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Our fast-paced, instant digital world has morphed most of us into demanding consumers who cannot wait. If a website visitor reaches out and does not get an immediate response from your law firm, you could lose them to a competitor. To prevent this, law firms have been turning to live chat, which can attract website users and confirm that someone is available 24/7. Live chat has pros and cons, but law firms should seriously consider live chat on their website to gain more clients.
What Is Live Chat?
Live chat is a tool that pops up during a visitor’s website visit and asks, “How can I help?” Live chat makes it easy for interested visitors to get in touch without having to rummage around the website for a contact form, or make a phone call. A live chat service, staffed by an outside vendor, can help your law firm answer visitor questions and engage them as potential clients. This works through the use of a help desk, support agents and lines of pre-programmed code. On the front end, the potential client sees speedy responses to common questions, along with empathetic support, communicated through a chat “mood.”
Why Use Live Chat for a Law Firm?
Live chat is a way to employ one more channel for potential clients to contact your law firm, and people increasingly prefer messaging through live chat than making a phone call. Live chat offers a convenient connection to your website visitors, so they are not tempted to go looking at a competitor’s website. Live chat can be beneficial for law firms, since it can provide:
- Real time support with a live person who can give somewhat more complex answers than interactions with a chatbot.
- Increased Conversions. Websites using live chat options typically gather in more email addresses and engage more potential leads. Each live chat app has various tools to measure conversion rates.
- Client Satisfaction. Individuals who use live chat often rank higher in customer satisfaction.
- Instant Service. Many clients prefer live chat over traditional contact methods because they receive an immediate response.
- Off-hour engagement. Live chat automation means you can reduce the staff needed to answer phone calls. Visitors can also contact your law firm outside office hours and you can follow-up later.
Disadvantages of Live Chat
Some users find live chat helpful, and some find it annoying. Reports say that millennials are 20% more likely to use live chat than a baby boomer, and millennials are 75% more likely to use messaging than make a phone call. Different live chat solutions vary slightly, but here are some common complaints:
- Uncertain user value. Most live chat applications for law firms staff people who are unconnected with the law firm. When a potential client starts a live chat, they will not get any specific answers toward their legal situation. Although live chat mimics a personal interaction for the user, the only answers provided will be general information given in advance by the law firm. Some live chat applications, however, employ legally trained chat agents.
- Invasive User Experience. Many live chat providers promote a pop-up live chat image, which can annoy some users. In fact, popups can be so off-putting to some visitors that they are likely to exit the site altogether.
- Older generations are less likely to use live chat, and even some younger visitors prefer alternative contact methods. If you employ live chat on your website, there should always be an easy way to dismiss the live chat option.
Live Chat vs. Chatbots
Live chat is a stellar technology that engages potential clients and answers their questions immediately. But some businesses use chatbots, computer programs that interact with visitors via chat interface. Both live chat and chatbots can be useful for your law firm website, depending on the needs of your business:
Live Chat
- The interaction is carried out by a real human.
- When the visitor questions delve into complicated matters, a live chat session can deliver.
- A live person can only handle a limited number of chat sessions at a time.
- A live chat is overkill for questions that are simplistic, common and repetitive.
- A live chat cannot always immediately access consumer information, which can slow down personalized service.
- A live chat agent can interpret questions, even if they are misspelled or improperly phrased.
Chatbot
- A chatbot interaction is carried out by a machine who can interpret queries that are preprogrammed.
- Chatbots can instantly pair personal data with consumer questions, delivering an immediate personalized response.
- A chatbot can handle multiple discussions at once, if supported by the app.
- Chatbot interactions are especially appropriate for queries that are simple, repetitive, and commonly asked by website visitors.
Live Chat Apps For Law Firms
Live chat for law firms is becoming more of a necessity, as potential clients expect your business to be available 24/7. Live chat is a personal touch on your law firm’s website and can make an instant impact by gaining you leads. There are many live chat apps that cooperate well with the needs of a law firm, and some are created especially for law firms and lawyers. Here are some live chat apps to get you started; be sure to do your own research to decide which live chat option works best for your law firm.
ApexChat
- Has law firm-specific features
- 14-day free demo available
- You only pay for results (pay per lead)
- Agents have legal experience
- Easy to install software
- English / Spanish
Client Chat Live
- Created by lawyers, for lawyers
- Flat price quotes on request
- 14-day free demo
- Chat transcripts provided along with monthly reports
- English / Spanish
CUGIC
- Specifically for law firms
- Multiple price packages
- 14-day free trial
- Multilingual – 42 languages
- Easy to install and use
Legal Chat 24/7
- 100% law firm specific
- 14-day free trial
- Pricing varies (price per lead)
- Simple to get started
- Operators trained in legal language
- English / Spanish
LiveChat
- Not law firm specific; used by over 26,000 businesses in 150 countries
- 30-day free trial
- Variety of chat tools
- Easy to use
- 45 different languages
Ruby
- 42% of users are attorneys
- 21-day free demo available
- 100% one minute or less response rate
- Simple implementation
- English / Spanish
Source
- Not specific to law firms; popular with a wide variety of businessesVarious pricing packages available
- 30 chat / 10 user free trial
- Browser-based; easy setup
- 90 languages
Zendesk Chat
- Not law firm specific
- 14-day free trial
- Annual pricing plans
- One of the most established chat providers
- Multilingual support
How Law Quill Can Help
Since the internet never sleeps, people expect your website to be consistently available, and live chat can make this possible. Live chat for law firms allows lawyers to answer questions from website visitors, all with a human touch. Adding live chat to your messaging options can offer your visitors helpful answers, bring profitable leads and generate new business for your law firm.
We are here to help and would welcome the opportunity to visit with you for free regarding your law firm website’s content, and how we can take these tasks off your plate! Schedule a free visit with us by scheduling a quick phone or zoom call at your convenience on our calendar today. You can also email us at [email protected]