Keukenwarenhuis.nl is a real family business selling German quality kitchens at competitive prices. The company has the largest showrooms in the Netherlands in Ter Aar and Dordrecht. This allows them to deliver many models from stock. Last year they sold more than 5000 kitchens, in which live chat also played a role. Jordi Fok, marketing manager at Keukenwarenhuis, tells more about this.
Why Did Keukenwarenhuis Start With Live Chat?
‘Our mission is to make customers happy, and communication plays an important role in that. That’s where you guys come in. Of course you can have a big call center, but 70 or 80% of the questions usually fall into the same category where you can give an easy and short answer. With live chat, that saves you so much more time.’
‘In the peak of corona time we had as many as 1,500 chats per month; you really can’t process all of those by phone. Also, live chat is much more accessible, and therefore a great alternative that has proven its value.’
Which Channels Do You Use to Chat With (Potential) Customers?
‘We have webchat and recently we added WhatsApp as a channel. We started with webchat and added WhatsApp as an alternative for the people who prefer to chat by app. This is because we have so many different target groups, and especially in this digital age there are so many different ways you can connect with them. Everyone has their own channel that they prefer and feel comfortable with.’
WhatsApp Is One of the Most Popular Messaging Platforms. Why Is This Channel Particularly Useful for Keukenwarenhuis Right Now?
‘Mainly for extra service towards the customer; they only need to save our contact in their phone once and then we are always available for them. So if they’re already messaging with friends or family, they can also send a message to Kitchenwarenhuis right away.’
‘We approached it very openly. So we get all kinds of things out of it, like appointments for example. What we like from your side is that a contact is immediately tagged and added in a category. We can also see in the statistics how many leads Conversation24 has processed for us, which gives us a clear overview of which customer is looking for which channel.’
‘Customers only need to save our contact in their phone once and then we are always available to them’
Looking at Your Statistics, We Indeed See That of the 6965 Chats This Year, 18.4% Were Sales Chats. Did You Expect Such a High Percentage of Chats Would Lead to Sales?
‘The idea is that if the customer has oriented themselves and is so low in the funnel, that they eventually move on to a conversion. And that is where your tools offer a very nice solution. Customers can schedule an appointment in a very simple and accessible way, and that works just really efficiently.’
‘So in that respect the 18.4% may still grow further. But we are certainly very happy with it and I think it also reflects how easily and quickly customers know how to find us.’
What More Results Have You Noticed So Far?
‘The added value of the chat for us is the filtering out, the time we save with it. In the time you filter out a customer contact that comes in, that already saves us 4 emails or a 15-minute phone call.’
And What Does Chat Add Specifically to the Kitchen Sector?
‘That’s a great question! The kitchen industry is generally known for the fact that it never goes right the first time you buy a kitchen. The process is also quite complicated. There are many facets involved, such as different products and sizing. So the margin of error is also present. That doesn’t have to be a big problem, it’s just a matter of how you deal with it.’
‘Communication plays a very important role in that matter. If we can keep the lines of communication as short as possible with web chat and WhatsApp, it works really well. The process of buying a kitchen takes weeks, sometimes months. But if consumers can always reach the company where they bought their kitchen and get an immediate answer, that’s amazing. It’s all about customer satisfaction and like this it’s just very high. I therefore think that the tools we use through you guys are certainly very valuable in the kitchen industry.’
‘The process of buying a kitchen takes weeks, sometimes months. If we can keep the lines of communication as short as possible with web chat and WhatsApp, and customers can always reach us and get an immediate answer, that works really well.’
Why the Live Chat Solutions From Conversation24 Can Add Value in Any Industry
In almost every industry, it’s important to have a good customer experience as a priority. Therefore, live chat across different channels can add a lot of value. Get advice on how you can optimize your customer experience with live chat, or start your free trial here.
