3 Best Salesforce Live Agent Alternatives in 2022

Hiring at least three people and having them stand by 24/7 in case someone has a question about sales or support is not exactly a practical idea unless you’re already a medium-sized, thriving company with lots of extra revenue. That’s the whole reasoning behind live chat agents and their popularity. If you’ve already looked into it, chances are you know about the live chat solution Salesforce offers. Of course, the live chat agent it offers is great, but it’s not exactly affordable for most startups and small business owners. The good news is there are a few affordable Salesforce live agent alternatives around, and I’m going to introduce a few of the best.

It’s not just an empty fad either — data shows that a live chat agent can add %5-25 to your conversion rate. So, they’re an excellent way to save money on hiring new staff and increasing your sales in one move.

What exactly is live chat and how does it function?

Live chat is a type of customer service that allows customers to message your customer support or sales teams directly. So that customers can get answers to any questions or problems they may have. A live chat platform is frequently described as a direct means of communication with your sales team via message.

A pop-up chat option on a business page’s website is very popular nowadays because it encourages clients to communicate while decreasing their effort.

Providing an immediate means for your clients to contact your organization can be extremely advantageous. A positive conversation with a consumer, for example, can make them loyal to your company. You will learn about your customer’s needs and the types of challenges they experience in order to obtain your service by having a good dialogue with them.

Understanding their needs and challenges can lead you in a completely different way. These can assist you in making critical and significant business decisions that can propel your company to new heights.

How much does live chat improve conversion rates?

Live chat is quite effective at converting visitors into customers. According to CrazyEgg, after a terrific chat session with the sales team, 38% of clients make a confirmed buy. After a great encounter with your customer care team, a satisfied consumer is 2.8 times more likely to make a purchase.

According to an Invesp survey, 44 percent of customers believe that speaking with a customer support representative while completing a purchase is beneficial. It is also the most significant feature that a company or website can provide. Live chat may often result in a whopping conversion rate of 20% or higher, which is excellent for customer retention.

 

Candidates for Best Salesforce Live Chat Agent Alternatives in 2022

RunSensible

The dark horse of the business management and automation market, RunSensible can be considered a newcomer, especially compared to giants like Salesforce. It does, however, offer much more for a lot less, making up for brand recognition with comprehensive features and tools that add value to startups and small businesses instead of just looking good on paper.

• Live Chat
• Chatbots
• Integrated inboxes
• Branded Chat Widget
• Completely Customizable
• Customer Feedback Tool
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
• Knowledgebase and Self-Serve Articles
• Automated Follow-ups
• Scheduling Calendar Integration
• Business Phone Integrarion
• Call Tracking
• Customizable Pick-up Policy

 

HubSpot

HubSpot is an all-in-one Salesforce Live Agent alternative with a free CRM platform, offering additional marketing, sales, and customer service features — at a price. You’ll find everything you need to automate the procedures in your business here. The most significant advantage is that all of the tools are located in the same place. Therefore, it would not be difficult for you to begin using the support capabilities and the marketing or sales features if you want.

So, HubSpot is one of the most formidable Salesforce Live Agent competitors available, and it is scalable to accommodate companies of any size.

Salesforce Live Chat Agent has another competitor in HubSpot. HubSpot is famous for its range of tools and solutions and, of course, its high prices. HubSpot is more than a live chat solution; in fact, it’s a complete business solution for startups and small businesses, just like RunSensible. The live chat agent HubSpot has to offer is really stocked with features as well, but it comes in different plans at different prices. The free version only includes the following features.

• Live Conversation
• Chatbot
• Mailboxes Combined
• Ticketing
• Mobile App

That means you won’t be able to change the bot’s default messages, let alone match its design to your brand colors and logo. It also allows a single team member to handle the messages. If you want to add high-value features and customizations, you’ll have to pay between $45 to $1,200/Month — not exactly cheap for starting and small businesses. RunSensible, of course, includes all these features and more for just $40/Month.

At its most expensive, HubSpot’s Live Chat brings some valuable features to the table in its:

• Talk in real-time using a shared mailbox
• Automatic redirection of calls to the appropriate agent
• Response systems that are automated for the most frequently asked inquiries
• HubSpot users can make VoIP calls directly from the platform
• Tons of integrations
• Complimentary customer relationship management software
• Surveys requesting feedback from customers

RunSensible, of course, includes all these features and more for just $40/Month.

Comparing Salesforce Live Agent with other customer service software

Pros

— This one platform incorporates a large number of separate tools.

AI and a Conversational Robot. The mechanization of a great number of procedures.

Cons

– A convoluted price structure.

– Difficult to implement and deploy, especially if you plan on adding other offices.

The reporting is inadequate and can be difficult to understand.

