5 Reasons Your Law Firm Website Needs Live Chat

Over the past few years, live chat has gone from a novelty to a “nice to have” to a “have to have” for law firm websites.

And why should it be a must for your law firm’s website? There are five primary reasons:

1. Faster response time
2. 24/7 access
3. Instantly overcome objections
4. Improved website experience
5. Competitive advantage

According to an Econsultancy study, live chat provides the highest satisfaction levels (73%) for any customer service channel, compared to email (61%) and phone (44%). It is clear that people have come to not only prefer live chat, they now expect it!

A Harris Research survey found that 53% of people prefer to use online chat, while a J.D. Power report said that chat has now become the leading online contact source, with 42% of consumers using chat vs. email (23%) or social media (16%).

FASTER RESPONSE TIME = MORE LEADS & CONVERSIONS

Study after study has shown that companies able to respond quickly — within five minutes — get 10 times more leads than slower responders and are able to convert those leads better. In other words, just having live chat on your website can substantially increase your revenue. 

The latest Legal Trends Report from Clio, which provides cloud-based practice management platforms for the legal industry, 2,000 legal services consumers were surveyed. The report found that responding quickly to phone calls and emails is the most important factor for potential clients.

In addition, a Forrester study found that live chat leads to a revenue increase of 48% per chat hour and a 40% increase in conversion rate!

When browsing your website, prospects who have questions can get them answered immediately, allowing you to help them reach a buying decision more rapidly than any other communications channel. It’s like having a member of your sales team on standby, live on your website, always ready to turn visitors into clients.

ALWAYS THERE EVEN WHEN YOU’RE NOT

You never know when someone will visit your website wanting help. It could be midnight, and you’re certainly not available to them at that time. But with live chat, you are always there. These days, live chat can be manned 24/7 by either a trained professional using a script designed specifically for your practice area or by an automated bot whose responses are preprogrammed based on common questions prospects ask.

OVERCOME OBJECTIONS IMMEDIATELY

FAQs are a great way to provide prospects with information but there are some instances when you can’t answer a prospect’s question with an FAQ. Having live chat on every page of your site gives visitors instant access to someone who can answer their questions and then connect them with someone from your firm to delve deeper into the subject or book an appointment. And since it works on all platforms — desktop, mobile, tablet — you’ll never miss an opportunity to convert a lead!

IMPROVE THE VISITOR EXPERIENCE

Just having live chat available to visitors on your law firm website tells them you care enough about their experience with you to make it as easy as possible for them to find the answers they are looking for. It tells them you won’t waste their time by making them have to email or call and wait for a response.

Plus, it’s just plain smart business — Forrester research shows that 57% of visitors will abandon a site if they can’t get their questions answered quickly. Research also shows that consumers who use live chat on a website are three times more likely to proceed with a purchase.

GAIN A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

If you have live chat, you will have an advantage over most of your competitors in terms of instant access and support as well as the ability to capture leads before they move on to a competitor.

Live chat is a fantastic way for attorneys to connect and convert website leads, and it can be done for a very low cost.