{"id":32665,"date":"2022-07-07T10:00:58","date_gmt":"2022-07-07T00:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rcblogau.wpengine.com\/au\/en\/blog\/?p=32665"},"modified":"2022-06-30T02:01:12","modified_gmt":"2022-06-29T16:01:12","slug":"what-is-webchat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/au\/en\/blog\/what-is-webchat\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Webchat? The Definitive Guide: Examples, Benefits and Uses"},"content":{"rendered":"

We\u2019re entering a whole new era of customer service. And in today\u2019s super-competitive business environment, exceptional customer service<\/a><\/strong> has become even more paramount.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

As the old adage goes, the customer is always right. But this rings true even more in an era when customer expectations have skyrocketed, and businesses must ensure that customers feel their needs are being respected and addressed in a way that\u2019s most convenient for them.<\/span><\/p>\n

As competition between businesses (and particularly retailers and e-commerce organisations) is rife, businesses are becoming creative and innovative to deliver a more streamlined customer experience. Customer service particularly has become a crucial differentiator.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, as consumers continually look for new ways to communicate with their favourite brands, business leaders must up their game to provide the right channels for their discerning customers. Whether customers want information about a certain product or want to return a purchase they\u2019ve made, businesses that fail to keep abreast of the trends run the risk of falling behind the curve.<\/span><\/p>\n

Webchat is one method that a growing number of retailers are using for this purpose. It can incorporate automated chatbots that address customer queries and help point them toward the things they\u2019re looking for. Meanwhile, human agents can remain on hand to deal with more complicated questions. This saves consumers unnecessary time and hassle and allows businesses to deliver a smoother customer journey.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

In this guide, we\u2019ll introduce you to web chat software and explain a little more about how it works. We\u2019ll start by asking the most obvious question: \u201cwhat is webchat?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Then we\u2019ll explain why webchat tools and chatbots are so important to customer service, discuss their significance to branding, list some best practice tips, and advise you on how you can measure their long-term performance.<\/span><\/p>\n

We\u2019ll also discuss how RingCentral can help you deliver better customer service standards \u2013 gaining new insights into what your customers are looking for \u2013 and greater efficiency by adding <\/span>a live chat<\/a><\/strong> function to your website.<\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s clear is that web chat is no longer seen as a mere optional extra. Increasingly demanding as they are \u2013 and that\u2019s their prerogative \u2013 customers are coming to expect facilities like live web chat as obligatory features. They don\u2019t expect to have to trudge around to find whatever it is they want.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Unless your business appreciates this, it could lose ground to competitors. Let\u2019s take a closer look at what web chat is and why it matters so much.<\/span><\/p>\n

What is WebChat?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

You\u2019ve no doubt noticed the little dialogue boxes that often pop up when you visit a website on your web browser, or sometimes when you use a mobile app. This is what\u2019s known as live web chat.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This function can address consumers\u2019 queries and help them find the information they\u2019re looking for, meaning that they don\u2019t have to go around the houses trying to find it for themselves.<\/span><\/p>\n

Live web chat generally takes the form of small chat windows which appear on a website\u2019s main landing page, category pages, or product pages. They may present users with a series of suggested queries to click on to find relevant information. Alternatively, users can type their queries into a text field. Many webchat functions offer both options, and some allow users to upload relevant images and other files.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Online<\/p>\n

Thanks to the advent of artificial intelligence (AI), automated web chat services (chatbots) are becoming more and more sophisticated. With AI and machine learning \u2013 in other words, a technology that can learn autonomously \u2013 web chat services can address a wider variety of queries, including more complex ones. This means that they\u2019re better able to meet the needs of consumers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Therefore, Webchat is an increasingly common feature on retail websites and various other types of business sites. It offers several advantages to businesses and consumers alike. For consumers, webchat software enables them to find relevant products, help, and information, providing real-time help with the minimum of fuss. For businesses, a chat widget allows them to address customer queries without tying up busy employees.<\/span><\/p>\n

Another important benefit of chat software is that it\u2019s proven to increase sales. According to <\/span>a survey<\/a><\/strong> of US business executives in 2019, AI chatbots increased sales by an average of 67 per cent.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The same study also suggests that consumers are increasingly coming to expect the option of using a virtual assistant to help them navigate products, services, and related information; 74 per cent of respondents said they expected to encounter<\/span> chatbots<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

WebChat and Customer Service<\/strong><\/h2>\n

We\u2019ve already alluded to the fact that <\/span>customer expectations are growing ever higher<\/a>. <\/strong>There\u2019s nothing wrong with this, of course \u2013 it\u2019s the customer\u2019s prerogative, after all. Consumers have a right to expect that their needs should be the paramount consideration of their patronising businesses.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But this poses a raft of challenges for businesses themselves, as they attempt to meet those rising expectations. We\u2019ll consider some of the issues this raises here.<\/span><\/p>\n

The <\/span>customer experience<\/a><\/strong> is all-important. This isn\u2019t just a matter of providing great products, competitive pricing, or friendly service, though obviously, these remain the key pillars of success. In addition to these, businesses must pay very close attention to what customers want from the all-around experience, whenever they make a purchase.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There are several ways in which webchat can enhance the customer experience and drive up customer service standards, some of which we\u2019ll elaborate on here.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"WebChat<\/p>\n

For a start, live web chat can help businesses substantially reduce customer wait times. There are few things more frustrating for customers than having to wait around before getting what they want \u2013 or worse still, being unable to find it at all.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Chat widgets can help customers find what they\u2019re looking for much quicker and without the rigmarole of hanging around on the end of a phone line trying to reach a human assistant.<\/span><\/p>\n

