The digitization and globalization of the 21st century means that customer service is constantly changing. Private messaging channels now provide customers with the support they need in a fraction of the time traditional customer service calls ever did. Nowadays we’re seeing huge shifts in consumer behaviour towards private messaging. To stay relevant to their consumer base, companies need to provide modern, efficient customer contact in every step of the customer journey.

WhatsApp has truly revolutionized the way society communicates. With over 2 billion active users, WhatsApp is not only the leader in secure communications, but it’s also where consumers feel most at home when it comes to private messaging. In this article, we provide you five reasons why WhatsApp Business is indispensable for your customer contact strategy.

#1 Be where your customers are
Convenience is key here for both you and your customers. WhatsApp is the global standard for secure, private communications which means that your customers are likely already using it in their day to day. WhatsApp Business messaging allows you to provide professional and efficient customer support on a global scale. Thanks to WhatsApp templates, you can automate some routine messaging, enrich your messages with media, and add payment buttons. Your customers can do virtually anything from the comfort of their phones!

#2 Support your customers at scale
WhatsApp Business API was created with professional customer contact teams in mind. It’s flexible so you can connect it to your existing unified inbox providing scalable customer support across the board. Take advantage of the asynchronous nature of mobile messaging and eliminate call queues and cringe-inducing hold music. When customers contact you via WhatsApp, they can get on with their day and be notified when you reply, be it two or 20 minutes later. Should both parties be online at the same time, WhatsApp Business allows for live one-to-one chat conversations. Together, these features create a more efficient workflow for your customer service agents. For example, they can help up to 10 customers via WhatsApp Business chat in the time it takes to complete a service call! With template messages and chatbots, you can also assist your customers outside opening hours which naturally boosts customer satisfaction and conversion rates.

#3 Use proactive messaging through the customer journey
Stay engaged throughout the entire customer journey using WhatsApp templates. Automate your service process: from order confirmations and appointment reminders to shipping updates and feedback surveys. Marketing teams can also send relevant outbound campaigns to customers for a product launch, send restock or promotion notifications, and more. Unlike e-mail, messaging apps like WhatsApp have a 98% open rate so your customers will never miss critical order or status updates.

#4 Leverage automation with WhatsApp for customer care
WhatsApp Business is synonymous with smart workflows and intelligent routing. Questions can be routed directly to the right agent, team, or location with the help of a unified inbox. It’s also super easy to integrate third party chatbots to answer FAQs and keep your customers engaged while your live agents are enjoying their lives outside of work hours. Plus, when they are online, chatbots allow your customer service agents to focus on more complex issues and inquiries. You can even set automated greetings, quick replies, and away messages (after opening hours) to let your customers know when to expect a response.

#5 Provide secure and trustworthy communication
In order to contact customers with WhatsApp Business, you are required to have an official account. Additionally, enterprise customers can get a verification to show customers they can trust that the company is legitimate when sharing their sensitive information. End-to-end encryption ensures that only you and your customer can access your conversations, but isn’t the only security that WhatsApp offers.

💡 Make sure that your communications are GDPR compliant by choosing the right customer communications platform. Saysimple helps you create an extra level of security with IP whitelisting, Single Sign On, and Two Factor Authentication keeping yours and your customers’ information safe from potential data breaches.

WhatsApp Business is indispensable for your business
Sitting in call queues for undetermined periods is a thing of the past. If you want to keep up with what your customers and the market expect from modern businesses, the only option is scale up to keep up with the constant increase in consumer expectations. WhatsApp Business allows you to be where your customers are, provide fast and efficient support, proactively send timely and relevant notifications, automate FAQs, and offer customers a secure and convenient way to communicate with your business. Anywhere and anytime.

Future-proof your customer experience by integrating WhatsApp Business in your messaging arsenal with Saysimple’s Messaging Dashboard. Book a demo today or contact us to discuss how messaging can help enhance your customer experience and any other challenges your business is facing.