Keeping customers happy is an essential part of running a business. Satisfied customers are more likely to return and use your services, while dissatisfied customers can leave negative reviews that may affect your business. One feature that companies use to improve customer relations is 24/7 customer support via chatbots.
When comparing chatbots vs live chat, chatbots are the more popular method of offering customer support. However, a new type of customer support is on the rise - live video chat support.
Live video chat has the potential to be the next step of customer support due to its capability of providing a human touch to online customer service efforts through face-to-face human interaction. But why exactly should businesses opt for live video chat widgets over chatbots?
Let’s discuss the pros and cons of each and discover why one solution comes out on top.
Chatbots and Live Video Chat: The Pros and Cons
Chatbots
Like many customer service tools, chatbots have their own pros and cons. For instance, chatbots are considerably faster when responding to customers. Because of their quick response time, they can resolve inquiries almost immediately. As a result, a business's customer satisfaction rating also increases significantly, greatly aiding its reputation.
Another advantage of using chatbots vs human personnel is related to cost, which is another crucial factor in running a business. In fact, according to an article by Zendesk, around 68% of professionals believe that chatbots will only increase business savings in the coming years.
Chatbots, powered by artificial intelligence, greatly help in keeping costs down. After all, with chatbots, businesses no longer need to hire or train live chat agents to do the work. This allows owners to use the money saved to improve other aspects of the business and deliver better services to their clients.
Chatbots are also prevalent in customer service because they allow businesses to tap into an essential type of customer: millennials. According to ESW’s study, around 72% of millennials shop online, where chatbots are a popular method of customer service. Additionally, a study by Edison Mail has found that 74% of millennials prefer to communicate via text over talking to someone on any device. The reasons range between convenience, less disruption, or simple preference.
This is where chatbots prove to be the better option. Companies can leverage this preference to connect with millennial customers more effectively and efficiently.
However, as with every tool businesses use, using chatbots over video chat support has a few downsides. Since chatbots run on an A.I. script, their responses can be limited. Because of this, chatbots can either be inaccurate in their solutions or unable to resolve complex customer inquiries. Customers can be highly dissatisfied or angered with how your business handles customer service.
Additionally, significant testing and work will be required so that businesses can correct chatbots' limitations and enable them to answer more complex questions. This can cost a considerable amount, defeating the financial advantages of using chatbots.
Live video chat support
The use of live video chat as a customer support tool has steadily increased these past few years. Similarly, they also come with their own pros and cons.
One advantage of live video chat is that it provides quicker and more accurate client support — a preferable solution as opposed to long wait times. It allows customers to better articulate their inquiries, and video chat agents can resolve issues quicker and more accurately than chatbots or live chat software.
The face-to-face aspect of video calling clients also assures customers that a real person is assisting them in their inquiry. In the process, customer satisfaction and your business's reputation dramatically improve.
Another advantage of using live video chat over chatbots is that it can help minimize customer complaints and product returns. Sometimes, customers return a product because they’re uncertain how to use it. With video chat, businesses can visually assist clients or answer questions about product usage. As a result, returns and complaints are minimized, helping your business increase its sales.
Live video chat support provides another advantage with its easy-to-manage tools. Unlike chatbots, properly trained agents can answer even the most complex questions. Cost-effectiveness also comes into play here as you no longer need to spend large amounts refining a chatbot to overcome its limitations in answering inquiries. This will leave you free to take your profits and invest in your team of agents to further improve your business.
While live video chat presents a lot of advantages, it does have its cons. For instance, if you opt for this method of customer support, clients can see your agents’ working environment. Depending on the environment they see, this can prevent you from keeping clients engaged or even negatively portraying your business.
As such, if you're looking to increase the effectiveness of your video chat tools, you’ll also have to take time to help your agents create a professional image with a neat space. This can be challenging to pull off if your agents are working remotely.
If you opt to use video chatting for online customer service, you'll need to dedicate a significant amount of time to training your agents. This time-consuming process can take up considerable resources and impact your business operations, affecting your business's performance.
Why Your Business Should Opt for Live Video Chat Support
If you’re still trying to decide between chatbots and live video chat for your business, opting for live video chat widgets instead is highly recommended. While not without flaws, the challenges you encounter with live video chat widgets can be quickly fixed with minimal effort.
For instance, the time you spend training your personnel will pay off in the long run, as your agents will become more effective in assisting customers. This will give your business a stellar reputation for customer service, resulting in a healthy and loyal customer base that will return to avail themselves of your products and services.
Additionally, customers love it when a business's customer service tools have an unmistakable human touch. This personal connection lets them feel the company values them and their time. As such, by using live video chat as a customer support tool, you can establish your business as one that appreciates its customers and their needs.
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