Bold Software’s Live Chat Benchmark Report Shows Live Chat’s Impact on Customer Satisfaction

Findings Include Key Benchmarks That Keep Customers Coming Back

Wichita, KS, November 11, 2009 - Bold Software today followed up its recent release of the industry’s most comprehensive live chat benchmark report, by providing specifics related to live chat’s role in customer service. The report includes specific benchmarks that allow organizations to gauge the impact of their live chat implementation.

After reviewing tens of millions of chat records, hundreds of millions of website visit records and billions of unique page URL recorded visits, Bold Software has identified benchmarks that point to live chat as a critically important customer service tool, including:

• The use of a pre-chat form increases the survivability of the chat request significantly.
   
• Sites that use an unavailable email form capture contact data between 9% and 47% of those who are presented with it.
   
• Answering incoming chats in less than 10 seconds yields chat conversations with >80% of those visitors initiating them.

“We strongly believe that every commercial website greatly benefits from at least one live communication channel for customers, and our benchmark data definitely underscores that,” said Bold Software President & CEO Steve Castro-Miller. “Live Chat is a key tool to keeping customers satisfied after the sale, which means repeat shoppers – a key focus for e-tailers looking to be successful in the long-term.”

A pre-chat form significantly increases the survivability of the chat request, and PrintGlobe has benefitted from employing this strategy. A leading provider of promotional products, custom printing, business printing, flags, signs and banners, PrintGlobe employs a pre-chat form to learn more about their customers.

“Using a pre-chat form gives us a bit of information about the customer so we can better assist them right away,” said PrintGlobe Director of Internet Marketing Rob Williams. “We try to answer chats as quickly as we can, but our use of a pre-chat form also increases the likelihood that a customer will wait in case we are busy. During those times, our chats survive longer than average – for more than two and a half minutes.”

ReStockIt.com is a leading retailer that sells office, restaurant and cleaning supplies to small businesses. The e-commerce site is able to retain an edge over much larger competitors due, in part, to its special emphasis on customer service. Use of an unavailable email form within their live chat implementation is part of this commitment to excellent service. When presented with an unavailable email form, an impressive 32% of ReStockIt.com’s website visitors will provide information.

“Live chat is an important channel that helps us service our customers 100%,” said Adam Flam, Customer Service Manager, ReStockIt.com. “The fact that we have easy-to-locate live chat links on every page of our website builds credibility and trust that we’re serious about wanting to communicate. So even if our live chat operators aren’t available at that exact moment, visitors who are presented with a branded unavailable email form understand that we’re serious about follow up.”

Answering incoming chats significantly faster than average pays off for Abt Electronics in every way. “As a company that has thrived due to our laser focus on customer service, we knew we wanted to use live chat to enhance the experience our online shoppers had at Abt.com,” commented Abt Electronics’ Co-President Jon Abt. “We’ve got more than 50 operators available in an effort to respond to incoming chats as swiftly as possible. So not only are our customers converting at a much higher rate than they would without chat, they’re satisfied customers.”

To learn more, download the full report at: www.boldchat.com/live_chat_software/live_performance_benchmarks/

About Bold Software
Bold Software LLC, is a leading provider of world-class web communication tools designed to help businesses improve online support and increase sales. Using Bold Software’s live chat, click-to-call, email management, and active co-browsing tools, businesses can quickly and effectively engage visitors on their website. Bold Software sells a wide variety of competitively-priced products under the BoldChat, BoldCall, and BoldCCM brand names. Businesses of all sizes – from small proprietorships to large ecommerce enterprises – can provide more intelligent online customer interactions and close more sales using Bold Software solutions. The company is headquartered in Wichita, KS, with thousands of customers around the world including 3M, American Cancer Society, Corel, Dean & DeLuca, and ViewSonic. For more information about Bold Software, go to www.BoldSoft.com or call 1-866-753-9933.

Media Contact:
Jill Monahan
Tier One Partners for Bold Software
484-244-5300
jmonahan@tieronepr.com

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