Let’s Chat! Why in 2017 quick communication is not just critical, its strategic.
How easy is it for your customers to get a hold of you? How do they do it? Email, phone, contact page on your website, bat signal?
It’s a pretty safe bet that unless you are large firm, you don’t use chat. We don’t have the staff, our clients don’t want it, too complicated to set up are likely some of the valid objections you might have.
But, as we all know, good objections are just problems in pursuit of solutions. 10 years ago, chats could be complicated and difficult, but in 2017 its simple to set up and your team size is pretty much irrelevant.
Before we talk about that though, let’s look at why we should consider using chat in our remodeling businesses.
- Set yourself apart as professional and credible – This is really the same reason that you should dress appropriately, show up on time, park in the street, etc. Even though we all know it, so many of us just don’t do it. If you’ve invested in a website, chatting will set you apart. In addition, adding a live chat can also make your remodeling business standout as established yet, innovative at the same time.
Frankly, most contractors still think it is irrelevant or too expensive. Let them think that, you know that it’s a minimal investment that shows your customers that you are constantly making it easier for them to do business with you.
- A chat option makes for a simple way for a customer to opt in to contact you. I don’t know about you, but I know that an email will get a delayed response. I also know that a phone call can lead to hold times or voicemail. So, if I’m on a website and a “Let’s Chat” window pops up, I’m more likely to click on it and engage than I am if email or phone is all I’ve got.
This gives the customer the “instant gratification” of getting feedback/service in a low-pressure way. Did I mention, its on their time, not yours, which is critical.
- Chatting allows you to collect basic information quickly and then maximize the phone or face-to-face conversation with your prospects and customers.
“But, wait a minute,” you say. “I don’t have an employee who can be available 24/7…and when they are working, they are busy. I’m not adding headcount for a chat.”
Who said you have to. With today’s connectedness, companies like ApexChat are making it easy for you to chat. In fact, they have vast experience in taking chats over many different types of industries. This is why they separate their 150+ agents into different industry trained groups, which means the agents taking chats on your website only handle chats for Home Improvement/Services companies.
You tell them how you want the chat to look on your website, you work with them to establish pre-defined scripts with automated chats and they’ll only charge you for qualified leads they send your way.
So, do you need chat? Use this checklist and that will get you pointed in the right direction:
- What kind of hours do my customers keep? If they are working, then 9-5 isn’t always friendly. Actually, even if they are checking you out at work, a chat is a little less conspicuous than a phone call.
- Is their simple information that we can ask them in a chat or automated way? If so, would your customers find this helpful or cold?
- How important is this intake information to you? Would capturing it in a chat make it easier to track what your customers need and why?
- When do you take calls? Are a lot of them in the evening? I’m sure this is when many of your in-home presentations are, so would offloading these calls be useful?
Depending on your answers to those questions, Chat may very well be a great choice for you. I’d encourage you to look at a company like ApexChat. Disclaimer: They integrate quite well with MarketSharp CRM, which means you’ll be able to integrate chat with all of your customer communications. And, when all your communication is working together, you’re business will be better for it.
Check out more details about the benefits of Live Chat in this archived webinar: “How to Improve Conversions From Your Website by 40% with MarketSharp and ApexChat”
Too Chat or Not Too Chat…that’s for you to decide. But, when you are ready, MarketSharp and ApexChat are ready to help you make the most of it.