In today's fast-paced digital world, customers expect quick and convenient communication with businesses.
As one of the most popular messaging apps globally, WhatsApp has become a powerful tool for businesses to connect with customers and provide exceptional customer service. With its wide reach and user-friendly features, WhatsApp can be utilized effectively to streamline customer service operations, increase customer satisfaction, and boost sales.
In this blog, we will delve into the topic of how to use WhatsApp for customer service and some valuable insights to leverage the power of WhatsApp for exceptional customer service.
Why use WhatsApp for customer service?
WhatsApp is a global leader in instant messaging, offering three versions for personal and business use. Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, guarantees end-to-end encryption for messages and enforces terms of service to maintain user credibility.
Businesses worldwide have found immense success using WhatsApp as a customer service platform. Here are compelling reasons why your business should also leverage WhatsApp for customer service.
#Use WhatsApp for wide reach
WhatsApp's extensive user base and global presence make it a prime platform for businesses to target.
With over 2 billion users, WhatsApp ranks as the third most popular mobile app worldwide.
This vast audience presents a significant opportunity for businesses to connect with potential customers from diverse regions and markets worldwide.
WhatsApp's global presence is remarkable, as it is used in over 180 countries out of 195. This means that your business can potentially reach customers in various regions and tap into new markets that may have been otherwise challenging to access through traditional communication methods.
#Use WhatsApp for convenient accessibility
Leveraging WhatsApp for customer service is advantageous due to its widespread popularity and user familiarity.
As WhatsApp is already ingrained in people's regular lives, utilizing it for customer service provides convenient access for users.
Moreover, WhatsApp's popularity ensures that your business message can potentially reach a large number of active users who are already accustomed to using the app on their smartphones.
This makes WhatsApp a powerful platform for spreading your brand message and engaging with customers in a way that is convenient and familiar to them.
#50 million businesses are already on WhatsApp Business
WhatsApp Business is a free-to-use communication platform designed specifically for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to communicate with their customers and clients.
This significant adoption can be attributed to the platform's enhanced business features, wide user base, and customer convenience.
WhatsApp Business allows you to create a dedicated business profile with important information such as your business name, address, contact details, and website. This makes it easy for customers to find and connect with your business, and it adds a professional touch to your interactions.
#WhatsApp is media-rich and features a rich platform
WhatsApp Business allows businesses to create a professional business profile, send automated messages, manage customer inquiries, and access messaging analytics, among other features.
It provides a convenient and efficient way for businesses to connect with their customers, share updates, and provide customer support through text, voice, and multimedia messages.
How to use WhatsApp for customer service?
Here are some ways how to use WhatsApp for customer service, including step-by-step instructions, best practices, and practical tips for maximizing its potential.
#Leverage WhatsApp Chatbot to cut down response time
A WhatsApp chatbot operates 24/7, providing instant responses to customer inquiries, resulting in faster query resolution times and improved customer satisfaction.
It is also cost-effective, as it can handle multiple queries simultaneously, reducing the need for additional staffing. Moreover, chatbots can automate routine tasks, freeing up human agents to focus on more complex issues.
Personalization is another key benefit, as WhatsApp chatbots can provide tailored responses based on customer preferences, leading to a more engaging customer experience. Additionally, chatbots are highly scalable and can handle increased customer service demands as businesses grow.
#Utilize quick replies and away messages for customer service
Utilizing quick replies and away messages for customer service can significantly enhance the overall customer experience. Quick replies are pre-set responses that allow businesses to respond promptly to customer inquiries with standard messages. These quick replies can be customized to provide relevant and accurate information, addressing common customer queries efficiently.
Away messages are automated messages that inform customers when agents are unavailable or outside of business hours. These messages set realistic expectations, letting customers know when they can expect a response. This helps manage customer expectations and prevents frustration caused by delayed responses.
#Cater content experience in rich multimedia
Rich multimedia content, such as images, videos, GIFs, and interactive buttons, can enhance the overall customer experience by making interactions more dynamic, interesting, and memorable.
Visual content can quickly convey information, instructions, or solutions in a visually appealing and easily understandable way, making it more convenient and efficient for customers to consume and retain information.
Interactive buttons can provide options for customers to choose from, making it easier for them to select the desired action or response. Overall, catering content experience in rich multimedia via WhatsApp can significantly enhance customer engagement, understanding, and satisfaction, leading to a more enjoyable and effective customer service experience.
#Collect feedback & information
Collecting feedback via WhatsApp for customer service is crucial as it provides valuable insights into customer satisfaction, preferences, and expectations.
Feedback allows businesses to understand the effectiveness of their customer service efforts, identify areas for improvement, and make data-driven decisions. WhatsApp provides a convenient and familiar platform for customers to share their feedback, making it easy for businesses to collect and analyze customer opinions.
