WhatsApp messenger (owned by Facebook) is developing a free WhatsApp Business application for small and medium-sized businesses. Companies will have officially confirmed accounts, and the messenger will also simplify the procedure for communicating with clients. This is stated in the WhatsApp blog.
WhatsApp is also developing a paid solution for large corporations (airlines, banks or online retailers) that will allow businesses to send useful notifications about flight times and delivery alerts to customers, TechCrunch. The messenger will introduce tools for large businesses into the WhatsApp platform itself, writes The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
“Every day people interact with businesses, whether it's ordering from a local bakery or searching for a new style at a clothing store. But the way of this communication on WhatsApp is not ideal. We've heard stories from shop owners who use WhatsApp to communicate with hundreds of their customers using a single smartphone, as well as from people who weren't sure how credible or trustworthy the business was.”
This business tool is new in terms of monetization of other Facebook products that depend on advertising, WSJ notes. WhatsApp CEO Matt Aidema told the publication that the messenger wants to create an opportunity for people to connect with businesses. WhatsApp's free tools are currently being tested by companies in Brazil, Europe, as well as India and Indonesia.
According to the messenger's executive director, in the future the messenger plans to charge businesses money for some services. He did not say what the tools will be or when the company plans to introduce them. In addition, the messenger has not yet determined the details of monetization of services.
TechCrunch recalls that at the end of August, WhatsApp began testing the ability to verify accounts for businesses.
Let us recall that in the spring it became known that WhatsApp was planning direct payments between users in India. The messenger will cooperate with the UPI payment system (it is supported by the state), which will provide its services free of charge. The WhatsApp audience in India exceeds 200 million people.
An article about how WhatsApp messenger is used in business. Nikolai Piriankov, co-founder of the diamond ring company Rare Pink, and fashion designer Roberto Revilla shared their experience.
Both entrepreneurs use the app to communicate with their clients. This method of communication brought Revilla an income of more than £80 thousand.
According to the service's policy, users are prohibited from using the application for commercial purposes, but they can share images, blog posts and communicate with clients without aggressive advertising.
Nikolay Piriankov, co-founder of the diamond ring company Rare Pink, uses WhatsApp to communicate with customers.
We didn't plan to use WhatsApp. Our clients suggested it to us, and now all design consultants have a messenger attached to their work number. Each buyer has a personal consultant. The customer can communicate with him 24 hours a day.
One customer, who ordered a £13,000 ring, was unable to talk on the phone or email while working, so Piriankov's company had to communicate with her only via WhatsApp.
“We are relaunching the site along with a mobile version, where WhatsApp and its Chinese equivalent WeChat will be integrated, so that the client can write a message directly from the product page. WhatsApp makes the job easier - a Rare Pink employee can send a video that will demonstrate the shine of diamonds from all sides, which will likely encourage the customer to buy,” says Piriankov.
Chinese shoppers prefer the privacy and simplicity of their local WeChat service, through which I once made one of our largest wholesale sales. The transaction amount was £250 thousand.
For fashion designer Roberto Revilla, WhatsApp is a way to communicate with clients in his high-end tailoring business. “Our customers are middle and high class businessmen. They are so busy that they can’t find time to respond to an email or voicemail, so they find it more convenient to use a messenger through which they can respond instantly.”
Along with WhatsApp, Revilla uses iMessage and regular SMS messages, but WhatsApp, unlike iMessage, also runs on Android.
Over the past 12 months, we have received orders for more than 320 hours of work through messengers. This brought us at least £80 thousand in income.
According to a study by the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA), instant messengers are the fastest way to communicate with customers: the average time to read a message in the messenger is 90 seconds, in email - 90 minutes. However, Revilla warns that you should not use WhatsApp for cold calling, as it can irritate the client. For the same reason, GetTaxi app marketing director Rich Pleef recommends not sending a lot of messages in the app.
WhatsApp founder Jan Koum opposes the introduction of advertising in the messenger. Explaining his opinion on this matter, Koum quoted Tyler Durden, the hero of the novel “Fight Club”: “Advertising forces things on us: we work jobs we hate so we can buy things we don’t need.”
