Online service has become increasingly present in people's lives, especially in times of social isolation. However, a question arises in the minds of business owners and managers: which tool to use for this? Despite the varied options that exist on the market, one cannot be missed: you must have on WhatsApp one online service.
As much as some people think that WhatsApp is an application with the sole purpose of talking informally with family and friends, it can be much more than that. You can make calls and even close contracts through the app. Undoubtedly, an effective way to digitize your business.
To know how this works, keep reading this article, because we will give you the right tips!
Why is it important to have an online service on WhatsApp?
WhatsApp has advantages that can be used in favor of online service and communication provided by companies to have a better relationship with the customer, in addition to increasing the chances of generating sales. Here we point out the main ones.
Ease of Use
For starters, WhatsApp is easy to use, as it is already part of many people's routine, which includes your audience. This means that no matter where they are, they can start a conversation with you and you can answer them even if you are not in the office, but have the cell in hand, that's enough to serve your audience.
Celerity
Do you know the well-known “waiting songs” of answering the phone or the reply email that takes days to arrive? This type of situation does not occur on WhatsApp, so many prefer to communicate through it, which defaults to quick responses.
WhatsApp is Brazilians' favorite tool
According to a survey, at least 76% of Brazilians have already used WhatsApp to interact with companies and brands, so yours cannot be left out. Next, we'll talk about the tips you need to follow to do this efficiently.
10 tips to start doing customer service on WhatsApp
You need to be aware that the way you use WhatsApp in your personal life differs from the practices you need to adopt at a business level, as we explain in the following tips.
1. Use WhatsApp Business
Although many people use WhatsApp for personal purposes, it also has a corporate version called WhatsApp Business. So, if your intention is to use WhatsApp to represent your company and serve your customers, it is essential to download this app.
It is a separate application from normal WhatsApp precisely so that you can enter information about your business, such as address, phone number and opening hours.
In addition, it has a series of features that make the experience better, such as tags for categorizing customers and setting up an automatic response so that your audience receives it if they make contact during the hours when the company is closed, for example.
2. Use WhatsApp Web
When using WhatsApp as a customer service tool, handling a large demand for mobile messages can be difficult, right? Therefore, ideally, you have WhatsApp Web installed, the desktop version of the application.
Its use is very simple: when accessing the official website computer version, a QR code is displayed. In WhatsApp on your cell phone, by tapping the three vertical dots at the top right of the app screen, tap on “WhatsApp Web”. A QR reader will appear and, when capturing the code that is on the computer screen, the desktop version will appear.
Thus, serving customers becomes much easier since you can consult other tools and files on the computer to perform the service and pass the information in a more dynamic way than on a cell phone screen.
An important point: make sure you have a good Wi-Fi connection or mobile data plan on your phone, because if the internet on it doesn't work, WhatsApp Web will also be offline.
3. Inform the opening hours
Regardless of your niche, the truth is usually unique: competition is increasing. That is, if a person sends you a message when your shift is over and you don't respond until the next day, she may have already lost interest or contacted the competitor.
To prevent this from happening, leave the opening hours in the bio of your WhatsApp Business profile and also in the automatic message so that people can get back to you and know that the reason you don't answer them on time is this and not because " leave them in a vacuum”.
4. Respond quickly
You know when you send a message to one of your personal contacts on WhatsApp – family or friends, for example – and the person takes a long time to respond? It's pretty nasty, isn't it? Well, because your audience thinks the same, even more when looking for a solution that you can offer.
Therefore, by adopting the service by WhatsApp, try to reply to messages as soon as possible..
The advantage of WhatsApp compared to the phone is that your customer doesn't have to wait on the phone during service. By doing this over WhatsApp, he can do other things while you answer him, but that doesn't mean you can take as long as you want.
So, if you can answer and resolve the question right away, do so. If you need more time, let them know, ask the person to wait for you to provide the service they asked for.
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5. Use bots
Bots have been increasingly used in online service, especially on websites and even on social networks. However, one point must be remembered: bots do not replace human beings.
The main reason for using bots is to make you answer simple questions that don't require your time or an attendant, for example:
- What are the opening hours?
- How does the product/service work?
- What is the price?
Because they are simple questions, programming a bot to answer them can save your answering time. If the person has a very specific question that requires talking to a real agent, it is possible to redirect them so that you can perform this dedicated service.
6. Be human
While deploying a chatbot is important, no one likes the feeling of being served by a robot, right? As much as they are programmed to look human, we know when the service is done by someone made of flesh and blood or bytes.
So once you start talking to your audience on WhatsApp, establish the dialogue in a natural way, just like you do on your personal WhatsApp. Be a little informal when allowed, use emojis and people are more likely to form an emotional connection with you.
7. Customize the service
These days, just offering your products or services is not enough, people want them to be customized to meet their needs. This is not surprising, as everyone likes to feel special. So, use WhatsApp to your advantage to make your customers feel that way.
One of the advantages of the app is that you don't have to remember all the conversations you've had before, as the history is in the app itself. This is a great advantage, as it allows the conversation to continue where it left off and makes each person feel unique when receiving personalized service.
8. Have a customer database
Can you imagine having a long history of chatting with your customers on WhatsApp and, one day, seeing that all the messages just disappeared?
Users of the application have already experienced situations like this, especially when the app tries to make an automatic backup and cannot due to lack of memory on the phone. That is why, it is important that you have a database of your WhatsApp contacts.
Ideally, this should be done from a CRM that has integration with the application so that conversations and information about each contact are stored in the system.
But, if you haven't hired such a tool yet, at least have a backup of your customers' data so you can get back in touch if there is a problem with the app or you change your phone and can't recover the history in the app.
9. Analyze WhatsApp metrics
As we said earlier, WhatsApp Business has access statistics and metrics that help you track the calls made by the app, such as knowing if messages are being received and read.
Another very interesting feature is the use of colors in categorization tags. From there, you can assign different colors to your contacts to designate which are customers, suppliers, employees and also insert tags that require actions or reminders such as “pay bill”, “new customer”, “contract sent”, among others.
10. Publicize your WhatsApp service channel
WhatsApp is part of our daily lives, so it is normal that most people prefer that the service is done by it. That is why, promote your WhatsApp on all your channels: website, email, social networks, etc.
When you make this insertion, remember to put the link that generates direct access to your WhatsApp instead of simply informing the phone number. By means of tools like this, you can create your WhatsApp direct link in a few steps.
By following these 10 tips, you will be able to start implementing an online service on WhatsApp, which will bring more efficiency to the management of your business. After all, even sending documents and contract signatures can be done through the app.
To understand how a contract signing by WhatsApp works, stay with us and check out this article that we wrote totally dedicated to the subject.