Here are several ways how to collect feedback & information on WhatsApp for customer service
- Send a follow-up message after resolving a customer inquiry, asking for feedback on their experience.
- Use interactive buttons to create a quick and easy feedback survey that customers can respond to with just a few clicks.
- Set up automated responses that ask for feedback at specific touchpoints, such as after a purchase or a support request.
- Encourage customers to share their feedback by offering incentives, such as discounts or promotions for completing a feedback survey.
- Use open-ended questions to allow customers to provide detailed feedback on their experience, suggestions for improvement, or any issues they encountered.
#Use WhatsApp Status for sharing updates
WhatsApp Status is a popular feature that allows users to share multimedia updates, such as text, images, videos, or links, that disappear after 24 hours. By utilizing WhatsApp Status, businesses can easily share updates on product launches, promotions, service disruptions, or any other relevant information with their customers.
The visual and interactive nature of WhatsApp Status makes updates more engaging and memorable, compared to traditional text-based updates. It also enables businesses to create a sense of urgency, as the updates are temporary and customers may feel compelled to take action before they disappear.
5 Examples of WhatsApp customer support software
WhatsApp customer support software refers to specialized software tools or platforms that enable businesses to manage and streamline their customer support operations through WhatsApp, a popular messaging app.
These software solutions provide businesses with features and functionalities to effectively handle customer inquiries, provide support, and manage customer interactions on WhatsApp.
Some of the best WhatsApp customer support software are-
1.BiteSpeed
BiteSpeed helps convert Shopify store visitors into 20% more sales using WhatsApp while providing delightful omnichannel support experiences with a synced inbox. Designed specifically for Shopify stores, BiteSpeed allows for product syncing, customer segment importing, and unique discount codes for enhanced customer engagement.
Top Features of BiteSpeed:
- Add dynamic images of products and unique discount codes in your retargeting messages for increased conversions.
- Collect photo reviews with the help of deep integrations with JudgeMe, Loox, and StampMe.
- Build Chatbots & WhatsApp Shop in Minutes and reduce average response time by 70%
- Generate more sales by responding to marketing campaigns like Abandoned carts and Upsell campaigns.
- Agents can create carts and take payments for customers on WhatsApp.
- Get real-time actionable data on everything from open rates to revenue generated.
2. Heyday
Heyday, powered by Hootsuite, is an innovative AI-driven conversational platform that empowers businesses to seize sales opportunities 24/7 across multiple channels from a unified inbox. With Heyday, organizations can personalize customer interactions at scale, delivering exceptional five-star experiences for their valued customers.
Top Features of HeyDay:
- Heyday easily integrates with popular apps such as Instagram, Facebook, Salesforce, Shopify, Magento, Google Business Messages, and more.
- Heyday's AI-powered product search feature helps guide customers from arrival to checkout, capturing their intent and preferences to provide personalized product recommendations that drive conversions.
- Heyday's deep integrations allow your team to share personalized recommendations and enable customers to search your product catalog directly within the chat interface.
3. Front
Front, a customer communication platform, empowers businesses to build stronger customer relationships through a centralized inbox that provides a comprehensive 360° view of all customer information.
With Front's user-friendly workflows and routing capabilities, businesses can enhance their growth, manage costs effectively, and leverage WhatsApp for seamless customer service and engagement.
Top Features of Front:
- Front's centralized inbox enables the handling of multiple communication channels from one location, while automated workflows streamline customer service operations for swift and easy management by your team.
- Front provides comprehensive insights into team performance, conversations, SLAs, and customer experience, offering in-depth information for effective monitoring and management.
- Front consolidates customer information and previous conversations in native form to cater to future context needs, ensuring synchronized and efficient support without any time wasted.
4. Wati
Wati enables customer engagement with a shared team inbox, automated responses, private notes, data tagging, and analytics. It supports work management for support, sales, marketing, and developer teams with distinct demos catered to each team's unique needs.
Top Features of Wati:
- Wati offers seamless native integrations with popular tools like Shopify, Zapier, Hubspot, Pabbly, Zoho CRM, Integromat, and more, allowing for extensive connectivity and streamlined workflows.
- Wati's shared team inbox allows for assigning conversations to agents, automated template messages for quick responses, private notes for collaboration, and a no-code chatbot for efficient customer service.
- Wati enhances customer experiences with personalized offers, product recommendations based on activity, and customized messaging and post-order notifications that foster rapport and drive repeat business.
5. Interakt
Interakt provides WhatsApp business solutions with a shared team inbox, advanced chat widget, seamless integrations, and automated workflows for higher conversions and streamlined customer engagement.
