Research from HubSpot, Walker and others has confirmed what professionals in the industry have known for years. Customer Experience has surpassed both price and product as the key brand differentiator. 77% of people surveyed by HubSpot said they were more likely to share a positive experience with a brand.

Great customer service has always been the cornerstone of a great brand experience. With the exponential reach that online platforms provide, scaling customer service with automation to meet rising demand is at a premium.

Today’s customers expect real-time, personalized answers to their queries. WhatsApp, as an end-to-end encrypted messaging platform with unparalleled reach is the ideal candidate to meet this challenge.

Why should I choose WhatsApp as a customer support solution for my business?

How can the capabilities of WhatsApp Business help a brand’s customer service?

The most important consideration in customer service today is omnipresence. You must be available to help your customers at the drop of a hat on every platform you can possibly reach them on.
This in turn means that you should be able to provide top-tier customer service on the messaging app that most of your customers use frequently – WhatsApp.

Let’s talk about a few ideas for how WhatsApp can help you scale and automate your customer service.

1. Immediately handle the most common customer queries

Over the course of your time in the market, you will have learned that most customer queries fall into a small number of categories – billing issues, delivery problems, defective products etc.

With the WhatsApp Business API in conjunction with solution providers like Karix, you will be able to create automation flows that can resolve most of these queries or will gather all the relevant information required before transferring the ticket to a human customer service agent.

To make sure as many people as possible use your WhatsApp channel for customer service, feature it prominently it on your website and any social channels.

1. Immediately handle the most common customer queries

Over the course of your time in the market, you will have learned that most customer queries fall into a small number of categories – billing issues, delivery problems, defective products etc.

With the WhatsApp Business API in conjunction with solution providers like Karix, you will be able to create automation flows that can resolve most of these queries or will gather all the relevant information required before transferring the ticket to a human customer service agent.

To make sure as many people as possible use your WhatsApp channel for customer service, feature it prominently it on your website and any social channels.

2. Collect customer feedback seamlessly

Customer feedback is one of the most important markers you should be working on as a brand. Unlike traditional platforms which make collecting proper feedback a tedious task, WhatsApp makes the whole process hassle-free for both parties.

According to research from Microsoft, around 52% of people believe that companies need to take more action on their customer feedback.

With the inherently conversational nature of WhatsApp, you can reach out to customers easily to ask for their feedback in real-time. Your customers can reply to you easily and you can collect more great reviews and important feedback.

2. Collect customer feedback seamlessly

Customer feedback is one of the most important markers you should be working on as a brand. Unlike traditional platforms which make collecting proper feedback a tedious task, WhatsApp makes the whole process hassle-free for both parties.

According to research from Microsoft, around 52% of people believe that companies need to take more action on their customer feedback.

With the inherently conversational nature of WhatsApp, you can reach out to customers easily to ask for their feedback in real-time. Your customers can reply to you easily and you can collect more great reviews and important feedback.

3. Send important updates to customers

WhatsApp is a great channel to add to your toolkit of customer communication regarding important status updates such as delivery times, schedule changes and other key information.

You can send people WhatsApp updates to confirm their order, inform them when or if a product they are interested in will be back in stock or tell them about specific discounts you have running currently.

3. Send important updates to customers

WhatsApp is a great channel to add to your toolkit of customer communication regarding important status updates such as delivery times, schedule changes and other key information.

You can send people WhatsApp updates to confirm their order, inform them when or if a product they are interested in will be back in stock or tell them about specific discounts you have running currently.

4. Send important notifications instantly

When time is of the essence, such as an upcoming appointment or a due payment, your business can use the WhatsApp API to send instant notifications. People are much more likely to read a WhatsApp message than an email.

You can send them notifications such as a payment request or an invoice for their order. You can let them know when an upcoming appointment is approaching.

4. Send important notifications instantly

When time is of the essence, such as an upcoming appointment or a due payment, your business can use the WhatsApp API to send instant notifications. People are much more likely to read a WhatsApp message than an email.

You can send them notifications such as a payment request or an invoice for their order. You can let them know when an upcoming appointment is approaching.

5. Highlight your product catalog

You can create chatbots with WhatsApp that take customers through a product catalog or suggest a certain product from your inventory based on a series of questions.

What makes WhatsApp a great fit for this kind of communication is that customers are in a comfortable environment, and you can send them different brochures or product videos that you may have created. You can also share other customer feedback or testimonials from people who have enjoyed your products and services.

5. Highlight your product catalog

You can create chatbots with WhatsApp that take customers through a product catalog or suggest a certain product from your inventory based on a series of questions.

What makes WhatsApp a great fit for this kind of communication is that customers are in a comfortable environment, and you can send them different brochures or product videos that you may have created. You can also share other customer feedback or testimonials from people who have enjoyed your products and services.

6. Hassle-free bookings

WhatsApp is the perfect companion for guiding a customer and making them feel taken care of during and after the booking process.

At every step of the booking process, you can present WhatsApp as a convenient place for the customer to address any questions or issues they have before they proceed.

Once the booking is done, you can send them the exact details and invoice along with any detailed instructions (directions to the venue, unboxing instructions, seat number, gate number) so they can proceed with enjoying their purchase without needing to make more calls to support.

Make sure your automation flow has customer service agents assigned for complex matters when the automation can’t resolve a booking issue.

6. Hassle-free bookings

WhatsApp is the perfect companion for guiding a customer and making them feel taken care of during and after the booking process.

At every step of the booking process, you can present WhatsApp as a convenient place for the customer to address any questions or issues they have before they proceed.

Once the booking is done, you can send them the exact details and invoice along with any detailed instructions (directions to the venue, unboxing instructions, seat number, gate number) so they can proceed with enjoying their purchase without needing to make more calls to support.

Make sure your automation flow has customer service agents assigned for complex matters when the automation can’t resolve a booking issue.

7. Scaling communication

Scalability is the name of the game with customer service today. One agent can only speak to one customer on the phone. That same agent may easily be able to handle 10 customer queries over WhatsApp.

Whether it is complaint resolution at a mass-scale or the capability to reach thousands of people on demand with a message of your choosing, WhatsApp can do it all. To add to this, you can send people videos and images to really drive your marketing home.

With the market trending strongly towards omnichannel engagement, WhatsApp holds a lot of promise as a customer service and engagement platform that can funnel and connect all the different marketing channels you have active.

7. Scaling communication

Scalability is the name of the game with customer service today. One agent can only speak to one customer on the phone. That same agent may easily be able to handle 10 customer queries over WhatsApp.

Whether it is complaint resolution at a mass-scale or the capability to reach thousands of people on demand with a message of your choosing, WhatsApp can do it all. To add to this, you can send people videos and images to really drive your marketing home.

With the market trending strongly towards omnichannel engagement, WhatsApp holds a lot of promise as a customer service and engagement platform that can funnel and connect all the different marketing channels you have active.

With secure messaging, flexible automation and third-party support, WhatsApp Business can dramatically improve your customer service efficiency and improve the experience your audience has with your brand.

We hope you found this guide helpful. To read more insider tips and guides like this, make sure you bookmark the Karix blog and revisit regularly!