Live Chat Software come in all shapes and sizes and some offer better features than others while others marketability is the budget, some even offering it for free. In most cases, all Live Chat companies showcase their Live Support software features on their websites and if you have ever gone through them once you considered offering Live Chat as an option to your online visitors you come across the term “Proactive Chat”.

Doing sales for in the Live Chat industry and throwing this “Proactive Chat” feature in my pitch, believe me in most cases I could see that they were confused and I think I have been asked once or twice “Is there other kinds?” Well the short answer is yes there is and that’s what this blog post is about.

Let’s explain how initiating a Live Chat actually works. In most sites that provide Live Support there is a button (usually with picture of a person with a head phone, although it is not understood why this has become a standard).Web visitors seeking support of any kind whether customer service, technical or sales click on this button and a chat is initiated with a representative of the company.  This just explained is what is called in the Live Chat industry a “Passive Chat” and this is the norm.

Proactive Chat on the other hand is simply the ability to actively initiate or invite website visitors to have a chat with the representative of the company; think of it of more like Greeters in a large departmental store.

I have been to a few forums where this feature was discussed and I was actually surprised at the reaction of hearing about it, it has gained notoriety amongst web visitors as spamming. That being said, it actually depends on how it is being used. Nobody likes a pushy sales person and if that is exactly what Live Chat is being used for in those companies, well all I’ll say about that is, they are not doing a good job. Proactive Chat done well however is a whole different ball game. Statistics also show that proactive chat actually increases the number of sales leads (in WebGreeter’s case we have had go upto 5 times the number) as compared to when the Live chat is in the passive mode, which website owners cannot ignore. However a balance has to be achieved as to how it is to be used. For example, if everybody is “greeted” who just landed on the website, it can cause a higher bounce rate, but put a delay in there for say 40 seconds, you know that these people are looking for some kind of information that your Live Chat Support team can definitely help with.

Having been in in the Live Chat business for just under a decade now, we have had the opportunity to work with a lot of clients over the years, but what is surprising is how many people have approached us saying “I saw your service on another website” and thought it was “interesting” or “cool” without knowing what it is that we do or what it entails and that’s fine. But the “tougher” customers were those that tended to confuse our Live Chat Service  comparing us to Live Chat Software out there.

In this post, we will try to clarify the difference between live chat software and live chat services

Live Chat Software

Live Chat Software is self explanatory; a software that you can install on your computer and with simple modification of your website you can see who comes to your site and chat with them. You have a choice of either doing it proactively, that is, invite them to chat with you or you can wait till someone clicks on the button that says “Live Chat” or “Live Support etc. There is a number of Live Chat Software using a number of technologies including Java, .NET PHP or Flash and some even utilizing FLEX technology. It can cost you as low as $9/month to anywhere in the $100 range, with the more expensive ones giving you more features while others are free. It all depends on the functionality that you think suits your needs.

Live Chat Service

Live Chat Service or Live Support Service although in general usage are alternately called “Live Chat Software” but it is a “Service” at the end. These services are available to you by providers who have the human resources and technology to be supporting your website visitors on your behalf. In essence, the Live Chat feature is outsourced. Live Chat Operators in those services would be well trained in the customer service and sales functions assisting your website visitors and most services are available 24/7. The Services would be the one providing the resources as well as the technology to be used on your website to support your Live Chat initiative. You do not have to worry about hiring, training, customizing or worry about whether it would work on your website, it all falls on the Live Chat Service. More costly than Live Chat Software, but Services rightly priced would actually reduce any need of hiring in-house or worry about what happens when you or your staff is not in the office.

It has been months since we blogged over at WebGreeter Blogs but what better way to restart by announcing the recent changes that have taken place in the last few months in our Corporate office, LiveAdmins LLC.

You might remember LiveAdmins LLC, started way back in 2002 with the sole purpose of providing Live Chat Support Services. In 2004, LiveAdmins re-branded the Live Chat Service to WebGreeter and it hasn’t looked back since.

In 2006 LiveAdmins increased its portfolio of services to include Internet Marketing (Search Engine Optimization, Social Media Marketing services etc.) and Web Design/Develpment Services.

Come late 2009, a restructuring of the whole organization was due starting with the websites for LiveAdmins and WebGreeter and rebranding of its Internet Marketing and Web Development services under “WG Web Solutions”. This comes after work was well underway to develop our own Live Chat Software which we dubbed WG Live Chat Software, The software is currently being used internally in WebGreeter for our clients, and should be available to the general public in the fourth quarter of 2010.

Presently, the websites for LiveAdmins and WebGreeter are now live as well as the new website for WG Web Solutions. Work is also under way for developing the portal for WG Live Chat Software and should be finished at the same time as when we go public with the software.

Web Greeter introducing Live customer support services in UK. We have been on the World Wide Web since 2002 and we have already ventured into the unknown realms of the Middle East, UAE being our most important undertaking.

Now we have decided to dare ascent in the Great Britain itself- the land of learned and educated.

The notion of live chat for website is still young and we have been doing what we could, to help the idea grow and expand and inculcate the b2c commerce within it. The hoi polloi now has begun to realize the importance of an efficient customer service support. The austere concepts of customer support and relationship management cannot be used to deal with ecommerce services and cannot be broadened without adding an element of caprice, and thinking audaciously.

If everyone would have considered the current system as canonical, there would never have been any inventions. That is what we believe in, and what we are planning to do in UK. Although in UK online customer support is not an idea unheard of, but we plan to customize it according to what we believe in. We are planning to go into every that place where we have not been before. We have shun the fear of the unknown, and UK is our first step into that world.

To increase online sales, we don’t believe in resorting to lowly tactics. In order to increase website sales, work will have to be done on the website too, hence our SEO services. This is in addition to our basic sales services. This will be a golden opportunity for all those who want to increase website sales as well as customer allegiance. To increase your sales, you are liable to do anything.

E-sources state UK as the most active ecommerce consumer. It did not need much work to increase sales. This is natural too, since UK is the land of Oxford and Cambridge, and where the internet was actually invented.

Where the developing world is still on the verge of many markets, UK is where the actual knowledge began. The concept of market places, with pleasant faced salesmen and jesters to draw the crowds and attend to them; every age has had its own ways of maintaining customer traffic and loyalty. UK is where one can see every business in action. With 61% households having access to the internet, and more than 2 billion pounds being spent per annum on internet marketing, it is not a wonder we see every business in business there. Entities like online sales actually make a difference here. The customers trust the sites even more if they know that they can chat live regarding anything they need to know. Even we want to be live in support because we have witnessed the turnout with live support.

UK, also known as the land of miserable grey weather, also experiences immediate boost in the sales on a rainy day, which is like almost every other day.

Live Admins takes pleasure in preparing our web greeters according to the article they will be marketing. Our specially trained greeters will be presenting a translucent crossing point to your consumers and will be delivering an incessant 24×7 access to live help right on your web site in the way you want it to be projected. You will be having live chat for website that will be offering efficient customer service.

The population of UK is already well aware of the concept of buying online. In ecommerce services UK is not new. We only plan to take that to an all new level of experience. We want to give your customer something to remember us by. We want to create a bond. We want to get etched into their memories for good.

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