The main problem I saw was the 10,000 message limit for free users. That may not seem like a big deal but it can be. For example, one group that uses it is Launch School, a great software development school with a huge focus on mastery. I got into some really great discussions with a particular user (and a group of users) but after about two weeks all those discussions were completely wiped out due to the 10,000 message limit.
This might seem like more of an issue for larger groups but even small groups run into this issue. I also do sub-contracting for a company that uses Slack, and there is a only single digit number of users. We’ve run into the limit and now we’re losing institutional knowledge every time a new post is made.
This last example is partly my fault as I’m the one that encouraged use of and even setup Slack for that company in the first place. I read articles at that time, about 4 years ago when Slack was pretty new, that open source projects should stay away from Slack due to this limit as they saw this issue right away when they tried to use it.
I figured that a small company with a handful of users would be fine with 10,000 messages. I was wrong. 10,000 messages isn’t even enough for one user. It’s a number that sounds big, but it’s not, not if it is used every day.
For the Slack groups that are more of a virtual tech community, the ephemeral nature of this Slack could be considered a feature rather than a bug. Like a virtual water cooler it may just be place to hang out rather than something that needs to be preserved.
So this is why tech groups can get away with using Slack for free. It is just a place to hang out, chat, network and maybe learn something. However, if you are building something like an open source project or are a business it doesn’t make sense to throw away institutional knowledge with every new message past 10,000.
Ok, so what should businesses or open source projects use instead? Discord is a pretty good drop-in replacement. I have seen some forward-thinking tech groups use it but most of them seem to shy away because Discord is for gamers. I don’t know why it is for gamers. It seems to work fine for non-gamers. I have never used it for gaming or gaming discussion and I probably never will.
I’m not the first person to figure this out. It seems open source projects have as well, so much so that some major ones such as Redux and GraphQL are using it. Discord even supports and endorses this usage as they have a whole page dedicated to listing out other projects and how open source projects are using Discord here.
It works just as well as Slack but it is so much better because every message over 10,000 on Discord doesn’t delete your 10,000 oldest message. Yes, I am aware that Slack doesn’t actually delete the messages and you can get access to all of the messages in your history if you start paying for it. But all the groups that I see using Slack for free are never going to pay for it and so those messages are effectively deleted from the user’s point of view.
Lastly, I should note that Discord does share one common glaring issue with Slack. It is closed-source so there is always the possibility of the whole thing going down and taking all of your data with it. I think users concerned with this sort of thing wouldn’t have been using Slack in the first place though. However, there are some nice-looking open source alternatives to Discord that I haven’t used but I’ve seen good things about.
The usual downside of open source chat programs is that they are generally self-hosted which means it is a server you need maintain creating more work for you. Slack users are usually looking for something requiring a bit less maintenance.
Here are good three options I found which are hosted AND open-source:
Rocket.chat seems good because it open source but also looks to have a nice hosted option that is a lot cheaper that Slack. It also has a lot of stars on Github and looks like it have been very actively developed over the last three years. It’s also developed on top of the Meteor platform which I’m a fan of.
Riot.im is the other open source chat program that looks interesting as it made using Matrix which is “an open network for secure, decentralized communication.” So it not just open source but using an open, decentralized protocol, cool. Also, they say it is free with not limits on features, group size or usage for public and private rooms. But they also say that paid plans are coming soon so I don’t know if the free without limits will last forever. A good project to keep an eye on.
Spectrum.chat is the last one, it is web only so it is bit more like a forum that looks like Slack but it has free unlimited open channels. Private channels are also only $10/month. The per channel pricing (for private channels) makes a lot more sense for tech communities than Slack’s per user.
Finally, one good option for free businesses and open source projects that really want to stick with Slack:
SlackArchive.io is an interesting solution to the original 10,000 message limit problem. It appears to have stopped working recently as it was run by one guy and didn’t have a sustainable business model:
The good news is that has been open sourced now as the creator of SlackArchive.io promised. Bad news means that you will probably need to host it yourself. However, if you really want to stick with Slack this may be a good solution.
“Whenever you see the opportunity to create a WOW moment, act on it!” – Shep Hyken
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Live chat is convenient for customers for several reasons:
A). It connects them instantly with an agent. There are no hiccups. No need to dial a number and press several buttons before you can talk to an agent.
B). Live chat allows customers to multi-task. This is perhaps the biggest benefit. Over 51% of customers like live chat because it allows them to multitask. Even if they have to wait for a few minutes, they can continue with what they are doing instead of staring at the screen.
C). The wait time is negligible. Since they can multi-task, therefore, even they have to wait for a few good minutes, they don’t mind.
D). The conversation can be saved. It’s easier to guide a user through text instead of voice. Links can be shared easily through live chat.
E). The customer queries are answered instantly. An email, on the other hand, has to be replied several times before the issue is resolved and it might take a few days in the process.
F). Customers can have their purchase-related queries answered right on time. According to a study, 44% of consumers said that having the ability to talk to an agent in the middle of an online purchase is the best thing ever.
