In today's fast-paced business world, staying ahead of the competition requires a strong digital presence and efficient communication with customers. One key tool for this is WhatsApp automation, which allows businesses to streamline their messaging and provide quick, personalized responses to customer inquiries.
In this blog, let's take a look at what WhatsApp business automation is, why it is important for businesses, and how you can implement it without any hassle.
WhatsApp Business automation refers to the process of automating customer engagement activities on the messaging platform. This includes sending automated messages, timely reminders, or even collecting feedback from customers.
You can automate entire conversations or just a selective segment of a workflow. WhatsApp Business automation allows you to streamline processes and reduce manual effort while also improving customer experience and satisfaction (CSAT).
Automated messages are the most essential component of WhatsApp automation. The best attribute of automated messages is not their speed, but their customizability. You can create template messages that can pull inputs from databases to offer a unique and personalized experience to all your customers.
WhatsApp Business app is best suited for small businesses with limited customer portfolios. It does not support proactive outreach as it cannot send personalized broadcasts at scale. Hence, if you are planning to expand your customer experience team, the WhatsApp Business app is not a good option.
Concerning business automation, the WhatsApp Business app has only basic automation features such as greeting messages and away messages. To create custom message flows, you need to use the WhatsApp business API.
WhatsApp API provides you with more advanced features than WhatsApp Business app. If you want to know more about WhatsApp API, I highly recommend reading our WhatsApp Business API guide.
However, you should know that Meta does not provide direct access to WhatsApp APIs. You have to find a suitable business service provider (such as Donut.cx) for adding WhatsApp to your business strategy.
Here's how WhatsApp business automation can improve your business efficiency:
Though WhatsApp Business automation is an efficient tool for businesses, it does have certain limitations. You have to be careful when dealing with some of these shortcomings:
WhatsApp business automation offers every team in customer experience a new way to simplify business processes. Let's list a few scenarios and see how you can use automation features to create a custom message flow for each of your teams
In 2020, 42% of customer service requests were resolved through phone calls. But digital channels preceded them by a close margin (38%) and are expected to become more popular in the upcoming years. These customer support conversations can be automated easily using WhatsApp's automation capabilities. Here are a few examples:
A potential lead has sent you a WhatsApp message for the first time. You can craft an automated greeting message and send it to these new leads using the WhatsApp automation tool.
Example: "Hi there! I am glad you reached out to us. Can I assist you with any questions you have about our products? We have a wide range of options that might interest you, let me know if you need help navigating our selection."
You can take it up a notch by adding variables to personalize the greeting message.
Example: " Hi [name], I am happy to help you with any inquiry you have about our products. We have a variety of options that might fit your needs, can I help you find something specific?"
Business hours messages on WhatsApp can help your business communicate its availability to customers more effectively. By setting up these away messages, you can inform customers when they can expect a response and how to reach you in case of emergencies.
Example: "Thanks for reaching out! Our team is currently unavailable. We'll respond to your message as soon as we're back in the office. Our office hours are Mon-Fri 9 am - 5 pm. If this is an emergency please call +1(555)555-5555. Have a great day!"
Consider a scenario where your team is working at maximum capacity. Due to peak business hours, new conversations have come in through messaging apps. You can create a custom message flow to inform customers that you will be supporting them in a short while. These messages reduce response time and increase customer satisfaction.
Example: "Please wait for a moment as all of our agents are handling other inquiries. We appreciate your patience and will assist you as soon as possible. Until then, browse our FAQs page by clicking the link below"
If you missed your customers when they tried to contact you through phone calls, emails, or other channels, you can create an automated message and request a callback.
Example: "We apologize for missing your call, we value your business and want to make sure your inquiry is resolved. Please reply with details about your query so that we can look into it"
Currently, WhatsApp API is the only platform that supports proactive outreach in the form of broadcasts. You can combine WhatsApp business automation and broadcasts to create a dynamic workflow that launches campaigns based on set conditions. Here are a few examples:
A customer has contacted you through your WhatsApp business account and bought one of your products. You can create a message template for a review request that will trigger a week after they make a purchase.
