An innovative North Tyneside business using powerful technology is expanding once again after increasing turnover by 157% in the last year.
Chat Heroes has now set its sights on becoming the UK’s market-leading outsourced Live Web Chat delivery service to the property and lettings industry following unprecedented growth in the Live Chat market as a direct online communication tool for customers.
Chat Heroes, based in Wallsend Town Hall has grown from six to nine staff members in 12 months, with plans to increase to 18 new employees by the end of the year to meet the demands of several new UK-wide contracts.
The technology combined with customer service orientated skills, led by entrepreneur Paul Lawton, has expanded quickly since launching in March 2015 to work with a range of clients looking for outsourced live chat services to deliver direct, real-time communication with online customers.
Current clients include Jan Forster Estate Agents, Castledene Group, Signature by Mark Small and many others including Housing Associations.
Paul, founder of Chat Heroes comments; “Chat Heroes is really going from strength to strength as our services continue to be recognised up and down the UK as an important part of the online marketing and communication tools demanded by customers. The key benefits are lead generation intertwined with exceptional customer service. We have designed and been recognised for with an award for our Frequently Asked Questions system. Our SME clients soon accept us as an extended part of their own team; especially when their business is shut. We see interest from a range of businesses and organisations who are looking for ways to engage with visitors to a website on a one-to-one basis but don’t necessarily have the traffic or internal resources to man Live Chat operations 85 hours a week.
“We offer a same day quick and simple implementation solution for an outsourced Live Chat service for businesses looking for experienced and skilled people to deliver an engaging Live Chat operation with real substance and direction. More than 50% of live chat conversations for our sales and letting clients in the property industry are turned into active leads and we are always looking at further ways to increase this going forward. Most clients see a positive ROI immediately”
Chat Heroes was founded by Paul in response to the growth in Live Chat operations on websites aiming to meet the needs of customers who want to engage with a brand or organisation on a more immediate level. Whilst competitors focus on pay-per-lead models, Chat Heroes has the technology platform and training capabilities in place to offer a rounded chat delivery service to clients. Paul and his team sought out new ways to improve on the model and offer something different with a more subscription based service. Allison Lawton, Contact Centre Manager, has been recognised for her role in growing the team and managing the Operations side of the business. She has been shortlisted for an award for Forward Ladies National Awards 2017, sponsored by HSBC in the Rising Star Category, which is a great achievement.
Paul continues: “Not everyone likes the idea of speaking direct and over the phone to businesses. This could be for several reasons; fear of being kept on hold or direct selling or even just wanting to ask a simple question relating to a product in terms of availability or price. Live Chat is the perfect first-step communication for customers visiting a website, we answer on average within 30 seconds and our trained team offer immediate information to keep a customer interested and engaged. A lead is with the business owner in less than 100 seconds on any device.
“One of the biggest problems facing traditional agents is the rise of the online-only estate agents and we offer a multi-faceted tool to add to the marketing and communication mix of high-street agents and assist greatly in the digital fightback.
“It is almost expected of businesses now to offer a Live Chat option but we completely understand the demands this places on resources. Our initial specialism in the property industry has grown to cover many different areas and we are now looking to expand further with new teams of six agents for other specialist sectors due to recent new contract wins.
“It’s certainly a very exciting time for the business as we seek to increase our nationwide customer base and welcome new local employees to help us engage with brands and clients as part of the Live Chat experience online.”