The world of sales is changing and you cannot be left out. Surely you have asked yourself: what is WhatsApp Business? Why did you launch an API? How does this affect my business?
Furthermore, in this article you will understand what are the challenges that companies that have already implemented WhatsApp Business are currently facing, the innovations that you will be able to implement shortly to overcome these challenges and the practices that you will need to follow to get the most out of the tool. But as Jack "The Ripper" would say, let's go partly ...
What is an API and why did WhatsApp launch one?
A API is a set of functions and procedures that perform one or more functions for use by other software. The acronym API derives from the English Application Programming Interface. In Spanish: application programming interface .
In simple terms, is a key in an application's code so that other applications can access it and perform actions on it.
A few months ago WhatsApp has announced an API which paved the way for companies to be able to permanently integrate with the most popular messaging tool in the world.
This means that WhatsApp focuses on connecting the parties. And through the API, it tries to create an ecosystem of companies that solve these problems that the messaging application cannot address.
Some of the companies that are already working to provide services to companies through the API are:
- Twilio
- Smooch
- Corrugated
- SendApp
- YaloChat
- To take
- Nexmo
A bit of history to understand how we got to the API
Businesses have changed a lot in recent times due to the change in consumption habits. As he says Google in his own insights : consumers are more curious, impatient and demanding.
This transformation has brought about major changes in the way we work with customers.
With the growth of WhatsApp, more and more people have begun to communicate in this way and companies have seen the possibility of speaking in real time with their customers, less invasive than the phone and more personal than email.
In fact, Facebook, the company that owns WhatsApp, has been working on it for a long time. As indicated on the Facebook for Companies site:
“If you reply to the 90% of messages in 15 minutes or less, you will receive the "High level of response" identification badge . While we don't expect all pages to meet this limit, we recommend replying to as many messages as possible to maintain good customer communication. "
For this reason, by entering the market with WhatsApp Business, the company has decided to formalize its intentions to become the communication platform for sales par excellence.
What is WhatsApp Business and how does it work?
The WhatsApp site says “WhatsApp Business is a free application for businesses and small businesses”. This application, available for both Android and now also for IOS (Iphone), is more or less the same WhatsApp platform but with some features that help companies simplify their management.
WhatsApp Business legitimizes your business
One of the major flaws you will surely have noticed when using personal WhatsApp for your business is that customers can be skeptical or cautious when doing business with you, especially when posting extra-professional status or messages.
With the commercial profile you can indicate your company address, website, opening hours and clearly establish what your company does or what its vision is.
To create your “WhatsApp Business Profile”: open WhatsApp Business>
Press the menu button indicated with 3 dots in the upper right corner of the application> Settings> Corporate settings> Profile.
It allows you to receive messages only when you want
Both you and your company need to rest. By setting your business hours and creating an "away message", you can ensure that you lose fewer customers by letting them know when they can be reached.
This makes them feel like they've been listening to them, but it also forces you to respond. This is why you can set specific responses to some of the questions or messages you receive from customers with the “Quick Responses” feature.
To activate or edit the message, go to Settings> Corporate Settings> Absence Message> “Activate Absence Message” and then edit the message as you wish.
In “Absence Message Settings”, you can easily schedule when you want the message to appear. It comes with three options: always sending, personalized programming or outside working hours .
Tag your customers for better follow-up
Maybe at some point, while saving a customer's contact, you added a short description in their name, for example: “Pablo Martel (prospect)”. We all have.
Even if you tag your customers the easy way, in large lead volumes this information can be lost and the sales process can be confusing.
That won't happen again - with WhatsApp Business tags for sales you can effectively rank your customers as soon as their status changes in your business.
To tag customers: Click the menu button on the customer chat page > then choose a tag and click "Save".
To add new tags: Click the menu button on the customer chat page> then click "New Tag" and press "Save".
What challenges has WhatsApp Business brought to business?
For each company size, the challenges are generally different.
Small businesses fell in love with the solution because it enabled them to communicate with their customers immediately.
But medium and large businesses have started having several drawbacks when using WhatsApp Business for sales.
Challenge number 1 :
You cannot have the entire team connected to the tool.
As this is a tool that can only be used on a mobile or web device, only one person can answer all questions.
If you have a call center or consulting center, you need to have as many WhatsApp Business numbers for sales as there are people on your team. The platform allows the use of a single contact number for the entire company. In large sales teams, this can be more of a headache.
“First I tried to answer all the questions myself. But they began to pile up and the sales force began to go dormant. So I tried to screen print the application and send each customer to a different supplier. Since I was losing control of the situation, I tried to rotate my WhatsApp phone among my sellers based on the time of day. However, many times the customer who had been assisted by a salesperson would reply to the message 4 hours later, on another vendor's shift. This has generated enormous discussions within our sales force ”.
This was a headache for sales managers who saw tremendous potential in WhatsApp Business, but had no way of implementing it in a way that would help them sell more without sparking a "rebellion in their business."
Solution: With the WhatsApp API, companies can have an unlimited number of numbers.
Challenge number 2: It is impossible to reply to all customers if the volume of inquiries is very high.
Solution:With the WhatsApp API you will have automatic and customizable templates that answer some of these questions.
Best practices to promote with WhatsApp Business API:
Good practice 1: be fast
As we told you on another occasion, WhatsApp will start charging you for using the tool.
Let's say you have a sales team and you get 10 inquiries a day. But one day one of your salespeople forgot to reply to one of the messages.
In that case, if you want to reply after 24 hours, you will have to pay for the message. This is because WhatsApp is focusing on ensuring that companies respond immediately to customers.
If you reply within 24 hours, you will be fine. But we believe that, in line with the trend, they will increasingly try to narrow this time frame.
