WebsiteAlive Editor Jeff Staub contributed to this article.

The competitiveness of online sales and services has increased dramatically since the birth of the Internet some 20 years ago. As quickly as the online marketplace evolves so does the need to encourage consumers to buy from you, and not your competition, with the introduction of “Proactive Sales.” While this is by no means a new concept in sales found in brick and mortar storefronts, until recently the concept has transformed its way into the online world.

What are Proactive Sales? The term "Proactive" is defined as: “Controlling a situation by causing something to happen rather than waiting to respond to it after it happens.” To date, almost all online sales are conducted using static product description pages. A tedious customer experience might involve scouring through these pages and trying to decipher the relevancy and honesty of their search results. This in turn produces an incomplete buying experience which leaves the consumer with more questions and feelings of uneasiness rather than confidence and assurance.

Live chat programs allow online businesses to communicate in real time with potential buyers allowing the opportunity to have consumer questions answered instantly. A very powerful sales presentation is created, and a new level of trust is established between the customer and the business. Live chat is ultimate communication medium which allows your representatives become the virtual salespeople of your online storefront.

Gather Information Before a Proactive Request is Made

Proactive Sales by definition requires some degree of information about the consumer and their behavior in order to be effective. For this reason it is of great importance to know where your customers are coming from, how long they have been on your web site, and what exactly they are interested in purchasing. WebsiteAlive’s AliveChat allows you to gather such information. The live site monitor, visitor recorder and email chat transcripts are a few of the most popular utilities allowing you to quickly analyze and predict your customer’s needs.

One of the most significant features which allow you to increase sales with live chat is the Proactive Chat request feature. This allows your sales representative to request a chat session with a visitor without the visitor requesting to begin a session.

The Proactive Request Pop-Up

In a typical, customer requested chat session, they click on a live chat button embedded on your web page. With Proactive Chat, your salesperson initiates a chat ,and the customer is prompted with a chat window which 'floats' within their browser window an lets the customer choose to 'Accept' or 'Reject' the chat.

Example Proactive Pop-Up

Proactive Chat is similar to a salesperson approaching a customer in a traditional brick and mortar store front. Picture a customer browsing the isles trying to find something that they are looking for. Then around the corner comes a sales person which asks, "How may I help you?" Now engaged in chat, the salesperson can offer advice as to which solution will work best.

Instant Benefits of Proactive Sales Chats:

• Increase in revenue per sale
• Increased closing ratios
• Increased trust between retailer and customer
• Increased referrals
• Offer product and service suggestions only possible with a live person

AliveChat's Proactive Chat Feature Highlights

• Works through pop-up blocking software.
• Customizable graphic designs based on the web page visitor is viewing (LITE, PRO, and PRO+ only). Having different designs for different sections of your website may result in higher chat acceptance rates.
• Proactive requests 'float' on the web page, so customer will respond to the window at all times.

In a nutshell, Proactive Sales also offers a new, dynamic method of upselling to the customer which increases revenue per sale, increased closing ratios, builds consumer confidence, promotes referrals, and allows you to give suggestions to your customers. These benefits of Proactive Sales found in a live chat solution creates a necessary and interesting user experience which will be adopted in many e-commerce web sites as the internet matures and online shoppers become more web savvy.

Be sure to take a 'Proactive' stance and don't be the last one to take advantage of this new marketing technology.