can be customised to suit your business requirements, so you can send automated messages as well.

You can configure the app to suit your business website, add text and change language. It gives insight into how many customers visit your website at a particular time of the day, so you will know when is the busiest time.

You can have any number of conversations with a paid plan from Olark, irrespective of the volume of chat.

4. Intercom

Intercom performs a number of duties apart from just chatting with visitors of the website including engaging customers, capturing and converting leads, retaining customers, supporting them and aiding in self-service support . The three main roles in Intercom are Lead Acquisition, Customer Engagement and Customer Support. These three roles help in driving sales because you can also send messages to the right people at the right time.

Intercom isn’t cheap, the live chat feature starts at $53 per month for the basic tools, and you will have to pay $155 a month for the full suite of tools.

5. LivePerson

LivePerson consist of tools ranging from simple voice call software to mobile messaging service. It acts as a sort of customer care platform to the highest level and collects every bit of important information about the customer and aids in converting websites visits into potential sales.

The platform is integrated with a number of CRMs and web applications like Zendesk, SugarCRM and SalesForce. It sends analytical details about chat, how long the chat went, customer satisfaction levels and so on.

Closing Thoughts

The quality of chat plays a crucial role in accelerating your business goals. Happy customers would speak well about your company and spread the word. This would lead to loyalty and more customers. The importance of a chat software increases manifold when you run an ecommerce store. Customers are pleased when they receive assistance while purchasing online as it helps them know more about a product’s specifications and about competitor products.

Interesting Articles:
Check out the best chat software solutions
Compare live chat solutions and also check its reviews & features

Picture Source: Flickr.com/ Phil Dowsing/ Aaron Parecki


The author: Reema Oamkumar is engaged as a thought leader at www.Software-Developer-India.com which is a part of the YUHIRO Group. YUHIRO is a German-Indian enterprise which provides programmers to IT companies, agencies and IT departments.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.