With billions of active users worldwide, WhatsApp has become a well-known messaging application. Besides message applications, it plays an active role for businesses in setting the root for streamlining customer service. WhatsApp has opened many mystery boxes for companies to provide efficient customer support, keeping them on top of every product launch or update.
With WhatsApp, you can serve your customers to the best of your ability. Whether you send automated order updates or answer their questions, WhatsApp can be an excellent tool for businesses.
In the last few years, a number of businesses have begun using the channel. With WhatsApp Business, the company generates leads, sends updates regarding the products it sells, and provides customer service.
Offering customer service through WhatsApp differs from providing it on any other platform. In a way, the expectations, benefits, and features available in the channel are quite different from those of email or live chat.
This article examines how companies using WhatsApp as a customer service tool can benefit from the messaging app.
Why are companies using WhatsApp for customer service?
Business owners find it challenging to manage a lot of communication channels. Despite this, they are still ready to do a lot more to incorporate WhatsApp into their communication strategy.
The reason? This messenger provides access to a large audience and offers numerous other advantages that make it attractive to users. Here is a look at what WhatsApp can do for your business in customer service.
Must Read: Elevate Your Business Customer Service with QR Codes
Chatbot support
WhatsApp’s chatbot feature is similar to any other live chat platform. If you want to use a chatbot to answer frequently asked questions about your business, you can easily configure it to handle the majority of those questions for you so that your customer service team can concentrate on more important matters.
Chatbots are available 24/7 and can be used even when you cannot answer your messages.
Great API capabilities
Next, you should know that WhatsApp provides an API for businesses. This API allows businesses to integrate WhatsApp with various tools and applications.
Using WhatsApp, you can integrate your personal and business tools, such as customer relationship management (CRM), with those you rely on daily. Also, connect WhatsApp to other software that might track orders and schedule appointments, and more to do more with it.
WhatsApp Business API, in the simplest terms, expands the available features in WhatsApp for companies that use the messaging app for customer service. As a result, it is ideal for a variety of use cases.
Popular and secure platform for customers
A significant reason for WhatsApp’s popularity is its ease of use. Over a quarter of the world’s population uses WhatsApp every month.
Good customer service aims to reduce friction for customers and make things as easy as possible for them. Therefore, utilizing the messaging channels they are familiar with and enjoy makes sense.
Multiple messaging options
When working in a customer service department, you might have to send photos, videos, or PDF files to the customers you are interacting with.
WhatsApp allows you to send all of those messages in one thread at the same time. Furthermore, the app can also be used for voice and video calls. If the agents need to connect with you quickly for an explanation, they will be able to do so right from the app if they need to do so.
How to use WhatsApp for customer service
The best way to serve your customers is through WhatsApp. Using all its features to the maximum extent is one of the things businesses can do to bring the most value to their clients while serving them. Listed below are some of the best ways to use WhatsApp to provide customer service to your clients:
Answering questions
Most companies have web FAQ sections, but customers prefer to speak directly with them. This is where WhatsApp can be useful, especially if you create a WhatsApp chatbot that you can use for this purpose. Users can ask questions about a particular product or service, delivery options, and payment options, to name just a few.
Ensure you update your chatbot script when a new question becomes popular by enriching it with frequently asked questions. Additionally, giving customers an easy way to opt for human responses when they need them to satisfy their needs is crucial.
Many banks use WhatsApp for customer support. During the chatbot’s interaction, the customer can ask the chatbot questions about Internet banking, payments, and debit cards.
Keep the customer updated with regular notifications (status updates)
Keep customers updated with notifications via messenger, as it is the easiest method to keep them informed. Your daily app can receive timely notifications without visiting a website or downloading an app.
Food delivery startups effectively employ a wide range of WhatsApp use cases. Questions, product information, order placement, and delivery status are all available. This was not solved by creating another app, only by utilizing already available tools.
Sending regular reminders (Appointment reminders, etc.)
Messages sent by brands on WhatsApp are more likely to be read by customers than emails. Unlike email, mobile messaging apps such as WhatsApp allow people to communicate instantly.
Sending appointment reminders and other time-sensitive messages via WhatsApp can prevent your clients from missing meetings, invoices, payment requests, and more.
Set up automated reminders so customers are informed a few days before appointments and deadlines so they can reschedule or ask questions.
Get customer feedback
It is vital to learn what your customers have to say about your brand if you want to retain their business. 82% of consumers have left large retailers in the past few years because of poor customer service.
