Can shoppers press your chat button? Three requirements for live chat success

Icon design and placement is critical for live chat success. Photo: www.freedigitalphoto.net

Adding an effective live chat software or managed chat to your dealership website is one of the best ways to increase your website leads, but there are many details that are critical to the success – or failure – of this cutting-edge technology.

It seems kind of elementary, but how easy is it for automotive website visitors to ‘press your buttons’ to chat? The debate we typically run into is one about whether or not to have a proactive pop-up invite when the owner doesn’t like seeing them on his hunting gear website, but that is a discussion for another time.

One frustration that we have had is that we close the popup that politely invited us to chat, then deciding later on we have a question and can’t find the chat icon any more. There are three must-haves for your chat icons

• Install an icon or tab – it sounds simple, but ensure your live chat setup includes a distinctive icon and / or side tab on every website page.
• Make it stand out – If a shopper has to search for a chat icon they could just leave the website. Choose a color that pops, within the compliance requirements of your manufacturer, and opt for a size that fits within the design of your site that is big enough to spot. We often discover chat icons blended in with the social media links.
• Select a location in the header or near the top – or at least above the fold (the main screen without scrolling down). The last thing you want is for your shopper to have to scroll down before they bump into your chat icon.

These may seem like minor details, but as they say, the devil is in the details – and so are your added leads and sales. With more than a million chat conversations under our belt, we have a secure handle on live chat best practices, so call (or chat) now to increase your chat leads and sell more cars.