 

Intercom

Intercom is one of the most well-known Salesforce Live Agent alternatives and is typically linked with companies that are in the business world. The fact that Intercom provides capabilities for support, sales, and communication tools in one package, makes it harder to be called just a Salesforce live chat agent alternative; in fact, it’s much closer to RunSensible — a comprehensive, complete software solution for startups, entrepreneurs, and small businesses. Despite that, Intercom can still be considered a a great Salesforce Live Chat Agent alternative because it comes with the following tools and features:

Live Chat

Chatbots

Team inboxes

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Knowledgebase and Self-Serve Articles

Automated Follow-ups

Pricing starts at $74 per month.

There is a free trial available for 14 days, but there is no free plan.

Intercom Salesforce Live Agent alternative price

Intercom is one of the solutions that can be considered an alternative to Salesforce Live Agent which has the highest price tag.

You will be required to select one of the following four plans in order to use it: one for small businesses (you are only eligible to use this plan if your website receives fewer than one thousand visitors per month), one for customer service, one for engagement, and one for sales. The following are included in the customer support:

live chat and team inboxes; workflows for ticketing; social network connectors; a discussion routing bot, and so on and so forth.

Intercom as a potential replacement for Salesforce Live Agent: advantages and disadvantages

Pros:

— Combines a number of different communication channels into a single system. — A multitude of marketing tools — An intuitive and straightforward user interface

Cons:

— Excessively expensive for startups and expanding companies; we recommend looking into other Intercom alternatives. — It is difficult to provide an accurate estimate of the ultimate price because there are too many variables that affect it. — Poor service to the customer

Find out why Dashly is a better functional solution for your company when compared to Intercom by reading this comparison.

 

What to Look For When Choosing the Best Salesforce Live Chat Agent in 2022

Certain feature sets and factors should be kept in mind while evaluating different live chat options. These elements will have an impact on the customer experience, employee productivity, and overall price. Let’s go through each of the important considerations in depth so you can determine which live chat software is the best fit for you.

How large is your sales or support staff?

There is a significant difference between companies with 5, 50, and 500 agents. Most plans will limit the number of support representatives who can access the product. Other plans will also have minimal seat requirements.

As your firm grows, it’s also critical that you look ahead. Is it simple to add new agents to your strategy on a large scale?

Check that you are not locked into a plan that limits your scalability.

Your Demands

Why are you looking for live chat software?

There are many general-purpose choices available. However, some software is built to meet certain demands and purposes.

There is live chat software for lead qualifying, live chat software for client engagement, and live chat software for customer assistance, among other things.

These are just a handful of the many examples that should be considered.

Support via All Channels

Do you communicate with your consumers through text or phone?

If your clients are contacting your brand through other channels, you’ll want to ensure that the software interfaces properly with those other platforms.

For example, you might use the same live chat software to manage interactions from your website and talks via Facebook Messenger. Instead of switching screens and being forced to use separate platforms, your service representatives can handle everything from a single dashboard.

This will simplify your agents’ lives and streamline the customer experience.

The more channels your live chat software can connect to, the more opportunities agents will have to use it.

Automation

The most important and desired feature of live chat software is undoubtedly automation. It dramatically speeds up service requests and is a cost-effective approach to giving assistance 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Chatbots do not take breaks or vacations. They work at night, on weekends, and even on holidays. So, if a website user has a query at 2:00 a.m. on a Saturday, it may be answered by a self-service chatbot.

Chatbots and live chat software can automatically route messages to the appropriate representative for firms with different departments. Questions about returns would be directed to a support representative, while questions about new products would be directed to a sales representative.

Bonus Features & Extras

Apart from the main live chat software tools, each software will provide extra features with varying plans. Not all of these will be deal-breakers, but they are useful to know if you intend to take advantage of these services.

CRM software integrations, chat history, custom widgets, admin monitoring, helpdesk tools, HIPAA compliance, calendar integrations, appointment scheduling, and so on are examples of functionality.

Depending on your requirements, a feature like HIPAA compliance may be critical. If your customer communications are governed by legislation, make sure you choose a live chat service that meets those standards.

 

Final Verdict: Best Salesforce Live Chat Agent Alternative Now

 

FAQ

Which app is best for live chat?

If you have the manpower to support constant live chat between customers and your sale or support, a live chat software like HubSpot is a good choice. If you need a live chat agent that takes off some of the pressure and generates leads, you should go for RunSensible.

What is the best free live chat software?

All of the Salesforce alternative live chat agents introduced here have a free version, so they’re all candidates. If you consider that RunSensible offers all features for only $40, the choice becomes more obvious.

Are chat agents real people?

Yes, they are. A chat agent is a term for people responsible to stand ready to talk to leads and customers. A live agent bott or chatbot, however, is the automated alternative.