Is live chat a good idea for your Website?

“Ask Max” is the newest addition to the customer services available on the Fife, Tidland and MAGPOWR Websites of web-handling components provider Maxcess Intl. From the three home pages, you can click on the link (shown below) and chat live with a company representative. Converters and package printers can get anything from a quick answer to an immediate question to information on product development and anything in between.

My question is: With the constant evolution of corporate Websites (for the better), is live chat a good idea for yours?

After all, 10 years ago, your site was probably pretty static—photos of your products and operations and a Contact Us page. (Don’t get me started on those useless “Contact Us” pages where the visitor fills out a form and waits for YOU to contact THEM…with no phone number in sight for the customer to actually call you…maybe even with an order.)

Then came e-commerce, and you probably added online ordering pages and the ability to upload graphics files to print packaging and labels. At the very least, you added a storehouse of downloadable PDFs of brochures and other useful information or demonstration videos by way of YouTube.

Live chat is nothing new technologically. It’s been around about 10 years (remember IM’ing on American Online, etc.).  It’s also relatively established as a customer service for banks (Chicago’s Harris Bank) and mail-order catalog companies (Land’s End, etc.). So, isn’t it about time you had live chat to offer immediate customer help from your Website?

Tell me what you think. Post a comment below.

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