Today’s customers demand convenience, prompt responses, and meaningful interactions from businesses. With its advanced capabilities and wide reach, WhatsApp has a clear edge over traditional communicational channels in meeting evolving customer expectations.
By integrating WhatsApp into the customer service strategy, businesses worldwide can gain a competitive edge by offering a quick and convenient channel for customer conversations.
Customers are 82% more likely to make a repeat purchase when businesses provide exceptional customer service, according to a Gartner Study. Given the significance of customer service, it is crucial that businesses choose the right channels to offer support.
WhatsApp is one such powerful channel for customer service. Businesses worldwide are leveraging the platform to connect with customers and deliver outstanding customer experiences.
Why Use WhatsApp for Customer Service
Traditional channels like emails can lead to delays in issue resolution since email communication can be slow. On the contrary, using an instant messaging platform like WhatsApp speeds up the resolution process as communication happens in real-time.
According to Statista, there are an estimated 6.6 billion mobile network subscriptions existing globally. WhatsApp, being easy to access on any device, is extensively used by people of all demographics. It, thus, becomes an ideal channel to reach people.
WhatsApp opt-in allows customer service representatives to easily identify contact numbers and access each user’s conversation history.
The insights from previous conversations enable businesses to send personalized messages. Moreover, having relevant exchanges help boost customer satisfaction and increases the likelihood of conversions and repurchases.
WhatsApp Business App is excellent for small businesses and does not have many collaborative features. However, for medium to large and enterprise businesses, the WhatsApp Business Platform is the right choice since its rich features can adequately meet the demands of their growing business needs.
How to Use WhatsApp Customer Support
Once a WhatsApp Business profile is set up, it’s important to share the WhatsApp number through other channels, such as social media and email, making it easier for customers to reach businesses.
Making the number visible on the website and adding a Click to Chat button, QR code on your app or Contact Us page also lets customers know that a business is available on WhatsApp.
Once a customer connects with a business on WhatsApp, here are a few ways to use the platform as an effective customer service channel,
1. Send Proactive Updates
With WhatsApp, businesses can share all relevant information with customers across all stages. Instead of waiting for customers to make the first move, businesses can communicate proactively, boosting customer satisfaction.
WhatsApp updates can also play a pivotal role in improving the purchase experience for customers.
For example, sending order status messages reassures customers by informing them when they can expect to receive the product.
Here are a few other scenarios where WhatsApp updates are useful:
- Appointment reminders
- Flight status updates
- Delivery status information
- Order confirmation
- Sale announcements
- Order ready for pickup updates
- Product back-in-stock alerts
- Price drop alerts
- Account balance updates
- Payment reminders
2. Integration with Business Tools
Using WhatsApp Business Platform with a trusted business solution provider, such as Kaleyra, allows businesses to connect with systems such as CRM and marketing automation platforms. Integration with the existing tech stack helps streamline workflows and enables seamless collaboration.
For example, integration with CRM, such as LeadSqaured, can intelligently route queries to the right agents. Moreover, with WhatsApp-CRM integration, businesses can monitor all conversations and evaluate the performance of the WhatsApp channel in one place.
To know more, you can book a demo with Leadsquared.
3. Automate Responses
With WhatsApp automation, you can configure greeting messages and set away messages to engage customers beyond business hours. Automated messages help businesses be available 24/7, maximizing the engagement.
WhatsApp chatbots can go a step above by providing automated replies to frequently asked questions. You can ensure that your customers get timely and accurate responses to common questions such as business hours, office locations, and your range of products and services.
In addition to providing round-the-clock customer support, chatbots reduce agent workload, freeing up their time for more significant tasks.
WhatsApp automation is especially helpful for businesses with a global audience. Instead of investing in a huge customer service team from different time zones, you can use automated messages to provide prompt responses.
Moreover, automation helps handle multiple queries simultaneously and is thus a scalable solution for customer service.
4. Share Rich Media
One of the major advantages of using WhatsApp for customer communication is the rich media formats supported by the messaging platform. You and your customers can easily exchange information through PDFs, images, videos, and audio files.
For example, if a customer wants help with product installation, you can send a product demo video and a PDF with detailed instructions. Similarly, customers can share Identity proof and billing documents easily on WhatsApp, allowing faster query resolution.
5. Link to Product Catalog
Most prospective customers are keen to know your company’s offerings and would appreciate a product catalog in your WhatsApp business profile.
The catalog provides an opportunity for customers to explore the products, choose from the bestsellers, and ask relevant questions.
For example, when a customer browses the product catalog and finds the latest feature update, they can ask a specific queries pertaining to the feature.
Product catalog helps guide customers to make informed decisions, and hence, drives conversions.
Benefits of WhatsApp Customer Support
Here are a few advantages of using WhatsApp for your customer service efforts –
1. Easy communication
WhatsApp, being an instant messaging platform, simplifies customer interactions. It offers a convenient channel for customers to connect with businesses and learn about their offerings.
2. Rich Interactions
WhatsApp’s advanced features allow you to have conversations that are relevant to every stage of the customer journey. From creating brand awareness in customers to nurturing them towards a purchase, the platform offers features that help have deeper conversations.
3. Security
WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption makes it a secure channel for customer communication. The Signal encryption protocol and other security features ensure that all conversations remain private between the sender and the receiver.
Customer service is a crucial part of attracting, engaging, and retaining a business’s customers. WhatsApp has billions of global users, which helps businesses reach a wider audience.
Its average open rate of 98% ensures prompt responses to queries and easy exchange of information. Moreover, automation tools and analytics help develop the best strategies to provide amazing customer service.
FAQs
Businesses can begin with keeping their customers updated about their inquiries. Automating the response will gain them better customer engagement. Integrating WhatsApp wi is another way of benefiting from it.
WhatsApp has a wider reach and far better accessibility than channels like emails and SMS. This makes communication easy and ensures that issues get resolve quickly.
Chatbots and live chats allow you to give prompt replies to questions. It enables you to quickly share relevant product information and solve problems faster. It helps build better customer relations assuring that you are always there for them.
