Online Chat Converts into Higher Set-Visit Ratio

Chat is where it’s at with American consumers, and that includes apartment seekers. Fifty years after the first host-to-host internet connection, online chat in 2019 has become the preferred method of communication over email, text, and phone. Much more refined than its forerunner – the Talkomatic chat room conceived almost by accident in 1973 at the University of Illinois – online chat is preferred three to one when consumers seek more information about something they’ve seen on a website. A recent survey by Techjury released in March notes that 75 percent of respondents prefer live chat over other communication forms, the highest adoption rate since mainstream chat began being tracked about a decade ago. Chat conforms to the new American consumer  During a recent RealPage webcast, “This is Not Your Father’s Call Center Technology,” viewers echoed the trend. When asked what communications mode they believed that apartment seekers preferred the most, 65 percent said chat. Only 20 percent said text, followed by 10 percent for email and five percent for phone. No surprise that the non-invasive chat is trumping texting, which not even 20 years old is falling out of favor. One reason may be that texting ultimately allows the recipient access to the sender’s personal contact information, unlike chatting which is basically anonymous. Also, live chat conforms to the culture of the new American consumer and renter, who lives in an I-want-it-now world. Chat is typically available around the clock while phones and email accounts sleep. It’s becoming a commercial giant, weighing in at a projected $987 million industry in the next four years. But while chat is scrolling across desktops and cell phones at a fast rate, nearly half of consumers say that having a live person to answer their questions is the most preferred channel for customer communication. And 95 percent rate high-quality support over speed. B...