As WhatsApp is a casual and conversational platform, customers are likelier to respond to direct and brief feedback requests. Send your customers an email after they’ve completed the survey, asking them to rate their experience on a scale of one to ten.
For example, many travel companies use WhatsApp to provide customer service. For example, a hotel might send a feedback form to each customer after checking out, asking them to rate the hotel with a word or emoji. In addition to sharing their comprehensive trip review with us, customers can post pictures of the entire experience afterward.
Ease of booking
It is also possible to set up a booking system within WhatsApp for concert tickets, restaurant reservations, doctor appointments, etc. One can also place an order for delivery within the messenger. It helps people who are too nervous or busy to make an appointment via phone or cannot bother to find the website or download the app.
For example, Movie tickets are available from various companies, whether travel agencies or ticket booking services. A message could be sent through a user’s favorite messenger, and the customer could order a ticket. Since WhatsApp is highly popular, the company even made WhatsApp the default method of order confirmation.
Help customers get familiar with the newly launched products and services
There are several ways through which you can use WhatsApp to send out educational content to your customers on the best ways to use your product or service. The average open rate for such content in WhatsApp is 99%, making it a highly cost-effective method of distributing such content to customers while reducing the number of customer requests concerning the correct product use.
Just don’t overdo it, or customers will be irritated. Regardless, make it easy for people to unsubscribe.
Help customer customize their subscriptions.
Using WhatsApp chatbots, you can offer upselling and cross-selling features to your customers, including the ability to change their subscriptions.
Keeping the customer in the loop regarding the purchase made
WhatsApp lets you inform your customers of their order status and details and send purchase confirmations. However, some advantages to using a WhatsApp chatbot include the ability to send personalized product recommendations, drive sales, and even collect payments from your customers.
Set the response time.
Business hours don’t matter to customers, which is even more important if you serve an international audience. Setting response times can be made easier with autoresponders. Rather than leaving your customers waiting, this is a much better alternative.
Better yet, chatbots are an excellent way to assist customers with their most common requests, such as tracking their orders. Artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly used in chatbots, and Additionally, they can recommend products and assist with sales.
How can you manage large customer assistance
requests with WhatsApp?
WhatsApp customer service was previously provided by a single customer service agent via phone or web, using WhatsApp on your phone.
Many customer support requests needed to be managed, and scaling up customer service was impossible then. One agent could only handle so many tasks at a time.
As of August 2018, WhatsApp has made its APIs available to companies so they can use its platform.
As a result of the WhatsApp Business API, you can now deploy a chatbot that can automate the process of responding to customer service requests and supply instant feedback to your clients as soon as they send their questions.
Using artificial intelligence and natural language processing (NLP), your WhatsApp chatbot understands your customers’ questions and intent and provides the best answer immediately.
Live chat and your chatbot can help you further scale your WhatsApp customer support. Instead of having just one agent handling everything, you can have as many agents as you need.
Customer service reps will have access to the context from past conversations with customers with Live Chat and conversations with them on other channels. You won’t have to ask your customers to repeat themselves because they’ll be able to give them tailored answers.
Best software for WhatsApp customer support
Today, there are countless software options for WhatsApp customer support, but choosing the right one can help you make the right choice for your business.
Here, we have listed industry-leading software for WhatsApp customer service that helps you make the right choice when serving customers.
As we look for the right customer support software, you can’t start the list without Donut.cx. It is a first-of-its-kind omnichannel engagement platform for WhatsApp that improves the sales, support, and engagement process.
The Donut.CX platform consolidates all your customer interactions into one platform, making managing customer relationships easy.
Donut.cx helps you sell more products and services, resolve customer issues more quickly, and engage with customers more effectively.
Offering your customers a unified team inbox allows you to provide more personalized and responsive service.
Key Features
- Improve operational efficiency: Use data to automate and improve operations, so your team can focus on selling and providing support.
- One Inbox for All Your Channels: In just a few clicks, you can communicate with your customers over multiple apps such as WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook and e-commerce platforms such as Shopify, Shopee, Tokopedia, and Lazada from one inbox.
- Contextualize customer service: Donut.CX’s system of record allows you to instantly and effortlessly provide the proper context that customers need to make the right decision.
Pros
- Easy to communicate with customers
- Organize everything in one place
Cons
- You need a stable internet connection
The WhatsApp Team Inbox (WATI) is a platform-based API-based solution that provides WhatsApp API access to businesses for providing the ability to manage teams on WhatsApp. Through WATI’s dashboard, companies can manage their WhatsApp Business accounts completely from one place.
