Digital customers are very particular and they are interested in innovation. However, everyone likes the classic one-to-one service where we contact a real person, not a bot. Live chat is one of the tools that has become trendy over the last years, showing very good results. Many companies have passed from having a very poorly rated customer service to become well-known by the public in this aspect.

Finally the difference has only been a technological intervention, which, to be honest, is achievable by many companies. It is not a very complicated, expensive and unreachable type of software. Any company can use this type of services to serve its customers in a fast and personalized way

Two ways of communication: live chat and video call

Like in many aspects, there are two schools of thought. The first one uses a live chat to communicate with customers and the second one opts for video calls. Although they have significant differences, which we will analyse here, they are not opposites methods, they are complementary methods.

Live chat

This is a format where the company has its own text platform or instant messaging companies. In this case it provides customers who need immediate attention with an agent. By using a popular drop-down tag formula, a simple click opens a web section where you will be able to chat with a specialized agent.

The agent will lead the conversation with the client to understand what is his doubt or problem in order to offer effective solutions. Just like the classic phone call that also allows you to listen in real time, with the difference that by chat it is easier to focus on the content of what is being said and not in the forms. That is the way incidents are resolved faster.

When we compare this method with attention by email, several advantages appear as well. The first one, is that chat communication is faster, because an email can get lost and take a long time to be answered. In addition, it is a live interaction. The consumer can expose his ideas in a rich and organized way, as well as interrupt or answer the agent. This can also happen the other way around, avoiding going around on secondary issues and reducing the possibility of misunderstandings.

There is a very positive advantage offered by live chat and is the possibility of doing simultaneous translations. Nowadays translation services only take seconds to transform a sentence from one language to another. This breaks down the barriers to communicate with any client, no matter what country they are from. This allows companies to open up to internationalization easily.

Video call

The video call is a communication format that until recently was reserved for some areas of remote work. Over time, people have moved away from traditional phone calls to this type of communication. As a result, most of the people are now familiarized with these camera calls, either by mobile phone or using a computer. Covid crisis and teleworking have eventually introduced this type of calls in our societies.

Even though it seemed disruptive for many people to see the interlocutor, now it is a sign of trust. We have learned to value the importance of gestures and the face of the interlocutor. That is why many customers prefer to see the other person’s face rather than just talking on the phone to solve a problem. The advantage here is not exactly on a technical level, it is on a personal level. People feel more comfortable if they can see the entire communication: non-verbal and involuntary gestures, facial expressions, etc.

One advantage that stands out on a technical level is the practicality at the time of resolving operational doubts of a product or service. This is because with a simple video call the agent can explain how it works and see how the client makes the step by step in the product or service. Furthermore, the client doesn’t have to go to the shop and he can solve his problem from wherever he needs to.

Differences between the two formats

This presents two principal differences compared to a traditional chat. The first is that the chat can be successfully done simultaneously with more than one customer. While a customer answers or reviews a document, the agent can answer or note down other users´ questions. In contrast, the video call is a format that makes this action a little more difficult.

Another difference is that the chat allows a simultaneous translation, which means that the texts are translated instantly from one language to another. This allows you to talk with customers from any country. However, the video call, being oral, doesn’t allow the use of this technology.

Instead of this, the video call has some advantages, given that by seeing the operator, customers are able to provide a human dimension to the company. In a world with fewer and fewer physical locations this is a very important aspect. When dealing with a live chat, some people may not be able to discern if their caller is a bot or a person.

Key: combining formats.

Undoubtedly the best way to take advantage of the strengths of each channel is to combine them. In the same way than in the past the post office box and the telephone coexisted, nowadays we have the facility of working with several channels at the same time. In fact, we can even segment the type of customer service according to the format.

For example, users who need step-by-step assistance can choose the video call format, which will give them more security. Those who don’t have a complicated doubt, but have many simple ones, will prefer to use a format such as a live chat.

Anyway, these formats can be combined in the same assistance. For example, if the agent notices during a chat that a video call can solve the problem quickly. During the chat conversation he can offer to continue by a video call and the user will be able to accept the video call assistance from the same communication window, without having to click on a link or needing a username and password.

Beyond formats

Nowadays it is essential to bring companies closer to users, making them feel important and offering them an excellent customer service with solutions such as live chat and/or the possibility of providing assistance by video call.

With Livebeep for customer service, you will have a complete solution that will allow you to interact easily with your potential customers who visit your website, because through its new communication window you can:

• Assist your customer by live chat and if the visitor is writing in another language, simultaneous translations will facilitate the communication.

• During the chat conversation you can offer to continue by video to show your products or services and explain how they work.

• If you are not available to answer, the invitation automatically changes and your visitors can send you an email, message you by Facebook Messenger, Telegram, Twitter, Skype, ask you to call them or call you.

• Know your website visitors: know where they are from, if they have interacted with some event (coupon, ad, form, etc.) or if they have contacted you by email or chat.

• Segment your visitors using tags.

• Create and manage your database with leads from some of the events of Livebeep.

• Automate the answers to your emails or chats.

What do you think about going further in the way you connect with your clients? Start your free trial today.