WhatsApp for Customer Service: The Complete Guide

To make support more convenient and accessible, businesses have integrated social media platforms like WhatsApp into their customer service strategy.

It’s no surprise that WhatsApp is now one of the most popular communication platforms today, with over 2.9 billion users worldwide.

For many businesses, using WhatsApp for customer service has transformed their levels of engagement and boosted their relationships with customers.

Using the business applications; WhatsApp Business and WhatsApp Business API, companies can now engage with customers seamlessly.

This article discusses how businesses can use WhatsApp to revolutionize their customer service standards.

What is WhatsApp?

WhatsApp is a real-time communication platform that allows users to share, send and receive messages, files or media with each other online.

WhatsApp has the potential to transform struggling businesses into thriving enterprises by empowering them to communicate at any time with customers via text messages and multimedia options.

Importance of using WhatsApp for customer service

As one of the most popular platforms in the world today, WhatsApp offers you a unique opportunity to elevate your customer service by integrating it as part of your strategy.

Let’s look at the benefits that comes with using WhatsApp for customer support.

• Free communication: Everything shared, from media, video calls, and voice calls to a simple text message, is free. This is the case, regardless of whether the person is next to you or thousands of miles away, as long as they have internet access.
• Security: WhatsApp assures its customers of safe and breach-free communication thanks to end-to-end encryption and multiple layers of protection deployed to maintain information privacy.
• Increased engagement rates: According to statistics, WhatsApp has a staggering 98% open rate, which is four times higher than that of emails. For businesses, this is perfect news because it means its highly possible customers are already using WhatsApp, making it easier to reach them and communicate freely.
• Convenience and accessibility: WhatsApp is easy to access on mobile phones, computers, and the web, making it very convenient for users to connect anytime. For businesses, this means customers can reach out for support whenever they need customer support services.
• Various message formatting and rich media options: Add some personality to your conversations using bold, italics, strikethrough, and numbering. Additionally, users can easily send a variety of multimedia messages, including videos, photos, GIFs, and voice or video notes. This feature makes conversations more engaging and enjoyable.

Ways to leverage WhatsApp as a customer service channel

Customers are nowadays more inclined to communicate with businesses through their preferred communication platforms such as WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, etc.

Consequently, a report by Bloggingwizard has indicated that using WhatsApp business can speed up customer service by up to 225%.

This is proof that you stand to gain a lot more by using WhatsApp as a customer service channel. You can use WhatsApp for customer service through:

WhatsApp Business

It’s designed for small and medium-sized businesses. The setup process is very simple with access to features that can enhance their customer support operations.

Users can set up automated welcome messages to be sent once a customer reaches out and utilize the away messages to inform customers that the agent is currently away.

Additionally, you can use it to create product catalogs and share support information such as user manuals, troubleshooting guides, product information, and many more.

WhatsApp Business API

This is mainly used to cater to large and medium businesses with more messages and conversations. As such, it is not offered to customers directly.

One has to integrate their WhatsApp Business account with a help desk software like BoldDesk® at a fee (varies with providers).

With the larger volume of conversations involved, integrating WhatsApp Business API allows support agents to handle all customer inquiries easily using advanced help desk solutions and offer personalized customer service.

A comparison of the types of WhatsApp accounts

WhatsApp offers three main types of accounts, each having unique features tailored to meet various user needs.

Below is a comparison table highlighting key differences between them:

Steps to set up WhatsApp Business API

WhatsApp has transformed customer service by allowing businesses to connect with customers on their preferred platform. Setting up WhatsApp Business API is simple and doesn’t take much time. Here’s how you can get started:

1. Download WhatsApp Business from the Apple Store (iOS) or Play Store (Android) and sign up.
2. Create an engaging and detailed business profile that can easily attract customers.
3. Share your business phone number to inform your customers of your WhatsApp Business account and allow them to contact your business at their convenience.
4. To streamline your customer service operations, integrate your WhatsApp Business with top help desk software such as BoldDesk®.

How to use WhatsApp customer service

Meta has worked continually over the years to ensure that WhatsApp has the quality features and functionalities that make communication easier and more convenient.

This is how brands can effectively use WhatsApp for customer support operations.

Provide answers to all customer concerns

The essence of using WhatsApp support is to provide fast responses to any and every customer inquiry. Agents have to always be ready to communicate with customers whenever they require support.

Send custom notifications and reminders

WhatsApp business API allows you to easily share important notifications and reminders such as payment, appointments, order updates, etc. to your customers for convenience.

Simplify booking process

Share with your customers all the information related to their bookings for easy access. Customers can also book and/or reschedule their appointments at their own convenience.

Display a product or service catalog

Showcase all the products/services you offer by creating a user-friendly catalog. It makes it easier for customers to access the brand products and know the available ones, without having to leave WhatsApp.

Gather customer feedback

Businesses can seize the opportunity of customer interactions via WhatsApp to request for their feedback. You can either send the surveys to multiple clients at once through broadcast messages or make use of interactive message templates that have buttons or lists.

Share product order updates

Let your customers know the status of their orders or products by sending updates regularly. The updates can include shipping updates, order confirmations, and any other important changes to the product or business.

9 Ways to use WhatsApp for customer service

Providing WhatsApp customer service is a true game changer and a means of boosting brand awareness and engagement rates.

These are the WhatsApp for customer service best practices that businesses should consider.

Make your business profile professional

First impressions matter a lot. You can never go wrong with professional, direct, and attractive business profiles.

• Update your business name and logo in the profile section so customers can instantly know your brand.
• Make your description clear, professional, and very attractive, showcasing your brand more vibrantly.
• Remember to include important details such as working hours (if any), business days, and contact information to guide your customers accurately.