Automated chatbots can also provide 24\/7 customer service, and remain on call whenever website visitors need them. As you can imagine, employing someone to hang around waiting to address website queries at all hours of the day would be absurdly expensive. With virtual assistants, there\u2019s no need to do anything of the sort.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Your live chat function never sleeps, so it\u2019ll be there to provide customer support whenever anyone wants to make use of its services \u2013 perfect for those 2 am post-pub impulse buys.<\/span><\/p>\n

We\u2019ve already noted that machine learning enables automated live webchat widgets to handle more complex queries and provide more granular responses. It\u2019s becoming increasingly difficult, what\u2019s more, for most consumers to distinguish between automated chatbots and human assistants.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"What<\/p>\n

As artificial intelligence continues to advance, <\/span>conversational AI-based chatbots<\/a><\/strong> will become even more sophisticated. They will provide users with more personalised service, using the consumer data they gather (while remaining cognisant of regulations such as GDPR).<\/span><\/p>\n

As a bonus, introducing web chat software frees human agents up to do more productive things, and concentrate on the more complicated queries that chatbots can\u2019t handle. It can be expensive for small businesses to have staff members continually bogged down with menial customer support tasks.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Chatbots make it possible to automate at least some of these functions so that the people who\u2019d otherwise provide them can do <\/span>jobs that are potentially more fulfilling.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Best Practices for Website and App Live Chat<\/strong><\/h2>\n

It\u2019s not just a question of putting a chatbot on your website or mobile app and then leaving it to its own devices. You need to think very carefully about how you\u2019re going to implement live webchat because this can make a big difference both in its effectiveness and its usefulness for consumers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s worth taking a look at some of the best practices in this area, as these can provide you with helpful pointers when rolling out web chat and chatbots. The first point to make here is that your web chat feature must be easily visible to website visitors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Make sure there\u2019s a small, colourful button \u2013 one that\u2019s easy to spot \u2013 which your users can click on to launch your live chat assistant. This should be situated in the bottom right-hand corner of the user\u2019s screen when they visit your website; this is where they\u2019ll expect to find your chatbot and where they\u2019ll instinctively look for it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Your chatbot should be proactive and approach users to get their attention. You don\u2019t want web chat to be too intrusive or in-your-face, as this could drive some visitors away. Polite welcome messages are a good way of making users aware that a live chat function is there to help should they wish to use it.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, you wouldn\u2019t want users to be left confused by the same token, unsure of how they might find whatever it is they want. Therefore, your chatbot should make it clear to them that it\u2019s on hand and ready to provide a helping hand.<\/span><\/p>\n

Another point worth remembering here is that automated chatbots can complement the services of human assistants. An AI-driven, sequence-based chatbot can match a customer\u2019s query to common phrases and keywords, and it can then interpret to suggest an appropriate set of further actions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This may reach a level of complexity where the live chat software hits the limits of its automated capacities. At which point, the query can be passed on to a human member of your salesforce.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even here, however, the chatbot will have saved your human team member valuable time by narrowing the conversation down and sparing them the need to ask the more basic, introductory questions. This makes it easier for them to provide the customer with the exact help they need in good time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Simultaneously, the simpler conversations can be dealt with entirely by automated chatbots that are growing more and more technologically advanced as we\u2019ve discussed.<\/span><\/p>\n

RingCentral\u2019s live chat service helps your human employees better understand where your customers are coming from. This is because it provides your team with detailed information about on-site user behaviour, including the number of time users spend on particular pages, the total number of visits they\u2019ve made, and the number of pages they\u2019re visited. They can then use this to make sense of what website visitors are looking for.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Best<\/p>\n

Understanding Branding and User Behaviour<\/strong><\/h2>\n

As any seasoned entrepreneur knows, first appearances count. This is why you need to pay close attention to the look of your live web chat service, as well as its practicality. Functionality is crucial, but it\u2019s not the only thing you need to consider.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You should ensure that your webchat function looks the part and provides consumers with genuine value. It needs to help them in their efforts to find what they want and to make the whole process easier.<\/span><\/p>\n

Your site\u2019s webchat window also needs to look good while it does the job. Its branding needs to be consistent with that found across the rest of your website. A chat function that doesn\u2019t blend in with the rest of its surroundings can make your whole website look garish and inconsistent \u2013 and it may make your business appear amateurish.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While you might think that branding isn\u2019t such a big deal, it matters to ordinary users. Attention to detail, or the lack thereof, can do much to shape their opinion.<\/span><\/p>\n

With RingCentral live chat, you can customise your chat window with your own brand design, logo, and colours so that it looks completely consistent with the rest of your website.<\/span><\/p>\n

Another key question to consider is which of your web pages have a webchat function. This will depend on what you\u2019re using webchat for. If you\u2019re using it primarily for customer support, it\u2019s probably best not to offer it on every page. However, if web chat is central to your lead generation and sales, it should be available everywhere.<\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps you have a knowledge base \u2013 in other words, an online library of relevant information about products and services. If so, you can use per-page settings to direct users to the right support team once they\u2019ve gone through a self-service funnel. As we discussed earlier, human team members can then take on the more complex queries.<\/span><\/p>\n

You can also gain further valuable insights into user behaviour by sending surveys via live webchat. RingCentral live chat makes it easy to do exactly this. You can configure RingCentral web chat to send out surveys at the end of each session automatically.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Customers<\/p>\n

Best Practices for Chatbots and Conversational Agents<\/strong><\/h2>\n

While we\u2019ve devoted most of our attention here to human webchat, we\u2019ve made some references to chatbots and touched on how the latter can complement the former by filling certain gaps and helping to lighten team members\u2019 workload.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Here, we\u2019ll go into a little more detail about how you might make the best possible use of AI-powered chatbots.<\/span><\/p>\n

We\u2019ll concentrate on a few key points, namely the following:<\/span><\/p>\n