The WATI platform offers features such as a support dashboard, marketing campaigns, and a no-code WhatsApp chatbot builder so customers can communicate with you 24×7 via WhatsApp.
Key features
- Rating: WATI offers a wide range of features. This platform stands out from its competitors due to its WhatsApp broadcasting capabilities, Chatbots, and third-party integration capabilities, which allow third-party platforms to integrate with it.
- Minimal setup & self-service onboarding: Depending on your preference, you can purchase a plan that meets your requirements and set everything up yourself.
- Builder for No-Code Chatbots: With WATI, you can create WhatsApp chatbots and conversations for sales & support using a drag-and-drop builder.
- Dashboard for Support Agents: With WATI’s support agent dashboard, agents can manage their tickets and assign them to agents based on their needs.
- With WATI’s base plan, you can access 5 Live Chat Agents.
Pros
- Easy to access documents
- Easy to integrate
Cons
- Not satisfying customer support
- Lots of bugs
The Trengo team platform integrates messaging and social media inboxes from different platforms, such as WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, etc. This unified platform ensures no delays in answering customer queries, while customers can continue to use whatever method they prefer to contact the company.
Multi-user and multi-team inboxes can be configured for enterprises to handle all their inbox messages.
Notes and comments can be shared within the team through internal chat and tagging. The software also facilitates multiple live chat sessions and enables chat support representatives to handle multiple customers simultaneously.
Features
- User Interface: You can set the elements of your chatbot using Trengo’s structured builder when you create chatbot flows:
- Chatbot elements: With Trengo, you can create chatbot flows with enough elements. Although they are missing some elements (such as Galleries and a Persistent Menu), they are still a great place to start a chatbot.
- Messages: Currently, Trengo does not support broadcasts or sequences, and your chatbot flows cannot contain conditions.
Pros
- An interface with everything in one place
- Great for customer support
Cons
- Lots of glitches and bugs
- Can’t store recent conversations with customers
Grasp, the customer conversation platform, collects all your conversations with customers and brings them into one place so you can tell one story from each interaction. Your company can regain control over its operations through customer service.
Using Grasp, your team can collaborate and focus more clearly on what matters than ever.
Regardless of their channel, they can pay attention to every conversation. All the customers gave them fist bumps, which was a relief for all of them.
Key Features
- Stable connection: Ensure your connection is stable at all times. We use the official WhatsApp API as part of WhatsApp Business API integration.
- Enrich your website: Allow visitors to text you through WhatsApp by displaying that you are a WhatsApp user on your website.
- Automatic responses: Save time by answering simple questions automatically and reducing your time on more complex questions.
Pros
- It is very user-friendly.
- Do not distract yourself from irrelevant notifications.
Cons
- It requires a strong internet connection
- May fail in tracking multiple messages
Amaiyo is one of the leading providers of Omnichannel customer experience and contact center solutions, with more than 1600 customers in more than 60 countries worldwide.
Throughout the last 13 years, the company’s par excellence Customer Experience platform has enabled its clients to seamlessly engage with their customers across channels and touchpoints to deliver optimal customer journeys, maximizing revenue and loyalty at every touchpoint and interaction.
Using Ameyo, organizations can provide a consistent and intuitive experience to their customers using multiple channels, such as mobile, web, email, voice, chat, social, and mobile apps. Ameyo’s customer interaction management capabilities make it easy to deliver memorable customer experiences (CX).
Features
- Customizable IVR: Optimize customer journeys by customizing IVR menus, scripts, and options that deliver the right message and route callers to the right agent.
- Automated Routing: Use ACD’s routing algorithms to eliminate human error, provide faster responses, and increase FCR.
- Auto Dialer: Provide predictive, parallel, progressive, preview dialers and PACEs to optimize outbound call center workflows.
- CTI Integration: Using tabs to find customer information will improve sales representatives’ productivity.
Pros
- The system is easily accessible with any internet-supported device.
- It is a user-friendly interface.
- It’s scalable and highly customizable to meet specific requirements.
Cons
- It has poor connectivity and often lags
- This software is not cost-effective
Conclusion
Any business can benefit from WhatsApp Business. Through WhatsApp marketing campaigns, companies can provide customers with quick answers to common questions and receive updates on orders.
For WhatsApp to be an effective marketing tool, you must make sure that as many of your customers as possible are aware of your activity on Messenger, and you should integrate it with any CRM tool you use.
It is essential to keep your WhatsApp chatbot scripts updated regularly and include an option to reach a human agent through the app if necessary.
Have you considered using WhatsApp for customer service and more? If not, start you and stay active hold on your customer support.