Keep in mind that, what your customers see is what they should get throughout their journey.

Inform customers of your availability

How will your customers know if you are using WhatsApp and when you are available online?

Make it easy for your customers to reach you by adding a WhatsApp icon, widget, QR code, or add a link to your website.

Once you have integrated WhatsApp as one of your customer communication channels, you can announce it on your newsletters (if available), or any other channels. This is a clear way to let customers know that they can now contact you directly through WhatsApp for customer care.

Always ensure your WhatsApp’s ‘last seen’ is visible for all clients to know whenever you are online. In case you are offline, consider adding a brief status to inform them on when you will be back.

Respond quickly to customer complaints

According to a report by BusinessDasher, 77% of customers believe that providing them with fast responses is the best service they can receive.

Fortunately, WhatsApp has many helpful features that have made this a possibility.

• WhatsApp offers quick replies and message templates, which can be customized to provide accurate and detailed responses. It’s important for agents to ensure these templates are well-tailored for the best customer experience.
• Another useful feature is automated greetings. Once they are set up, these welcome messages let customers know their request has been received. Some even include guides for the next steps.
• Integrating an AI-powered WhatsApp chatbot can enable businesses to provide 24/7 customer service. This is because they can resolve basic customer issues whether the agent is out of the office or offline.
• Categorize customer concerns and use labels to sort and organize them. This saves a lot of time by allowing users to prioritize their chats effectively thus providing fast and accurate support.

Integrate WhatsApp with help desk software

WhatsApp offers businesses a powerful way to connect directly with customers.

Integrating WhatsApp with the best help desk software is a smart move for businesses seeking to manage and respond to customer requests efficiently. This help desk integration enables automatic conversion of all unresolved WhatsApp messages into support tickets, ensuring that no request is overlooked.

These tickets are then triaged and assigned to the most qualified support agent, streamlining the entire customer service process.

Agents can use private notes, ticket tagging, labels, canned responses, and AI-powered tools to manage customer requests more effectively.

Additionally, you can use your help desk software to create AI-powered WhatsApp chatbots, enabling businesses to provide 24/7 customer service. These WhatsApp chatbots assist with providing responses and solutions to common support issues, especially when agents are unavailable or out of office.

This integration not only improves support team’s efficiency but also boosts customer satisfaction.

Personalize interactions and experiences

Customers find it frustrating to repeat themselves, and without access to customer information, agents struggle to personalize their responses.

To solve this, you can integrate WhatsApp with CRM tools such as contact management, giving you easy access to all customer details whenever you need them.

This ensures customers don’t have to repeat themselves, as agents can quickly access their information to offer personalized support.

Leverage the customer data you’ve gathered to create meaningful and detailed profiles. This makes it easier to understand your customers and tailor support based on their information.

Utilize rich multimedia options in your conversations

With WhatsApp support, it is possible to share multimedia files — like images, documents and videos — allowing users to understand solutions shared through rich media easily. They make interactions to feel more engaging and human-like.

Agents can also use the numerous emoticons (emojis) options available to add warmth and liveliness to conversations while maintaining professionalism.

Streamlined communication with omnichannel support

Make customer engagement smoother by integrating WhatsApp with other communication channels such as email, live chat, and social media platforms.

When customers reach out to support teams through WhatsApp, their conversations will be automatically redirected to and managed within an omnichannel inbox.

Agents can also easily access all the customers’ conversation history within the unified platform.

With an omnichannel inbox, regardless of the communication channel they use, customers and agents will have a streamlined interaction.

Collect customer feedback

Collecting customer feedback is one of the simplest ways to understand your customers and improve your services. It gives you a clear overview of how to enhance your WhatsApp business platform and provide better customer support.

WhatsApp makes it easy to gather feedback directly from your customers, especially after a service interaction. This helps both agents and the business gain valuable insights for improvement.

Other effective ways to collect feedback include customer satisfaction scores, customer surveys, in-app ratings, and community forums.

Make smarter decisions with reporting and analytics tools

Data is crucial for providing great customer service, and WhatsApp Business Platform offers an analytics feature to help.

With this, users can track key metrics at their convenience. These metrics include:

• The number of messages sent
• How often a particular WhatsApp template was read
• The total number of conversations, along with their costs

By integrating WhatsApp with a help desk software, you gain access to even more advanced and customized reporting and analytics tools. These tools analyze customer data and provide valuable insights to help improve your WhatsApp customer service.

You can track important metrics like customer satisfaction scores, net promoter scores, customer churn rates, and engagement rates. With real-time data, it’s easy to pinpoint areas for improvement and enhance your overall customer service.

Elevate your business with WhatsApp for customer service

Customer service is getting easier and smarter by the day through technological advancements. Over the past years, there has been an increasing demand for convenient and fast responses to customer concerns.

In the middle of all this chaos lies WhatsApp, a modern social media platform with modern features to tackle modern customer support challenges.

By integrating your WhatsApp business account with a next-generation customer service solution like BoldDesk®, you can say goodbye to your constant engagement problems.

Start a free trial today or book a live demo to experience the top of the chart services offered by BoldDesk®. If you want to know more, contact the support team for guidance.

Related articles

• What is Social Media Customer Service? Best Tips & Examples
• 10 Ways to Improve First Response Time in Customer Service

FAQs on WhatsApp customer support

What’s the difference between user-initiated and business-initiated conversations in WhatsApp support?

A user-initiated conversation (UIC) happens when a customer contacts a business first, and the business responds to them.

In contrast, a business-initiated conversation (BIC) occurs when the business starts the conversation by sending a message to the customer, typically using a predefined template.

It’s divided into marketing, utility, authentication, and service conversations. They are mainly used to determine the pricing rates depending on the country code.