5 Reasons to Use WhatsApp in Your Contact Centre

Michele Anwar at QContact discusses the benefits of adding WhatsApp into your digital customer service mix.

In recent years, WhatsApp has become one of the most popular messaging apps, boasting an impressive 2 billion consumers around the globe.

There are more than 5 million businesses on the business app and many more registered with the API version. Each day more than 65 billion are sent via WhatsApp.

Today’s omni-channel world consists of phone calls, texts, tweets, chats, photos and videos so consumers increasingly want to connect to a business in the same way they connect with friends and family.

WhatsApp is free to use and it provides users with more a versatile messaging service.

From sending, receiving and forwarding text messages including images, videos and gifs as well as making and receiving calls. Making it the preferred options for your customers.

Below are 5 reasons why you should be considering using WhatsApp as a customer service channel within your contact centre.

1. Meet Your Customers Where They Already Are!

When was the last time you went a day without using WhatsApp? If you’re like most people it’s on your phone or your desktop and it’s used daily, checking it every few hours.

You’ll no doubt be part of a group chat, whether it’s a team chat at work or a chat with friends; WhatsApp is where most messages take place on a daily basis.

Your customers feel comfortable using it, so much so, according to a recent Nielson’s survey: “53% of respondents said they would prefer to do business with a company they can message direct.”

2. Have Richer Two-Way Conversations With Your Customers

One of the reasons why people love WhatsApp so much is the fact they can exchange photos and videos quickly and for free. A lot of businesses have really tapped into this for customer experience.

Send and receive photos, paperwork or even brochures or product information.

Example: A customer purchases a product on your website, but the package is accidently damaged by the delivery company, as a result, the product is damaged.

Your customer takes a photo, sends it to your WhatsApp customer service number and instantly receives an automated message advising on your current response time.

Once the next available staff member replies, they send out a printable pre-paid QR code for the return & advise the customer of the returns process & what to expect.

The result, your customer hasn’t had to take time out of their day to call you and their query is dealt with efficiently.

3. You Can Engage Globally

WhatsApp’s 2 billion customers are based in 180 different countries and use the platform in 60 different languages.

And if that’s not impressive enough, WhatsApp is the number one messaging app in 104 of those countries.

WhatsApp makes it so much easier for your overseas or travelling customers to reach you quickly, easily and for free!

So, if your business has a global reach then WhatsApp API is an extremely cost-effective and efficient way to reach them.

4. One Number, for Multiple Users That’s Always Connected

Unlike the regular WhatsApp app platform, WhatsApp API is always connected to the cloud. This means you don’t have to rely on phones being switched on for the messages to come through.

You can be available for customers 24/7 if required or if a message comes through out-of-hours, you can set up automated message replies advising customers of your expected response time.

WhatsApp Business API is connected to one number but can be accessed by 100s of users, this means an incoming WhatsApp can always be answered by the next available agent.

5. It’s Private, Secure and It’s Trusted

Using end-to-end encryption and adhering to strict “in-country” regulations, WhatsApp is strict on protecting user’s privacy.

Not only that, WhatsApp has strict checks in place to verify a business before they can connect to WhatsApp API, but the protection works goes further due to WhatsApp’s two-factor identification.

As an official business account, you will get a “green check mark” badge in your profile and on your chat thread headers, helping to create more trust with your business and to build your brand.

No matter how big your brand is, companies are really changing the way they communicate with the customers through WhatsApp as it really does make 2-way communications easy.

Not only that, you will be joining thousands of forward-thinking brands that are reaching out to their customers

Takeaway

Not only is WhatsApp a great platform to reach your customers but your customers have come to expect WhatsApp as a way of communicating with your business.

It can take a little as 24 hours to set up, meaning you can deal with more customer service queries quickly.

WhatsApp usage is growing year on year and it is used by over 54% of millennials and 35% of baby boomers, giving it a really big reach you can’t ignore.