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Why you need to WhatsApp-enable your business?

Nikita Arya
Nikita Arya Sep 24 2019 - 4 min read
Why you need to WhatsApp-enable your business?
With the introduction of the WhatsApp Business API, enterprises can cash in on the popularity of WhatsApp and move their communications to a medium used and preferred by customers.

Across a number of industries, you can use WhatsApp to notify, converse and engage with customers through their most preferred messaging app. WhatsApp can act as a dynamic platform to drive two-way conversations and improve customer satisfaction. Also, the fact that customers do not have to download an additional app posses as a major motivational factor for them to engage with businesses via an app they already use and trust.

WhatsApp presents two possibilities.

Brands can use the platform to send out communications to notify consumers. If the consumer reaches out with a query or a response, two-way communication between users and the brand is possible, provided the brand responds within the 24-hour window.

Additionally, users need to first opt-in via the brand’s website or any other such channel to be able to receive messages on WhatsApp.

Four areas of customer connect benefiting from WhatsApp’s Business API

With the introduction of the WhatsApp Business API, enterprises can cash in on the popularity of WhatsApp and move their communications to a medium used and preferred by customers.

As companies across the board begin using the WhatsApp Business API to connect with their customers in ever-evolving ways, here are a few possibilities in four broad areas of customer communications to kick-start the imagination.

Notifying

Presenting a banking scenario – your credit card customer has missed seeing her monthly statement which has been shared by email and SMS. The customer has previously opted-in on the bank’s website to start receiving notifications via WhatsApp. Today’s the due date and you send out a well-designed reminder through WhatsApp, with an image and a text. You’ve made the process more convenient, enhanced customer experience, collected your dues on time, while saving your customer from the late fee. It’s a win-win for everyone.

Or maybe you’re an airline. You can send your customers that have opted-in to receive WhatsApp messages, their tickets, information on delayed flights, and travel reminders, on the app they regularly use.

Assisting

Now imagine a mutual fund customer trying to figure out the complicated KYC process. So he initiates a conversation with the bank on WhatsApp. Imagine his relief when the bank’s virtual assistant wisely guides him through the complicated process, with simple WhatsApp messages. It’s so structured and intelligent that the customer almost wants to befriend it! And it’s integrated with the core banking system, so all his responses and attachments are fed into the system without him having to log in to any other website or app.

Or maybe a prospective customer stuck in rush hour traffic scans the QR code on a newspaper ad for a new automatic transmission SUV. Just the thing to ride roughshod over his traffic blues.

Retrieving

Now here’s where a host of possibilities really come into play. Information can be retrieved on demand without downloading multiple apps or struggling to keep track of numerous online credentials. Consumers can just opt-in to all the businesses they use through one of the numerous brand channels and request for information ranging from bank statements to product/service information on WhatsApp.

In all these situations, consumers can opt-in to receive WhatsApp messages and add the business to their WhatsApp contacts. In a matter of minutes or even seconds, after exchanging a set of WhatsApp messages, customers can receive the information requested with ease and at their convenience.

Interacting

From a business perspective, this is where the possibilities of the WhatsApp Business API shine through most brightly. The messaging app is built specifically for seamless interaction. So you can easily setup your live customer care, or customer grievance management using natural language processing, knowledge repositories and a chat interface. The API can help you integrate an artificial intelligence enabled virtual assistant or direct the query to an agent when needed.

With the leaps and bounds in AI-technologies, your virtual assistant can be made to understand, process, and respond to unstructured queries pulling up information as needed from the core company systems.

Yet, these are just very few examples of how businesses can use WhatsApp to elevate customer experiences. Myriad other possibilities are possible based on each industry given the several features of the WhatsApp Business solution. Partnering with the right expertise, by which we mean – WhatsApp Business solution providers, businesses could eliminate the need to develop and maintain their own apps.

 

This article is authored by Leon Serrao, Director, Products and Solutions, Karix Mobile

 

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