Revilla and Piriankov believe that WhatsApp should complement, not replace, email, telephone and major social media. “This is an important communication channel, but it is not alone. This is the key to give customers choice,” says Piriankov.
WhatsApp messenger was bought by Facebook for $19 billion last year. The application's audience has exceeded 700 million users; more than 30 billion messages are sent through the messenger per day.
Now the messengers themselves are only taking the first steps towards business - for example, companies are beginning to master tools such as Telegram bots and channels. But the real potential of messengers is far from being revealed, and this is primarily due to limitations on the part of the programs themselves. For example, the standard WhatsApp or Viber applications are simply not designed for the simultaneous work of several employees: if you have several dozen calls a day, then you will not be able to process them efficiently. Also, the applications do not provide tools for collaboration and some kind of minimal reporting. Only Telegram has an open API.
Now there are specialized solutions for working with clients through instant messengers, for example Sonar, Ongair, Wazapper. One such platform is our WhatsHelp service, which will launch in beta testing in November. We are launching closed pilot projects with companies from the USA, Hong Kong, Holland, India and Poland, and in Russia there are about 150 companies in line for testing, including Beeline, Rostelecom, Megafon, Tele2, Euroset, Wikimart, Aviasales, HeadHunter, Promsvyazbank. During our work, we understood how you can use the advantages of instant messengers for different types of business, and also came up with several rules that will help you start effective communication with clients.
###What advantages do messengers have for communicating with clients compared to traditional communication channels?
Messengers do not replace any channel completely, but only provide a new, more functional way of communicating with customers. Their main advantages are as follows.
1) We know the mobile phone number - unlike e-mail, which is easy to change, a telephone number provides a much more reliable and long-term contact with the client. 2) Instant push notifications - when we send messages, in almost 99.9% of cases we can be sure that it will be read as quickly as possible. 3) Privacy and personality - unlike correspondence with clients on social networks or in open areas, instant messengers provide a sufficient level of privacy to resolve personal requests. 4) Diverse content - instant messengers allow you to send not only text, but also photos, videos, and geolocation. You can also call through the main messengers, and for free. 5) Real-time mode and delayed replies at the same time: on the one hand, instant messengers allow you to communicate with clients in real time, on the other hand, if they wrote to you during non-working hours, then it is quite acceptable for the client to respond with some delay.
###Who benefits from using instant messengers to communicate with clients?
In the first place is a small business selling goods and services - through messengers it can advise clients, accept orders and make appointments. Most individual entrepreneurs and small companies fall under this category, ranging from beauty salons to companies installing plastic windows. Moreover, the messenger can serve as both a full-fledged channel for placing orders and the first point of contact, followed by a call. Already, thousands of sellers on Avito indicate their WhatsApp number and ask them to write there, rather than call.
Retailers from e-commerce and offline can advise customers on products, inform via messenger about the status of the order and collect customer reviews. Many online stores spend hundreds of thousands of rubles monthly on sending SMS with information about the status of orders, while through instant messengers this can be done almost free of charge (it is important to obtain consent from the client). It is also convenient to inform about promotions and special offers using a tool such as channels (Viber and Telegram have them).
Some banks and financial services in Russia (for example, Tochka and Alfa Bank) have implemented chats in their online applications and provide support via WhatsApp or FB Messenger. Not all problems can be solved through correspondence in the messenger due to security requirements, but such common questions as “What is the limit for cash withdrawal?” or “Where is the nearest machine?” can be successfully processed. Companies can also come up with many additional services using instant messengers: for example, when sending a message /usd in a chat, the messenger automatically sends back the current rates of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation and the currency exchange rate at the bank.
Travel agencies, air carriers, hotels, and travel services can use instant messengers as convenient channels for consultations and bookings. Companies can also use push notifications to remind about flights or bookings and inform about upcoming promotions, hot tours and special offers. For example, the online service for booking tickets Aviasales.ru has a Viber channel with more than 21,000 subscribers, where company employees post information about cheap air tickets and special offers from airlines.