Top Features of Interakt:
- Interakt simplifies product catalog sharing with opted-in clients on WhatsApp, leveraging automatic notification campaigns and personalized auto-replies to convert sales opportunities with ease.
- Interakt empowers you to send Bulk Campaigns and Broadcasts for effective consumer engagement and increased sales.
- Interakt also tracks campaign performance and agent responses to optimize customer experiences and drive better results.
Learn more about WhatsApp Marketing Software
Benefits of WhatsApp for Customer Support
Here are some reasons why WhatsApp is the go-to platform for businesses looking to elevate their customer support strategies and drive unparalleled customer satisfaction.
- Wide reach: WhatsApp is a widely-used messaging app with billions of active users globally, making it a convenient and accessible platform for customer support. Businesses can connect with their customers on WhatsApp, allowing them to reach a large audience and cater to customers from diverse demographics and geographic locations.
- Convenience and familiarity: Many customers are already familiar with using WhatsApp for personal messaging, making it a familiar and convenient channel for customer support. Customers can easily send messages, voice notes, images, and videos, making it a versatile platform for communication.
- Real-time communication: WhatsApp enables real-time communication, allowing businesses to respond promptly to customer inquiries and provide immediate support. This can help in resolving issues quickly, increase customer satisfaction, and build customer loyalty.
- Multimedia support: WhatsApp supports various forms of multimedia, including images, videos, and voice notes, which can be used to enhance customer interactions and provide visual instructions or solutions. This can improve customer understanding and make communication more engaging and effective.
- Automation and efficiency: WhatsApp customer support can be streamlined using automation features, such as chatbots, automated responses, and ticketing systems. This can help businesses manage a high volume of customer inquiries efficiently and provide timely responses, reducing response times and improving the overall service quality.
- Two-way communication: WhatsApp allows for two-way communication, enabling businesses to engage in personalized conversations with customers, understand their needs, and provide customized solutions. This can lead to better customer engagement, relationship-building, and brand loyalty.
- Cost-effective: Using WhatsApp for customer support can be cost-effective compared to traditional customer support channels, such as phone calls or emails. It can reduce the cost of phone support and streamline customer service operations, resulting in cost savings for businesses.
Examples of Companies using WhatsApp for customer service
From small businesses to global enterprises, companies are utilizing WhatsApp to offer real-time assistance, automate responses, and deliver personalized experiences.
Here are some examples of companies using WhatsApp for customer service.
- RENAULT (TURKEY)
Renault MAIS is the Turkish distributor of Renault vehicles and a leading manufacturer and importer of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles.
Renault MAIS builds a communications channel and virtual assistant on the WhatsApp Business Platform to deliver faster, more personalized customer service and accelerate communication center responses while generating more sales leads.
Renault MAIS experienced:
- 93% decrease in average customer response times attributed to WhatsApp
- 35% decrease in the time for agents to resolve customer issues
- 4% of leads attributable to WhatsApp convert to sales
- SNOCKS
SNOCKS is a German-based direct-to-consumer retailer of socks, underwear, and select casual clothing for all genders.
SNOCKS builds a powerful communications channel on the WhatsApp Business Platform to increase message open rates, drive higher lifetime value among customers, and benefit from a substantial return on campaign spend.
- 2.5X higher message open rates through WhatsApp over email
- 586% return on campaign spend in 6 months
- 5% of revenue from online stores attributable to WhatsApp
- 10% higher customer lifetime value among customers opting in through WhatsApp
- Baro Cosmetics
Barò Cosmetics is an innovative line of organic cosmetics created with high-quality polyphenols from grapes local to Italy’s Barolo wine region.
Barò Cosmetics develops a versatile communications channel that builds its subscriber base while increasing message read rates, purchase orders, and sales conversions.
- 30% of online revenue attributable to WhatsApp over seven months
- 80% message open rate in WhatsApp compared to email
- 10-11x purchase orders and a 700% increase in sales conversions compared to email
- 300% increase in sales conversions compared to SMS
Conclusion:
In conclusion, WhatsApp can be a powerful tool for customer service, offering wide reach, convenience, personalization, and efficiency.
By implementing the strategies and best practices discussed in this guide, you can harness the potential of WhatsApp to strengthen customer relationships, improve customer satisfaction, and drive business growth.
Remember to stay responsive, use automated features wisely, personalize interactions, and continuously evaluate and optimize your customer service approach on WhatsApp.
Embrace the power of WhatsApp for customer service and unlock new opportunities for success in the ever-evolving landscape of customer engagement.
For optimal results, elevate your customer service with BiteSpeed - the ultimate solution for using WhatsApp as a powerful customer service channel. Deliver instant support, automate responses, and provide personalized experiences to delight your customers like never before.
