Let’s face it; sales is a challenging art. Not only are you managing customers and attempting to grow existing business with clients, but you are also prospecting for new opportunities as well. It is an ongoing cycle that at times becomes so overwhelming it leaves many prospects overlooked; or worse, it causes a decrease in current business from a lack of proper contact with important accounts.
It is said that, “A sale isn’t something you pursue. It’s what happens to you while you are immersed in serving the customer.” This dedication to service and attentiveness to the client’s needs is so critical that it becomes a building block in the business relationship. It is what separates successful companies from average ones that focus on maintaining the status quo.
By developing a system upon which customers can rely and providing a tool that supports their needs and operations, a company can establish a strong bond with its clients and a favorable advantage versus its competition. So the question is how does a company create that connection and what marketing tools can be utilized to improve stickiness?
Fortunately, with the availability of technology and the implementation of a company web site, organizations can offer live chat options to their customers providing quick and easy access to immediate issues. Live chat improves lead generation and increases sales activity because of the instant contact and support from the company. This intimate, pressure-free and open marketing tool enables companies to engage in conversations with their accounts while also improving web site conversion ratios.
The benefits of live chat for a B2B company are:
- Immediate Sales Generation – Instead of waiting for the customer’s interests to diminish, when a customer contacts the company live chat provides immediate engagement, is an easy way to answer questions or demo a product, and provides a greater opportunity to convert the inquiry to a sale.
- Scalability – As a company’s business expands, additional live chat operators can be added to serve the growing customer engagement.
- Language Barrier Reduction – Live chat provides businesses the ability to connect with foreign language speaking customers and develop business on a global-scale.
- Multi-tasking Applications – Companies can employ the service of live chat operators to communicate with several customers simultaneously; thereby, opening access channels to a larger customer base while avoiding the need to add additional employees to service the accounts.
- Financial Savings – Time is money; therefore, by offering real-time communication, a company cuts expenditures normally equated with conducting business. Reduction in time traveling great distances for brief meetings, waiting for responses to emails or phone calls, and travel costs can be reduced.
We all know that sales drives business. Without a service or product to sell, businesses would not exist. Without marketing to create product and sales materials to utilize in an effort to build and expand business, sales growth could be slow. While these methods can prove successful, in an environment of global opportunities many times the occasion to visit customers does not happen as often as is desired.
Therefore, taking advantage of an alternative option to remain in contact with the client is a vital step in closing that gap. Email lacks the personal connection, and while a phone conversation at times is not a preferred choice due to the nature of the issue, live chat provides that suitable balance of direct contact with a personal touch.