WhatsApp Business App vs. WhatsApp API

Voor zakelijk gebruik heeft WhatsApp twee smaakjes, afhankelijk van de grootte van het bedrijf.

De WhatsApp Business App is bedoeld voor kleine bedrijven. Deze is gratis beschikbaar voor Android en iPhone en wordt geleverd met basisfuncties voor ondersteuning, zoals snel antwoorden, labels, en een zakelijk profiel.

Het nadeel is dat het maar één seat per account biedt. En het is niet haalbaar om één mobiel toestel te delen. Daarom is het niet ideaal voor grote, professionele serviceteams.

De WhatsApp Business API is gebouwd voor grotere bedrijven met professionele teams voor klantencommunicatie. Als je WhatsApp Business meerdere accounts nodig heeft, dan is dit weer wat voor jou. Je kunt dan ook verschillende gekoppelde apparaten hebben.

In tegenstelling tot de WhatsApp Business App heeft de WhatsApp Business API geen eigen front-end interface, maar kan hij verbonden worden met oplossingen voor klantencommunicatie zoals Steam-connect.

Wat is de functionaliteit van WhatsApp for Business?

Op dit moment biedt WhatsApp for Business de volgende functies aan:

• Bedrijfsprofiel om belangrijke informatie te vermelden, zoals het adres, e-mailadres en de website van het bedrijf.
• Labels om je chats en berichten te ordenen, zodat je ze gemakkelijk kunt terugvinden.
• Berichtentools om klanten snel te antwoorden.

1. Een bedrijfsprofiel aanmaken

In je bedrijfsprofiel kun je een logo instellen, je bedrijfsnaam toevoegen en belangrijke informatie vermelden. Zet hier je website, adres en je e-mailadres in.

2. Openingstijden

Erg fijn aan het bedrijfsprofiel is het gegeven dat je openingstijden kunt instellen. Je wilt 24/7 kunnen antwoorden, maar niet 24/7 achter je scherm zitten. Als je je openingstijden toevoegt weten klanten waar ze aan toe zijn en je kunt automatische berichten instellen wanneer je er niet bent.

3. Autoreply’s instellen

Bij WhatsApp Business kun je automatische reacties instellen, zoals afwezigheidsberichten, snelle antwoorden en welkomstberichten.

4. Statistieken bijhouden

Bij WhatsApp Business kun je je statistieken in de gaten houden, bijvoorbeeld over verzonden en ontvangen berichten. Zo kun je je prestaties optimaliseren!

• Worldwide, 2 billion people use WhatsApp at least once a month. After WhatsApp come Facebook Messenger and WeChat.
• WhatsApp is the third most used social media channel in the world.
• 58% percent of users use the app several times a day.
• Between 2018 and 2019, the number of active users increased by 450 million.
• In 2022, WhatsApp was the most downloaded in Brazil, the United Kingdom, India and Mexico.
• 27% of WhatsApp users are between 26 and 35.
• On New Year’s Eve 2020, a record number of calls was made: 1.4 billion video calls.

Is WhatsApp for Business suitable as a customer contact channel?

As a company it is important that you are where your audience is.

Since WhatsApp is the most popular chat app worldwide, you can use it to connect with customers from all over the world.

There are only 25 countries where WhatsApp is not the market leader.

WhatsApp is hugely popular and that means you can use it for marketing, sales and customer service .

There are a number of reasons why using WhatsApp for Business for customer contact is a good idea:

1. WhatsApp is a valuable communication channel

As a customer service representative, there are many channels through which your customers can reach you: email , live chat , social media , and over the phone.

Serving multiple channels is important for your customers. In fact, research shows that 35% of customers expect a company to pursue an omnichannel strategy.

WhatsApp allows your agents to connect with customers all over the world, on a platform where they are already. You bring your live chat directly to the customer, without them having to go to your site.

In addition, it is a safe channel and all company profiles on WhatsApp are verified, so that it gives customers a familiar feeling.

This way you can really build a relationship with your customer.