Telecom companies and telecom operators can organize informing subscribers about their balance through instant messengers and save on SMS messaging. Moreover, with the help of messengers, you can organize customer self-service: when you send the /balance command to the chat, the messenger can send the current status of your personal account and a link to pay in your personal account. It is also a convenient channel for consultations and technical support for subscribers.
FMCG brands and digital agencies can use messengers to organize competitions, create game mechanics and collect consumer contacts. For consumers, taking a photo of their child with a particular brand of baby food and sending it via WhatsApp to enter a competition is much easier than doing the same using a promotional website. This approach will allow you to increase audience activity tenfold and reduce the cost of contact.
The main goal at the first stage is to inform your existing and potential clients about the convenient opportunity to contact you through their favorite messenger and ask them to add your number to the phone book. You can do this in the following ways.
1. Place your WhatsApp or Viber number, Telegram name or contacts in other instant messengers on the website. 2. Make a newsletter with information about a new opportunity via SMS or e-mail. 3. Add your messenger number to business cards, brochures, etc. 4. The most important thing is not to send spam mailings; your number will be blocked instantly.
It is necessary to introduce a new channel gradually in order to avoid a large flow of simultaneous requests from clients, as well as to understand the main topics of requests. You also need to integrate the communication process through the messenger into the existing scheme of working with clients.
An article about how WhatsApp messenger is used in business. Nikolai Piriankov, co-founder of the diamond ring company Rare Pink, and fashion designer Roberto Revilla shared their experience.
Both entrepreneurs use the app to communicate with their clients. This method of communication brought Revilla an income of more than £80 thousand.
According to the service's policy, users are prohibited from using the application for commercial purposes, but they can share images, blog posts and communicate with clients without aggressive advertising.
Nikolay Piriankov, co-founder of the diamond ring company Rare Pink, uses WhatsApp to communicate with customers.
We didn't plan to use WhatsApp. Our clients suggested it to us, and now all design consultants have a messenger attached to their work number. Each buyer has a personal consultant. The customer can communicate with him 24 hours a day.
One customer, who ordered a £13,000 ring, was unable to talk on the phone or email while working, so Piriankov's company had to communicate with her only via WhatsApp.
“We are relaunching the site along with a mobile version, where WhatsApp and its Chinese equivalent WeChat will be integrated, so that the client can write a message directly from the product page. WhatsApp makes the job easier - a Rare Pink employee can send a video that will demonstrate the shine of diamonds from all sides, which will likely encourage the customer to buy,” says Piriankov.
Chinese shoppers prefer the privacy and simplicity of their local WeChat service, through which I once made one of our largest wholesale sales. The transaction amount was £250 thousand.
For fashion designer Roberto Revilla, WhatsApp is a way to communicate with clients in his high-end tailoring business. “Our customers are middle and high class businessmen. They are so busy that they can’t find time to respond to an email or voicemail, so they find it more convenient to use a messenger through which they can respond instantly.”
Along with WhatsApp, Revilla uses iMessage and regular SMS messages, but WhatsApp, unlike iMessage, also runs on Android.
Over the past 12 months, we have received orders for more than 320 hours of work through messengers. This brought us at least £80 thousand in income.
According to a study by the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA), instant messengers are the fastest way to communicate with customers: the average time to read a message in the messenger is 90 seconds, in email - 90 minutes. However, Revilla warns that you should not use WhatsApp for cold calling, as it can irritate the client. For the same reason, GetTaxi app marketing director Rich Pleef recommends not sending a lot of messages in the app.
WhatsApp founder Jan Koum opposes the introduction of advertising in the messenger. Explaining his opinion on this matter, Koum quoted Tyler Durden, the hero of the novel “Fight Club”: “Advertising forces things on us: we work jobs we hate so we can buy things we don’t need.”
Revilla and Piriankov believe that WhatsApp should complement, not replace, email, telephone and major social media. “This is an important communication channel, but it is not alone. This is the key to give customers choice,” says Piriankov.
WhatsApp messenger was bought by Facebook for $19 billion last year. The application's audience has exceeded 700 million users; more than 30 billion messages are sent through the messenger per day.
