Why being accessible to customers 24/7 is critical for business success

Do you remember when contacting a business meant waiting on hold forever or sending an email and hoping for a response in a few days? Those days are long gone. Actually, technology has completely flipped the script. In fact, it’s massively changed it, helping businesses unlock their potential. But on top of that, now, customers expect answers instantly, whether it’s noon or the middle of the night.

In today’s world of instant messaging, on-demand streaming, and same-day delivery, patience is practically extinct. People expect convenience; it’s as simple as that. If a customer can’t get help right away, they’ll move on faster than you can say, “Sorry for the delay.” Yep, you read that right! So, being reachable 24/7 isn’t just a nice-to-have anymore; it’s what customers demand. But why?

The high price of being unavailable

When businesses aren’t available, especially during odd hours, it’s more than just a minor inconvenience for customers. Actually, something like this can be a full-on a deal-breaker. So, just go ahead and imagine someone struggling to place an order or fix a problem late at night. If they can’t get help, they’ll probably take their business to someone who’s ready to assist. And the worst part? Well, once they’re gone, they’re unlikely to come back.

But staying accessible isn’t cheap. Hiring employees to work second and third shifts? Oh yes, that gets expensive. But what about outsourcing to call centers? Well, that’s also expensive (and who knows, it could damage your reputation). And you shouldn’t even talk about how hard it is to find people willing to work those hours (understandably, no one wants to). 

Overall, balancing the cost of staying available with the risk of losing customers is a tough challenge for any business.

But what can you even do?

Customers demand that you’re accessible at all times, but it’s too expensive and risky to have a human be accessible at all times. So, what can you even do in that case? Well, nowadays, staying reachable doesn’t have to drain your budget. Actually, you can look into the best chatbot for website since this just so happens to be what businesses are using more nowadays. Just think about it: you can finally provide 24/7 support without having to stress over hiring any night owls.

But why a chatbot? Well, they can jump in and handle customer questions, solve basic problems, and even help with orders; plus, they’re still cheaper than a human, and they don’t sleep (let alone complain or call in sick). They’re always there, ready to help customers at any hour. Slowly, AI is becoming smarter, so it’s going to get to the point where it can easily mimic human interaction anyways.

Sure, they might not have the charm of a real person, but they’re reliable, quick, and always available, exactly what today’s customers expect. Plus, slowly, AI bots will eventually be able to take calls (rather than those annoying automated calls that people hate). But again, it’s technology, and it’s slowly changing.

Why exactly does 24/7 access matter?

Well, it goes back to what was mentioned earlier, customers these days are spoiled for choice. They’re used to everything being fast and easy, so when a business can’t deliver the same experience, it sticks out in a bad way. If a competitor is more responsive, they’ll win the customer’s loyalty, simple as that.