By the way, did you know that 9 out of 10 customers prefer to communicate with a company through messages?

2. You can use chatbots

Just like live chat, WhatsApp also has the option of using chatbots. For example, you can answer frequently asked questions with a chatbot, so that your customer service team has more time for important matters.

You can also automate greetings or thank you messages to keep your response time low.

But: don’t leave all communication to your bot. You still need people for personal customer contact.

3. You can integrate it with your other channels

It can be difficult to offer multiple contact channels if you have to maintain them all separately.

WhatsApp can be integrated into software systems such as Steam-connect, so that you can see all incoming messages in one interface.

You can also put a button on your social channels or website that allows visitors to go directly to your WhatsApp.

4. You can create shipping groups to calculate NPS

Collecting feedback is one of the most important roles of customer service.

When you want to collect feedback, you can create a sending group in WhatsApp. This makes it easier to send out surveys and measure your NPS. You can send a link to hundreds of people at once.

People also respond faster to chats than to email.

5. You can enrich your message

As a customer service team, you may just need to send photos, videos or PDFs to your customers.

With WhatsApp you can send all that in one thread. This way you enrich your conversations considerably.

Customer contact via WhatsApp tips & tricks

WhatsApp is a customer service channel for more and more companies. Since the majority of people use it as their main communication channel, it is a very natural way to interact with companies.

These are our tips to make your customer contact via WhatsApp a success:

1. Always respond within 24 hours

This may sound logical, but quick answers are a pillar to successful customer contact via WhatsApp. 42% of people expect a response from a company within an hour. It also turns out that the faster you respond to replies, the more people are willing to pay you.

2. Use the different content formats

We already mentioned it above: WhatsApp lets you send media and documents. For example, you can send tutorials or how-to videos to your customers.

Plus, using some GIFs will give your customer service a fun, smooth vibe (though you shouldn’t if you’re a funeral director)

3. Adapt your communication style to the platform

WhatsApp is used by everyone all the time and that’s why it asks you to have a more personal and informal tone in your customer interactions. Customers today want to have real conversations and not just react to a one-way street.

In this way you can also express your brand personality even more.

4. Add a chat widget to your website

The WhatsApp Business API allows you to place a chat widget on your website.

This way you can keep the conversation on WhatsApp instead of moving it to phone or email. This ensures greater customer satisfaction.

5. Handle contacts in a software tool

Answering dozens of messages on your phone is not realistic. It takes a lot of time and is not scalable, not to mention how painful your thumbs will be.

Fortunately, we integrated WhatsApp for Business into Steam connect. That way, all your messages arrive in one interface, so that you can then distribute them to agents or customer service representatives.

The great thing about this solution is that all other customer contact also enters Steam-connect and that it makes no difference to a customer if he switches channels in between. You have all the information in the same place.

6. Use automated messages to improve customer service

WhatsApp for Business offers a great way to automate your customer service.

You can use automated messages to quickly and easily answer common questions, or to let customers know that their message has been received and is being addressed.

This can help speed up the process of responding to customers and ensure that they always receive a timely response.

7. Have a clear escalation process for customer complaints

To provide the best customer service via WhatsApp for Business, it is important to have a clear escalation process for customer complaints.

This ensures that complaints or problems are addressed in a timely and effective manner. A clear escalation process also helps keep your customers informed and satisfied with the level of service they receive.

8. Train your team in using WhatsApp for Business

WhatsApp for Business can be a powerful customer service tool, but only if used correctly. Therefore, it is important to train your team on how to use them.

Train your team in how to:

• Quickly responds to messages from customers.
• Used the various content forms available.
• Adapt your communication style to the WhatsApp for Business platform.
• Automated messages used to answer common questions.
• Handles customer complaints effectively.

How can I get started with WhatsApp Business?

Especially for our customers we have a registration form in which you can quickly integrate WhatsApp for Business into Steam-connect. Please contact sales for this.

Not a Steam user yet, but are you now very curious about how this omnichannel platform works? Request a free demo .