Customers appreciate live chat as it helps them in making the right buying decisions.
2. Live chat saves money
Businesses are always striving to find a cost-effective customer service solution. A study shows that live chat is the best software to save money.
More and more companies were using Phone or email support as a customer support tools to get in touch with the customers. However, it takes time and is too costly to maintain and setup. While a live chat support tool is comparatively cheaper to implement in your website. Moreover, in this digital era, live chat is considered the best communication channel for customer service because of its benefits.
Live chat offers real-time services to the customers and thus, it saves a great amount of time, labor, and money.
The idea is to gain leads and convert them into loyal customers before your competitors even think of offering live chat.
Use live chat and quality customer services as your brand’s main feature. There’s a good chunk of people that prefer better experience to everything else. You should target those customers once you have mastered live chat and customer support.
The best competitive advantage is one that cannot be imitated. This type will be imitable, but only when your competitors switch to live chat too. If you are doing well with customer support, you don’t have to worry about imitation.
If you know the rules of the game, no one can beat you. Customers decide whether a company really offers superior customer service or not.
Use live chat, train agents, and take your business to another level.
“When it comes to people, customers expect the same quick response they are used to getting from electronic equipment and technology.” –Shep Hyken
One of the ways of growing a successful business is by being productive. This is where live chat can help you.
There are several out there. But if you’re managing a team, Acquire, live chat software is an effective solution for managing customer support. Use the tool to prove your team’s effectiveness, and get feedback from customers.
To put this into perspective, Zopim analyzed more than 85K chats and found that on average an agent replies a customer query in less than 23 seconds, and average resolution time is no more than 42 seconds.
Imagine the time you can save as a business when you utilize a live chat.
This is not just about the time you save but it also saves your customer’s time.
Compare the average resolution time of live chat with the average email reply time of top 100 US retailers.
And compare it with the average response time of top 100 US retailers on Facebook and Twitter.
Isn’t it surprising?
Now imagine the time you and your agent can save.
Crunch the numbers and you will realize that live chat beats pretty much every other customer support channel, in terms of average response time by a big margin.
This means you can close more than 60 customer tickets in an hour with a single customer live chat agent. On the other hand, you don’t even reply to a single customer query in an hour on Twitter, Facebook, email, and phone.
From my personal experience, live chat boosts online sales.
As much as 83% of consumers need some type of online support when they are making an online transaction.
Customers need someone when they are buying products online. This is why people prefer buying from websites having the live chat feature to get the answers to their questions quickly. Live chat support during checkout process will increase conversion rates and sales.
As an example, Post Affiliate Pro reported a 23% increase in conversion rate when they implemented live chat on their website.
The idea is to have live chat agents available 24/7 so you don’t lose sales and customers.
However, merely having live chat feature isn’t enough; instead, you must train your agents as well. There should be at least one agent available at any given time to respond to customer queries.
What if there’s no one available to answer customer queries?
Forrester reported that 45% of US consumers would leave a website in the middle of an online transaction if there is no one around to answer their questions and concerns.
Another report says that 77% of consumers said that they need to talk to a real person before making a purchase online.
Not having live chat on the website means you are losing sales as well as customers. Can you afford to lose sales?
I don’t think so. Looking at the statistics and reports of the live chat, it can be concluded that live chat is important for increasing sales and to deliver the best experience to the customers.
6. Live chat builds long-term relationships
For the growth of the business, it is necessary that the company builds a long-term relationship with the customers. The long-term relationship with customers helps the company to stay ahead of the competition. Satisfied customers are less likely to switch and are less concerned about what they are paying.
Stats show that 89% of consumers have stopped doing business with a brand after a poor customer support experience, while another 86% of customers will pay 25% more for a better customer experience.
Live chat helps brands to build long-term relationships with their existing customers. When customers feel that their voices are heard, it’s more likely that they will share positive experiences with your company and this will build a stronger relationship between the customer and customer.
Live chat doesn’t just help bring new customers on board, but when your existing customers see that they have access to superior customer support, they will pay you 25% more and will stick to your brand.
Over 50% of consumers reported in a survey that they are more likely to deal with a company; they had a positive customer experience in the past.
According to Zendesk, 73% of consumers are having a view that friendly customer support makes them fall in love with a company, whereas 52% have made multiple purchases from a company after a positive initial customer service experience.
It all comes down to serving customers well the first time. If you manage to provide them with superior customer support through live chat on their first visit, you get a customer for life.
Thus, they become loyal customers. A loyal customer is worth up to 10x the first purchase.
There’s no better way to build this relationship than with live chat.
Conclusion
Kevin Stirtz said:
“Every contact we have with a customer influences whether or not they’ll come back. We have to be great every time or we’ll lose them.”
Thus, if your goal is to offer great customer service and to build strong customer support, then live chat is the best option. There are many other benefits of live chat software in customer service and other processes of the business. Implement this live chat feature as per your business requirements and boosts sales and revenue.
