WhatsApp Business: A Reliable Way for Businesses to Reach their Customers

WhatsApp is the most prominent social media channel that is being used by billions of people throughout the world, across 150+ countries. People use this channel as a messaging app to communicate with other people. Through this channel, we can share messages, files, photos, videos, etc. Due to the growing popularity of WhatsApp among a large number of people, several businesses are considering using it for business purposes. Making WhatsApp a business channel is a profitable decision, firstly because it allows businesses to reach their customers with ease and vice-a-versa. Secondly, there are a lot of people who use WhatsApp, and this medium can help businesses to reach the masses. 

How to Create a WhatsApp Business Account?

Well, while integrating a WhatsApp account, businesses need to register a new number on which no WhatsApp account has been created previously. Businesses can even get a fresh number from a third party like “Messagebird” for integration purposes. For this, businesses are required to purchase a Messagebird account. After purchasing the account, Messagebird will provide them the access details like name, access key, and channel user ID/caller ID. This information can be used to integrate WhatsApp with contact center software for the purpose of WhatsApp business. After the account has been configured, agents can easily handle the incoming WhatsApp requests and can also send outbound WhatsApp messages with the same configured account. 

Features of WhatsApp Business

• Customers Details: Agents can see customers’ details like their name and number along with the request sent by them. 
• Attachment options: Various attachment options are available for the agents in the chat section. They can attach a doc, music file, image, video, etc. 
• Emojis: To make a chat more personalized, agents can make use of the most appropriate emojis. 
• Response scripts: With the help of response scripts that are created by the admin, agents are able to make quick replies to the customers.
• Ticket Management: For inbound tickets, various ticket management functions are available like ticket categories, ticket status, comments, and ticket transfer. 
• Outbound WhatsApp: Agents can send outbound WhatsApp messages to the customers using pre-approved whatsapp templates while being on the call or off the call as per the requirement.

Benefits

Global Reach: As WhatsApp is available in more than 150 countries throughout the world, it is an excellent channel for businesses to reach their customers with ease no matter where they are located. 

Easy Handling of Incoming Requests and Outbound Messages: Agents can easily handle incoming WhatsApp requests sent by the customers. It can be related to any product-related details, an issue with any product or service, re-order cancellation, refund, etc. Additionally, by using the same configured account agents can send appropriate replies to the customers based on their specific queries.

Easy Ticket Creation: Whenever a customer makes a request, it will be available at the agent’s portal. There are two types of request assignment options: Auto-assignment and Manual Assignment

• Auto-assignment: The system will automatically assign the request to all the available agents. As soon as the request is assigned, the system will generate a ticket. This way requests can be handled ticket-wise.
• Manual Assignment: In the case of manual assignment, the request can be assigned manually to any available agent.

Other options related to ticket creation include:

• Change ticket status: As per the status of the customer’s issue, the ticket status can be changed as open, in-progress, resolved, or re-open a request.
• Ticket Category: Requested tickets can be set category-wise. For instance, the agents can set the ticket priority as a low priority, or high priority.
• Internal Comments: For internal purposes, agents can put internal comments for a better understanding of a ticket that has been created for a particular customer’s query. 
• Ticket transfer: In case the agent wants to transfer the requested ticket to some other agent or the supervisor, it can be done using the ticket transfer option. The agent just needs to select the person’s name and also has to write a comment.

Send Attachments: While sending replies to the customer’s queries, the agents can even use attachments in the form of .mp3, .pdf, .doc, .docx, .jpg, and .png. 

Insert Emojis: The agents can also make use of appropriate Emojis to give a personalized touch to the messages sent while replying to the customer’s queries. This will make customers feel more special. 

Quick Replies: With the help of templates or response scripts that are created by the admin, agents are able to make quick replies to the customers. Just by writing the relative words, suggestions will appear automatically in the drop-down section, selecting which agents can make a quick reply to the customers. 

Read Also: Call Center and Contact Center Software Difference Complete Guide

Enhanced Business Image: With WhatsApp integration, businesses can assure their customers that they are genuinely interacting with their brand. Moreover, sending quick replies to the customer’s queries in a more personalized manner helps to enhance a business’s image. 

Access to Social Media Reports: On the Agent’s portal, social media reports are available. It means businesses can have access to see all the social media requests handled by a particular agent. Moreover, on the admin portal, there is an omnichannel dashboard where businesses can access the reports about all the incoming requests including accepted, pending, and resolved requests. 

Manage Inbound and outbound WhatsApp Messages: Admin portal also provides multi-media reports, where businesses can get access to separate reports related to inbound and outbound messages. For instance, if businesses want to see how many inbound requests they have received, and how many outbound WhatsApp messages have been sent, all these reports are easily available for them to see.

Long-Term Relationships: As WhatsApp is one of the most reliable and widely used social media platforms, businesses can use this channel to build brand loyalty and long-term relationships with their customers. 

Conclusion

Take your business to the next level using WhatsApp for business. It is not only a fast and reliable social media channel but also a familiar platform for the customers. Thus, WhatsApp business integration with contact center software can help businesses manage all their interaction with customers more efficiently.