Changes to Google Business Profile chat and call history

What Has Changed?

Chat and call history added to the list of deprecated Business Profile features by Google Which effectively means businesses are no longer able to talk to their customers via the chat feature on their profiles. Another feature removed is the ability to view customer call history directly from your Business Profile. This has been a valuable capability for enterprises who want to have the ability to directly communicate and keep records of all customer interactions. For these features that were once available to them are now out of reach, and there needs to be an adaptability among businesses if they intend on continuing their customer engagement practices.

The Future of Customer Interactions

Although chat and call history have been struck from the feature roster, customers can still tap “find a business on Google Search & Maps” to look up nearby profiles. The practice of these platforms is still important to be able access interested parties. Your Business Profile will appear when your company or related service is searched by customers, along with the information you convey like website links, business descriptions and shared photos.
Even more so, customers can still click to call your business directly using the contact you have listed in your profile. This guaranteed that despite chat no longer being an option, the center will continue to receive a heightened call volume from customers. Besides, there are other engagement metrics that you can still see — the number of people visiting your website or requesting directions and so on. These insights are important for you to evaluate how well your online presence is performing and what actionable changes can be made.

How to review the performance of your Business Profile

However, to utilize your Business Profile effectively you need to watch the performance of it on an ongoing basis. You can measure how well your profile is performing using tools from Google itself, which includes tracking data on web traffic, direction requests and all of the other ways a potential customer might engage with you. It is worth watching these metrics to learn about trends and what leads customers to your profile so you can optimize visibility for more customer interactions.
Understand how they find your business and what actions are taken by them through the performance monitoring tools on Google. As an example, if you see a decrease in calls or website visits then it could be time to give your business description a refresh; update photos; add new services on the profile. If you have a feature that has been doing well so far, you can emphasize even more or think of ways to extend it’s functionality.

What You Need to Do Next

Without its chat and call history any more, it is very necessary to plan accordingly now so that you will be able to contact your customers smoothly in a much faster manner avoiding the past records loss.

Chat/Call History downloaded in the past

A service called Google Takeout allows you to download your records of past chats and call history from Google. You can use this service to export your data especially Google services such as Business Profile ofcourse. If you use these records for your own Customer Service, Follow Up or any business purposes to get a hold of them before the deadline August 30th; Records will cease to be available at this date so prompt action is essential.

Diversify Your Chat Channel

If you are using the Chat feature in your Business Profile to communicate with customers, consider alternative channels through which these conversations can continue. You have plenty of options, as is the nature with so many other digital marketing and customer support tools across all categories: there are a multitude of chat solutions out there that integrate directly into your website or any online space you can point at to maintain line-of-sight communication direct-to-your-customer. Common examples are live chat widgets or social media messaging platforms such as Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp, in addition to more traditional customer service software like Zendesk & Intercom etc.
Think about your customers and which platform they are the most comfortable using as well how easy it will be to integrate with your existing systems before choosing an alternative chat solution. The plan efficiently needs to carry on the torch, making it a seamless transition for your customers so they can continue reaching out and you responding to their inquiries.

Update Your Business Profile

As the chat disappeared, it increases relevance of optimizing all elements in your Business Profile. Ensure your profile on the site is correctly entered in terms of a phone number and email address. Also, double check how you described your business to make sure that it states your services, hours of operation etc. Correctly. All the photos that you share in your profile must be recent and give information about how to attract more potential customers.

Include additional details on your Business Profile, like FAQs and customer reviews. This help the customers know more about what you are doing which can give confidence to the potential returning users that decide between your service and a competitors. However, you can still use it effectively just to keep your portfolio up-to-date and informative.

For those who have come to rely on these tools for client chats and call history, the removal of Google Business Profiles could mean a serious break from business-as-usual. Yet, it needn’t come to that if you plan well and adapt. Through accessing historical records, leveraging alternative means of communication and improving your Business Profile — with the above quick victories… you can keep up an online presence to still have potential customers locate/contact you more smoothly. Be forward-thinking and incorporate the changes in order that your business prospers in this ever changing digital world.