Website Chat

Advances in digital technology have redefined consumer expectations from businesses, including health service providers. For instance, people looking online for a dentist often want detailed answers to various questions before they commit to becoming a patient. And when they land on your dental website, they expect to get that information fast, preferably from a real person, not a non-specific automated response.

They want an easy way to get in touch with your practice to find out more, and that’s where managed website chat comes in. Live chat gives your office a quick, cost-effective way of turning website visitors into patients. It allows your practice to talk in real time to people, and the ability to have open discussions with potential patients is a huge competitive advantage. Managed web chat also plays an important role in patient retention. In this post, we’ll look at the key benefits of managed live website chat, including improved patient engagement and attracting more new patients.

Giving Your Site Visitors a Good User Experience

People have certain expectations when they go online looking for a dental practice. Sites that are slow to load, for example, are known to lose business. According to Google, people will usually return to the search results if they have to wait more than three seconds for a website page to load. Mobile device users are particularly impatient with slow websites.

But it’s not all about fast-loading sites. Once visitors have entered your site, they expect a good experience, with facilities that are fast and easy to use. Otherwise, it’s back to those search results again. Managed website chat goes a long way in ensuring your site offers the best possible user experience. Nearly 80 percent of consumers prefer to communicate with a business through managed online chat, and over 60 percent say they’re more likely to go back to a site that offers live chat. This is why managed website chat is so important in helping to create an outstanding user experience for your dental site visitors.

Crucial Role of Live Chat in Patient Support

You need to give your patients the support they expect, when they need it. Live online chat has the highest satisfaction levels of any consumer service channel – over 80 percent, compared with 44 percent for phone and 61 percent for email. One of the reasons for this high satisfaction rate is that managed chat is much faster and more convenient than other customer support methods.

Managed chat can provide a resolution within the first contact, with no more time-consuming email ping-pong getting out of hand. Research indicates that most live chat problems are resolved in less than a minute. When your patients get an immediate response to their questions or concerns, they will appreciate that your practice prioritizes their needs. This helps to build trust and loyalty and enables you to stand out over other offices without an online chat service. Live chat can also collect valuable feedback. Conversations can also be kept for future reference – it’s easier to steer patients through problems if previous interactions are available for context.

How Live Chat Generates More New Patients

One of the advantages of having a dental website is that prospective patients can visit it any time of the day or night. Live chat will also allow you to offer them a 24/7 instant communication channel, with a dedicated human agent who can provide answers and personalized responses.

This service instantly removes any obstacles in the minds of prospective patients before they start looking elsewhere. Website visitors who interact with you via live chat are more likely to make an appointment. Without managed web chat, you can expect a three percent conversion rate; with live chat, that figure doubles to six percent or more.

Cost-Effectiveness of Managed Website Chat

As a superior communication channel, live chat is relatively inexpensive to set up. And offering real-time patient support with the capability of addressing multiple queries simultaneously saves time, effort, and ultimately money for your practice. For example, live web chat costs businesses 15 to 33 percent less than phone support.

The return-on-investment of live chat rockets if the system is proactive, inviting your site visitors to chat before they actually ask for help. One study found that while reactive chat has a 15 percent ROI, businesses that used proactive chat saw their return on investment more than double.

Overcoming Dental Live Chat Problems

The digital age has caused a massive shift in consumer service expectations. Website users demand information instantly, and managed web chat is a major player in satisfying this need. Live chat benefits the overall dental website user experience. Whether it's a question for a dentist or an appointment request, managed chat gives patients a fast, convenient channel of communication with your office, whenever they need it.

Managed chat helps build long-term relationships with your patients. When they know you’re always there for them, bonds of trust are easier to form, resulting in higher levels of patient loyalty and retention. However, small businesses like dental practices rarely if ever have the resources to provide full-time representatives to communicate with patients online. That’s why they get professional help.

Benefits of DentalROI Managed Website Chat Services

Dental marketing and productivity specialists DentalROI provide practices with powerful managed website chat services that are easy for patients to use.

Benefits of our live chat systems include:

  • Easy set-up.
  • Text templates to save time.
  • Sound alerts when you get a message.
  • Experienced dental chat agents.
  • Conversations in English or Spanish.
  • HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) compliance.
  • Customized chat widget design.
  • Responses tailored to your practice strategies and goals.
  • Qualified leads in real time via email, texts and/or live calls.
  • Live chat on your social media accounts as well as your website.

Contact us to learn more about the key benefits of managed website chat and how DentalROI can help to take your practice to the next level.