Example: "Hi [name], we hope you are enjoying your purchase. We'd love to hear what you think of our product if you have a few moments. On a scale of one to ten, how much would you rate [product name]?"
Using this method, you can collect reviews that are organic and recent.
When items are added to a cart but a purchase is not made, you can use WhatsApp business automation to remind them of the products they were interested in. These messages will trigger if the user has been inactive for over a month.
Example: "Greetings! We noticed that you left some items in your cart on our website. Just wanted to remind you that those amazing products you selected are still waiting for you! As a token of appreciation, we're offering a 10% discount on [product name]. Use code CART10 at checkout to redeem your discount. Don't miss out on this offer. Click the link below to complete your purchase now. [Link to the cart]".
These alerts are an effective way to increase customer orders and reduce cart abandonment rates.
If a product is out of stock, customers can register for a back-in-stock alert and receive a WhatsApp notification as soon as the product is available for purchase. To ensure that these customers receive these alerts, you should create proactive message templates that can be triggered when the products are back in stock. You can also add media files, i.e., product pictures to make these messages look more enticing.
Example: "Hello! We have great news for you! The item you've been waiting for is back in stock. Don't miss out on this opportunity, click the link below to purchase now. [Link to the item]"
Use this method to recover lost leads and promote loyalty among existing customers.
See how WhatsApp business automation works in different segments of your sales cycle:
You can create messages that will be sent to leads after they have shared their contact details. These messages should contain questions that help you qualify leads and prioritize customers who are more likely to purchase from your company.
Example: "Thanks for getting in touch with us! To better understand how we can help you, could you please provide some more details about your requirements? We'll be glad to help you out with any queries you may have."
To make this process more humane but also human intervention free, you can create separate messages for each question and send them as instant responses. Now, when your lead answers a question, it will trigger the next question, and so on.
Using this approach, you can quickly determine if a lead is qualified and push them through the sales funnel effortlessly.
When customers make a purchase, you can use WhatsApp business automation to automatically send updates and notifications to customers about when their order is shipped, when it's out for delivery, and when it's been successfully delivered.
Example: "Hi [name], your order [order number] has been shipped and is on its way! You can track your shipment with the tracking number [tracking number]. Let us know if you have any questions. [Link to tracking portal]"
This can help reduce customer inquiries and improve overall satisfaction.
Instead of sending payment reminders via email, you can use the WhatsApp automation tool to send reminders through the messaging app. Unlike emails that may end up in spam, your WhatsApp automated messages will get better recognition due to the official WhatsApp green tick.
Example: "Hi there, this is a friendly reminder that the payment for your order #[Order Number] is due on [due date]. Please click the link below to make your payment now. Thank you!"
By setting up these automated WhatsApp messages, businesses can reduce the time and resources spent on manual follow-ups and minimize the risk of missed payments.
There are a lot of service providers for the WhatsApp business platform. But most of them specialize in only a single segment like marketing, support, or sales. If you want an all-in-one tool that assists you in every step of your customer cycle, then Donut.cx is your right choice.
Donut.cx offers a shared team inbox where your support agents, sales executives, and marketers can co-engage with customers. Furthermore, you can automate your internal operations to focus on delivering customer satisfaction.
Manually assigning every conversation to your agents is not easy when chat traffic increases. Donut.cx lets you automate this task using a capacity-based routing system.
Capacity-based routing allows you to determine the workload of your customer support team at any given moment and route incoming messages to the most capable agent. It helps reduce response times and improve customer satisfaction.
69% of customers are willing to share their relevant information to receive contextual support. You can collect such details using automated WhatsApp messages. But to make this process easier, you can use WhatsApp business automation to store the collected data and create customer profiles. You can quickly view customer information and gain a better understanding of their needs and preferences. Furthermore, you can link this data to the business tool section to personalize quick responses.
WhatsApp API has become a necessity to build a successful business. It can help you automate sales processes, provide customer support, and increase customer engagement. But to ensure that you get access to all its features, you must select a business service provider that matches all your requirements.
If you want to handle your sales, support, and marketing conversations from a single platform, Donut.cx is the best choice out there. It offers you a WhatsApp business platform that can streamline your operations and improve customer relations. So why wait? Get started today and make the most out of WhatsApp business API.
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