Chatbot vs. Live Chat: What is the Difference and How to Choose the Right One
It can be said that many businesses are currently applying a messenger marketing campaign. However, depending on the type of business and the needs, there are many different types of automated messenger like chatbot and live chat. Comparing chatbots to live chat is like comparing automated email analytics with the support, star tracking, and friendliness of a salesperson. These are entirely different things.
However, there will be cases where it is better to use one instead of the other. If you feel confused or don’t know which type of chat suits your business more, continue reading for more discoveries. In this article, we’ll dive into the pros and cons of each of the different forms and tell you how you can make the most for your business!
When is live chat usually used?
Live chat can be understood as an upgraded text messaging software, a tool that allows real-time online chat. Live chat is a technology that provides companies with a way to interact with users as they access the business’ contact options.
Source: SnapEngage – Live chat on the website
What is live chat?
Why not consider introducing a live chat system as a tool for customer support and new sales activities?
Live chat is one of the tools that companies are rapidly introducing. It is attracting attention as it can lead to business improvement, customer acquisition, sales increase, etc., by making good use of the chat mechanism.
Live chat support is an online communication tool that you or your business can use to provide immediate support to existing customers, increase customer satisfaction and maximize customer retention.
Live company website visitors often view chat support as a chat box in the lower right corner of the site. Live various organizations provide chat software. However, good live chat software integrates seamlessly with the rest of the marketing platforms, such as those offered by 13Chats.
Who is live chat aimed at?
When accessing a website, users can easily see the chat window in the corner of the screen and can chat and send questions to this window. It is also possible that the website uses automated technology to actively greet users, thereby approaching and answering questions based on automatic invitation rules.
For example, you can give a live chat frame when a customer is paying more than five minutes or display questions like Hello, do you need help with anything? Our agent is currently unavailable, please leave your contact information, and we will get back to you shortly…
Source: 13Chats live chat settings
What are the functions of live chat?
When a user answers or raises a question, the live chat technology will quickly notify the website manager to respond. Autoresponders provide better customer support even when the site manager is not there. Most customers prefer to message the store rather than call directly, which is when the live chat feature comes in handy.
In short, live chat by 13Chats is used by sales, marketing, and customer support personnel to answer questions from current and potential customers. On the user side, our live chat feature is also used by visitors to seek assistance during their website sessions.
The advantages in terms of customer support: one manager can make one call at a time; however, they can receive about 3-4 messages in chats and conduct them in parallel. This is a massive bonus to efficiency.
When are chatbots usually used?
A chatbot is a software that helps interact with users in natural language in sounds or messages. Chatbot Facebook Messenger is an extension to support customers on fan pages. With the current development of online sales, it is indispensable to quickly respond to customers on Facebook.
What is a chatbot?
A chatbot is a combination of the two words ‘chat’ and ‘bot’ and is a communication tool that connects users and companies. A chatbot allows business owners and support teams to respond to clients 24/7, collect customer data, conduct research in all areas, monitor and track your finances, manage appointments, and notify you about incoming messages from clients.
Automation platforms like 13Chats allow anyone to easily create a chatbot that responds to inquiries; we will introduce the basics of chatbots, what functions it performs, the target audience, where and how it is used.
Source: Petplan – Chatbot on the website
Who is the chatbot aimed at?
You can program the 13Chats chatbot to greet the customer by adding different scenarios. The greeting is the first information customers interact with on the page. This greeting helps to introduce the products and services of the business. It helps businesses promote and communicate incentive programs.
What are the functions of a chatbot?
Chatbots are increasingly being used around the world. With the features and benefits that chatbot brings, businesses reduce customer care costs, improve customer loyalty and satisfaction. Besides, messengers are increasingly integrated into our lives, and users are more often writing to those companies that keep in touch through messengers.
Live chat vs. Chatbot: Pro and Cons
Now that we see the immense value of chat (and the opportunity to beat unused competitors) let’s dig into chatbots and live chat in more detail!
Customer satisfaction
Based on the level of difficulty of the questions, an agent can handle two to four conversations at a time. In a context where brands can have thousands of discussions per month, especially as the number of websites grows, brands will be forced to:
- Scaling up instantly
- Ability to forward conversations between agents
- Or forced to limit interaction and attract potential customers outside of working hours
Accuracy
Not getting answers to simple questions is one of the most common frustrations consumers regularly experience on online platforms. In a chatbot, we see the person’s contact and contact them directly and/or after the dialogue. On the other hand, users are more likely to start a discussion in an online chat to talk and not subscribe.
