When it comes to managing live chat, not every business finds outsourcing to be the ideal solution. However, for those that do, there is a myriad of benefits to be gained by entrusting the management of their live chat to external experts. If you’re uncertain about the best approach for your business, we’d suggest comparing the pros and cons of managing chat in-house or outsourcing this.
In this blog, we will carefully examine the advantages of outsourced live chat, allowing you to make an informed decision that aligns with your specific needs and goals.
What is live chat outsourcing?
Live chat outsourcing is entrusting the human-led chat function of your website to a third-party company that specialises in chat operations.
While certain businesses may find chatbots suitable for their websites, with their associated benefits, those relying on human-led chat understand the need for a live human presence on the other end. This situation presents two options: managing chat in-house or outsourcing the task to external professionals.
By outsourcing live chat, companies see many benefits, which we will explore.
Benefits of outsourcing live chat
1. Cost savings
Outsourcing your live chat can prove to be a highly cost-effective solution for your business. You will save both time and money when it comes to hiring, training and managing a chat team.
You’ll also benefit from economies of scale, as your provider can spread the costs of training, support, and software across multiple clients.
2. 24/7 availability = customer satisfaction
One of the most significant benefits is the ability to offer 24/7 chat to customers. With outsourced chat, businesses can ensure that their website visitors are looked after, regardless of the time of day.
24/7 availability can be essential for businesses within a wide range of industries as many of today’s web searches happen after hours with the expectation to get answers instantly. Waiting for business hours can cause potential customers to get frustrated and look elsewhere.
3. Scalability
As your company grows and live chat demand increases, it becomes very easy and fast to scale this through the use of a third-party provider. They should be tracking website traffic growth to forecast chat agent expectations, ensuring headcount is well and truly taken care of.
4. Technology
Third-party providers should be continuously investing in their chat technology, and in 2023 this means ai and data-powered chat.
By staying up to date with new chat technology, your chat provider can analyse and use customer behaviour to better engage with the customer in a relevant manner, offer targeted product recommendations, and drive sales.
5. Chat expertise
Through the use of a reputable company, you benefit by having your chat operated by highly trained, specialist chat agents. You also receive the benefit of agents being managed by experts in the chat space, ensuring chat quality, an up-to-date knowledge base as well as optimal process and technology use.
6. Free up in-house staff
If when moving from managing chat in-house to outsourcing, this instantly frees up the time of your staff to refocus on more important tasks.
Even if live chat is a new tactic, this will help to free up the staff who currently maintain your inbox or phone line.
Considerations when selecting a live chat provider
When deciding between in-house operators vs outsourced live chat there are a number of factors to consider. For those who outsourcing makes the most sense, there is then reputation, pricing structure and chat integration to be considered when deciding on a provider.
1. Provider reputation
You are trusting a third-party provider to be the first point of contact. Make sure you find a reputable company. Check the brands they work for, review testimonials and read case studies.
2. Pricing structure
There are a few ways in which a provider can charge you for managing your chat. Some will charge a fixed fee for each chat, others will charge per lead (read why we use a pay-per-lead model) and some will offer tiered pricing. There are pros and cons for each and this will depend on the goal of your chat.
3. Chat integration
Make sure you discuss your options for how to get your chat data. Do they integrate data directly into your CRM or ticketing system? How fast will this information be passed along? It’s important that expectations are clear and meet your required outcomes.
If you’re yet to select a provider, or you want to compare your existing provider, we encourage you to Book A Demo and take our solution on a spin for 14 days.
There are many benefits to outsourcing your website’s live chat, and there are a wide range of providers to choose from. By outsourcing live chat, you can save money, improve customer satisfaction, and scale your operations more effectively. Outsourcing live chat can also free up your in-house team to focus on other tasks.
Once you have made the decision to outsource your live chat operations, it becomes crucial to partner with a provider whose chat deployments are specifically tailored to meet your chat objectives.
