Whenever Jen LeBlanc hears a ding coming from her computer she knows that someone new has landed on the Salon Rootz website. The director of marketing for the Medina, Ohio, salon, LeBlanc used a Wordpress Chat plugin to create an online chat option that can be used by site visitors to ask questions or book an appointment in real time.

“My goal was to optimize new visitors to our website and not allow them to get lost,” says LeBlanc.“I get an alert when a visitor lands on our page. If the plugin tells me it’s a first-time visitor, I engage with them — or they can engage with me at any time.”

Activity has been busier than anticipated; during the first two weeks the feature was live, LeBlanc booked over 40 appointments via web chat. “It’s an easy platform to book an appointment without having to pick up the phone or go through the online scheduling process. It has also allowed me to answer a plethora of questions from new and old clients directly,” she says.

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