Most businesses nowadays try to be efficient, convenient and user friendly. Believe it or not, WhatsApp can really help you in all these regards.
There many ways where your business can greatly benefit from using WhatsApp, and it’s pretty simple to implement it too.
Being able to offer a contact us page like this really isn’t something that is only possible to large enterprises. All the market insights tell us that WhatsApp will be the messaging platform of choice for UK consumers.
Image source: KLM
Recently, analysts and media, from Gartner to Forbes, have suggested that messaging app customer service is the channel that can deliver the best results.
WhatsApp and similar messaging apps are redefining customer service. With their help, you can make it more personal, more efficient and partly automated at the same time. This might sound strange, but hear us out.
WhatsApp will make your business appear in your customer’s chat box, which is normally reserved for friends. Suddenly your customer can chat with you without leaving the app and can continue talking to his buddies while “on the line” with customer service. There is no more tedious waiting or constant jumping between tabs.
If you make sure that your conversations are not too formal, but relaxed and occasionally even funny, you’ll establish a personal connection in no time.
However, answering a lot messages via a mobile app can be cumbersome. This is where a great omni-channel software like Front makes things easier and enables you to turn WhatsApp into a quality customer support service.
Here are some other reasons why Messaging Apps are the way forward in any customer facing business:
Live chat has been touted as a cheaper, more convenient alternative to phone or e-mail service. However, messaging app service is even cheaper than live chat, and allows you to handle even more customer inquiries at one time. According to data from Execs in the Know, live chat costs a company $3 per interaction, whereas messaging apps cost only $1 per interaction. This naturally already makes a difference, but what really compounds the value of messaging apps is how many more inquiries can be resolved in the same amount of time. According to the same analysis, agents can help 15 customers per hour over live chat, whereas with messaging apps, agents can help 60 customers an hour. The savings associated with messaging apps are huge, and that’s not even touching on the better usability for consumers.
Another main problem with live chat is the fact that similar to telephone, it isn’t asynchronous. The user has to stay within the browser to access the chat — if they need to leave, the internet connection fails, or they accidentally close the tab, then the entire connection is lost. Chat history often isn’t saved, so users have to repeat themselves when they start a new conversation, and they can’t find information from previous conversations. This also means that agents don’t have access to all the information they need to properly and consistently help returning customers, or offer more personalised service.
As mentioned above, messaging apps are an easy solution to this problem: all information is contained in one chat, and users can respond whenever is convenient. They can flexibly continue the conversation from on-the-go and still have full access to their chat history. The possibility for synchronous and asynchronous communication means that you can integrate yourselves into the customer’s life and help modern customers in a smarter, more convenient way.
For live chat to be effective, a response must be completed within 30 seconds. According to Super Office CRM, their research suggests that 21% of all live chats go unanswered.
Very few business can respond within the desired 30 second window. For many companies, to achieve this, they outsource their live chat, which simply becomes a glorified message taking service, where the agent takes the contact details, only to forward on the details to the business. The customer might has well filled in a contact us form.
However, when a business offers chat via Messaging, the response time, which whilst important, doesn’t have to be within 30 seconds. Your chat request can be directed to an appropriate member of staff, and the communication can be continued within the clients messaging app of choice, over a time period that suits them – not just when they are logged onto their PC, or have an open browser session.
Messaging via channels such as WhatsApp can greatly improve your customer relationships.