Do you remember what communication was like before WhatsApp arrived? Before WhatsApp (2009), there were other instant messaging applications with which we spent hours talking. However, the advantages that applications like this brought to contemporary communication are unprecedented: Accessible to all, global, free and cross-platform. Accessible to all, global, free and cross-platform. Even more so now that WhatsApp is one of the preferred avenues for customer service.
Developing an effective customer service strategy requires effort, but we can facilitate processes using technological tools. Keeping in mind that the main goal of every company is to create customers for life. At the same time, saving time and economic resources.
Let’s explore how the WhatsApp platform can be used in our customer service strategy. Turning it into a secure and effective information gathering avenue integrated to our CRM solution.
Why offer customer support via WhatsApp?
In 2018 alone WhatsApp already had more than 1.5 billion active users in 180 countries around the world.
On August 1, 2018, WhatsApp announced the release of its APIs to the public, allowing businesses to integrate this channel into their customer service. Apart from being able to send transactional messages, i.e.: order confirmation, shipping confirmation, password resets, and others.
WhatsApp is now one of the most popular messaging platforms on the Internet. It is a bridge for businesses looking to better engage with customers in their territory. WhatsApp currently has more than 2 billion users. Who monthly use the app to create and share approximately 100 billion messages and make 1 billion calls every day.
According to a study by Convince & Convert, 42% of consumers expect a response to a social media complaint within 60 minutes. This means that the best social media customer service strategy is to respond to inquiries, feedback and complaints as soon as possible. This is possible through tools such as WhatsApp.
How to use WhatsApp in your customer service strategy?
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Integrate WhatsApp to your CRM solution
We must start with a super-important element. Every large company should have a CRM solution, in order to have an accurate handling of the necessary information and to perform a correct management in compliance with privacy standards. In addition to ensuring that such information is also protected against cyber-attacks.
It is important that if we use WhatsApp as part of our strategy, we make sure that the information received can be processed. In the case of receiving requests, complaints, or formalizing purchases. Creating tickets and assigning tasks to customer service agents with greater precision. Taking into account the urgency or type of request and making sure that our customers feel that they are really taken care of. Solutions like Freshworks CRM offer the ability to integrate WhatsApp as an essential part of customer communications.
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A customer service channel available to all
One of the biggest advantages of WhatsApp is that it can help you maintain a fast, convenient and direct line of communication between you and your customers. This makes it an ideal tool to improve your customer service both in the pre-sales and post-sales phases. In addition to being an ideal channel to provide technical service and receive requests around the clock.
Having communication channels that are available to everyone can only mean one thing: you can reach more customers. It doesn’t matter if your company is big or small, your customers can use your brand’s WhatsApp services. This way they can know the status of their product orders, register complaints, request refunds, and check product availability. Also get information about the price and location of your stores or premises.
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To ensure accurate information
A customer is not getting their order and wants to know if there has been a problem or if their order is being held somewhere. You can simply look up the tracking number from the logistics company by which you have shipped the product, and let your customer know the status in a text message.
In the message, you can comment on the estimated delivery time, or let them know that you have opened a ticket for their case and continue the process face-to-face with the customer. It is very difficult for the user to receive a WhatsApp message and not see it. Even when he doesn’t read its content, he knows he has received a message.
Also, even when we do not receive a reply, we can know if the person received a message and did not open it. As well as know if he already read it, but did not respond, or if he has not been connected. This allows us to have clear information of what is happening and provide the customer with accurate answers, an important point in the quality of your customer service.
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As a Marketing tool
WhatsApp is a very good tool for Outbound Marketing campaigns. We can send images, audios, videos and texts in a very easy way. With a high probability that the customer will receive and read it. By sending messages to customers who are really interested and avoiding being invasive, it is possible to interact with new customers in a highly personalized situation.
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Keep your important customers in focus
As a marketing tool, it is viable to use WhatsApp to communicate with potential customers with whom we already have contact. Depending on the stage of the sales funnel our client is in, we can nurture them by sending them information of interest. As well as personalized proposals that lead them to purchase. Allowing them to learn about new products or give their opinion of value.
This capability integrated with our CRM platform will allow us to keep track of our most important customers. Managing their requests, and keeping a history of interactions that will allow us to communicate more effectively.
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WhatsApp as an enabling technology
Customer support is generally one of the most hectic departments in any company. WhatsApp can become a channel to provide direct customer service. As well as providing employees with immediate attention to their needs, communicating their problems to other departments.
WhatsApp can also be an easy alternative for your employees to solve certain emergency cases even if they have left their work area. It is the perfect ally to provide support when there are IT problems. For example, if some software has failed or if they need to replace an IT asset.
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Distribute and handle requests with uniformity
It is possible to use WhatsApp, taking advantage of all the potential of your CRM tool. Generating an intelligent distribution of interactions, according to the skills of the agents or the characteristics of the customers. If your priority is the quality of support, for example, you can define the distribution of messages first to agents with more knowledge on a certain topic. If the priority is immediate attention, the best distribution criteria will be by availability.
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Integrate it with other customer service channels
Having multiple customer service channels can be hard on your team if the systems don’t communicate and aren’t organized.
With WhatsApp, you can integrate third-party tools that help you see incoming messages in a single inbox. As well as assign conversations to employees and sort and filter incoming messages.
For an optimal customer experience, it is key to integrate WhatsApp into an omnichannel management system. One that allows you to centralize all customer data and better track queries across channels. In addition to ensuring a seamless customer experience.
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Use a ChatBot to optimize your customer service responses
Artificial Intelligence commands the trends in omnichannel care. Especially if you need unlimited hours of operation or if the volume of queries is too large for the number of agents available. Automating some responses through a ChatBot can optimize your operations. At the same time, it provides relevant data to your customer service team.
The chatbot can be trained to handle more common questions and cases. This can offload more than 80% of inbound contact volume. Freeing your agents to focus on less common problems, or problems that require imminent human attention.
Integrating WhatsApp into the existing workflow ensures a smooth process and accurate follow-up. A customer service CRM system like Freshworks makes it easy for agents to manage cases coming from various channels. Phone, email, live chat, social media and chatbots. It is also a tool that offers the ability to map conversations and collaborate between agents. Protecting and managing information in a user-friendly platform.
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