Brian O'Connell, President

Your CPA website exists to bring in more clients – to convert prospects into paying customers.

Websites from CPA Site Solutions come loaded with thousands of pages of Ready-to-Go content, so that when a visitor comes to your site, they’re immediately impressed by your professionalism.

But some people want more than to just read about you. They want to get in there right away and ask questions. And they’re used to doing everything online – they’re not going to pick up the phone .

For those folks, you want Live Chat on your site.

Imagine that a potential client is looking around for a new accountant. They have a question they want answered immediately. They come to your site and see the Live Chat box – and within minutes, they’re chatting with a real accountant, all without picking up a phone or meeting in an office.

That sounds to me like an excellent way to convert a lead into a client.

What Kinds of Questions Do People Ask?

People want to know all kinds of things when they visit your site – questions like:

• What are your rates?
• What are your specialities?
• How much experience do you have?
• How long would it take you to complete my return?
• Do you have time to take me on as a business client?

They also might have specific questions about their financial situation. It can be a bit time-consuming to answer these, but it’s a powerful way to demonstrate your professionalism and caring.

The Meebo Me chat box.

Meebo

Meebo offers a free chat box widget called Meebo Me that you can put wherever you’d like on your website. Any visitor can click on the box and ask you a question.

If you’re not taking chats, simply adjust your status to “offline” and folks can leave a message.

To get the code for your Meebo Me chat box, visit the Meebo website.

If you’re a Gold or Platinum client, take advantage of our We Do It All for You service and ask us to add the code for you. Call us at 1-800-896-4500 or email support@cpasitesolutions.com.

Volusion

Volusion is another free live chat option.

Just like Meebo, Volusion gives you the option to change your status to “offline.”

One advantage of Volusion over Meebo is that it allows you to use your own image in the chat box rather than the stock photo.

Here’s an example of the Volusion chat box, on a Contact Us page:

This is what clients see when you insert the Volusion chat box on your site.

To download this free software, visit the Volusion site.

Again, if you’re a Gold or Platinum client, we help you situate the chat box wherever you’d like on your site. Just call 1-800-896-4500, or email support@cpasitesolutions.com.

Don’t Let a Prospect Slip Away

Your website is a valuable marketing tool. Extend its usefulness by impressing all the potential clients who visit, including those who want to make live contact right away – without picking up the phone.

Even if the chat option converts just two clients a year, it’s a worthwhile investment in time. And because the software is free, it’s certainly worth it in dollars.

If you have any questions about Live chat, let us know! 1-800-896-4500, or support@cpasitesolutions.com

You can get plenty of visitor data for any accounting website hosted by CPA Site Solutions via the webalizer. Wouldn’t you rather be able to chat with these potential clients? There is a way to have live chat for free on your CPA web site. Here is a breakdown of how that can work.

Download the software. The company is called Volusion and the download is free. Although you are limited to one operator, for most CPA firms this shouldn’t be an issue. If it is you can check out their Premium Edition and the comparison chart to the free service.

Free Online Chat Service

Very easy set-up. Once you install the software, you then enter an email address and password. A verification email is sent to the email address you used.

Install the code. Code is generated to be used on any page of your CPA website. Just copy and paste it into the page you want to use it via the source view in the site editor. Alternatively you can email the code to support@cpasitesolutions.com and indicate on what page the icon should appear.

Start it up. Now when you want to chat you just open the Volusion software, sign in and your set to go. Although you are limited to one operator, that operator can have up to five chats going at once.

Works offline. They system even works when you are not logged into the account. When a user clicks on the icon they can send an email with their question. You then get an email to the email account you registered with.

Create a custom email. One way around having only one operator is to create a custom live chat email account. If you have the password available to people in the firm then anyone can manage the account.

Volusion’s free live chat feature is fairly quick to set up and use right away. Although you could spend a lot of money per month for a more robust system, for the a lot of CPA websites this service fits the bill quite nicely.