Response time
Only 7% of B2B companies have a lead response time of five minutes or less. 86% of B2B companies do not install chatbots or live chat to help them quickly connect with potential customers. And yet, statistics show that up to 58% of B2B companies take more than five days to respond to customers.
These are indeed offensive numbers as B2B buyers perform an average of 12 searches before deciding to engage with any store, so if someone contacts you, the chances are good that your brand has passed the initial evaluation.
Interact with leads in minutes – instead of days – via live chat or chatbots, allowing sales reps to get involved earlier in the buying cycle instead of letting customers switch to product selection from a competitor. To deliver an outstanding customer service experience, make the best decision on using chatbots and live chat.
Human touch
Although live chat on the site has significant scalability issues, at the same time, it offers something chatbots are unable to do: personalized person-to-person contact.
For certain situations or sets of customers, it will take the right person to show up and competently answer questions in a snap.
With live chat, customers and potential customers expect convenience and minimal waiting time. When you can combine the speed of live chat with quality feedback from the right agent, a brand has a real chance to wow a customer or potential customer. The fact that 95% of consumers will accept a slower chat experience for a better experience further underscores the role humans play in customer support.
Scalability
A closed chatbox or an unresponsive icon is equally bad. Meanwhile, scalability will immediately become an issue. For many businesses, live chat isn’t even an easy option. It can get started quickly because of the need to outsource or will put employees in extra responsibilities beyond the core tasks they’re currently handling.
Check out this alarming fact: 21% of live chat messages continue to remain unanswered. Customers lose time sharing their difficulty with the chatbox, only to receive a “we’re away” message and never get a response again.
Meanwhile, chatbots operate 24/7. Better yet, the chatbot can work with agents and assist in replying to messages when the traffic is too heavy or when the customer support team is not available. Chatbots can also notify when an agent needs to join the conversation. This also means that the agent will be offloaded when not having to constantly monitor the conversation.
Chatbots can know precisely when to switch chats or detect leads, customers, and high-priority accounts and notify the agent. Imagine your agent knowing when and which accounts need to be prioritized to respond and answering their questions fluently. Isn’t this experience unique?
On the contrary, it would be obsessive to neatly process and thread hundreds and thousands of conversations without chatbots every day.
Availability & Automation
Live chat isn’t just for customer support; Sales and marketing also need live chat support to respond to customer inquiries in real-time. However, chat remains an essential channel for customer support, with 46% of customers preferring live chat for support. That compared with 29% via email and 16% for social media.
44% of clients say having an on-call staff ready to answer their questions during an online purchase is one of the best features a website should have, and 53% will abandon their cart, customers if their questions are not answered.
While many customer support questions will require human involvement, a lot of repetitive questions can be handled by a chatbot. At the same time, as shared above, chatbots can help with threading or sharing with agents at peak times to have more time to handle complex situations.
Cost-effectiveness
Interestingly, 40% of consumers don’t care if a chatbot or an agent helps them. 27% of consumers aren’t sure if the person behind the screen is actually a chatbot or a human, and almost half of the users don’t even care! For businesses that want to combine live chat and chatbots, that’s pretty cool.
If brands want to scale chat channels, save costs, create a seamless customer experience with intelligent threading, direct chats to the right agent, and be available 24/7, then it’s time. Brands will need a solution that combines live chat and chatbots.
Can’t decide whether a chatbot or live chat?
Schedule a demo with our CEO and she will come up with the best options including the specifics of your business! 😉
Final thoughts
Chatbots and live chat services both have certain limitations. One side is the limitation of the ability to use language and the ability to solve situations that computers cannot handle flexibly like humans. One side is the limitation on working time as well as requirements on facilities and salary.
If you combine both types of customer interaction, chatbot, and live chat, your business will surely solve many problems in customer care, customer service, and more.
A chatbot is a perfect complement to live chat and vice versa. The benefits that chatbot and live chat bring to the business help them solve problems and deliver a positive customer experience. So what about combining chatbot with live chat?
The ideal solution is a bundle of channels. For example, during working hours, you turn on live chat, whereas, at night, make chatbot messenger work for you. And also, when there is an overload in customer support live chats during peak hours, you can transfer to a chatbot and not lose contact with a potential client.
Keep testing these tools on 13Chats’ server and see for yourself how much you can grow customer engagement naturally. No matter what your business type, deliver the right customer experience for your clients so they will come back on a regular basis.
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