In today’s competitive business environment, chatbots have become a necessity. Businesses are taking advantage of chatbots to automate conversations, increase sales and develop a more personalized customer experience. Chatbots can make the lives of customer service agents much easier too.
WhatsApp Business API 's chatbot feature have grown to become one of the most used chatbots in the world. It is a simple and highly effective chatbot that brings a lot of benefits to businesses, especially to eCommerce, finance, education, wellness and travel businesses. It allows them to grow their brands by enabling them to have unlimited conversations with potential customers. One of the main reasons that WhatsApp Business API is preferred by businesses is that it’s very easy to open a WhatsApp Business account.
WhatsApp Business is very similar to the regular WhatsApp in which the user interface and experience are very similar. You can create your account quickly, and for free you can access the business chat from both desktops and mobile devices. WhatsApp chatbots also help businesses innovate their marketing efforts. In addition to solving customer problems in real-time, chatbots are a great way to collect data and generate insights that lead to more personalized interactions with your customers.
Read More: All you need to know about WhatsApp Business API
Benefits of WhatsApp Business Automation
WhatsApp Business API provides several advanced automation support to help businesses not just reach more customers but also reduce customer service costs and deliver a highly personalized customer experience. Business owners can automate the entire message flow and automate their sales processes to make them free of human intervention. Furthermore, businesses can also proactively send pre-approved messages and notifications to clients, like a reminder for a certain date. There are many other features that businesses can leverage with WhatsApp Business API. So, let’s look at some of the key benefits that WhatsApp Business automation can provide:
Automate and scale customer support
With the aid of Quick Replies and other integration options, businesses can now automate customer service, which means that they can send messages instantly to help their customers. WhatsApp Business API will be able to handle your business enquiries and direct clients to the right resources for a quick resolution. Your customer support team can identify frequently asked queries and use pre-set template messages to solve issues easily and prevent tickets piling up in your inbox. It’s always nice to receive direct and instant responses from a chatbot, which is what businesses can now have with WhatsApp Business API.
Instantly answer products and service queries
By setting up automated template messages, businesses can send pre written responses by category to solve common issues within minutes. This allows businesses to spend more time on improving their product, service & customer experience, thereby lowering operational costs.
Understand customer behaviour and streamline data collection
Most businesses fail to understand that automated chatbots can help them gather insightful data through personalized interactions with their customers. The self-service nature of WhatsApp Business API makes it possible to collect data and insights from your customer base without having to put in too much effort. This data could be used to gain an understanding of how customers respond to various messages and identify their behaviour to generate more customized and effective communications. Therefore, automation also allows businesses to streamline their data collection and create real-time marketing campaigns.
Reduce operational costs in customer service
There is no doubt that traditional customer service is expensive and time-consuming. Most businesses lack the resources to hire dedicated customer support agents to handle phone calls or emails, so they outsource it to third-party companies that handle support queries. With WhatsApp Business API, businesses can reduce these operational costs because it allows businesses to operate with a limited team. The ability to automate responses means that businesses will be able to provide quick and accurate responses 24/7 to their clients without having to hire additional support staff. This allows businesses to keep their team focused on the areas where they need to grow their business.
Two ways to automate WhatsApp Business
Now that you have learned about the benefits of WhatsApp Business API, you can automate your conversations with your clients by following these easy steps. Let’s dive in and see how to automate WhatsApp Business messaging.
Benefits of Automation with WhatsApp Business
WhatsApp Business was created by WhatsApp to help small businesses gain significant advantages. The following are the automation tools that WhatsApp Business offers to small business owners:
Trigger automatic Greeting Messages
Businesses can add automated greeting messages that can be triggered immediately when a customer messages your brand. Here is our blog on the best WhatsApp Business Greeting Messages, if you need some inspo!
Send pre-written away messages automatically
Customers who message a brand during their after-office hours can get automated ‘away messages’ that would help customers feel assured.
Use quick replies to save time
WhatsApp Business users can also save their replies and assign labels to them. When customers message, the team can type ‘/’ and the label to access the required message instantly.
Benefits of Automation with WhatsApp Business API
WhatsApp Business API offers even more automation options to help businesses improve their customer support and sales. They are:
Enable users to shop directly from WhatsApp
WhatsApp API allows businesses to set up a completely automated sales flow. The chatbot can show a product catalogue, select the right products and instantly checkout without human intervention.
Clear all customer queries with minimal human intervention
With the API, business owners and the customer support team can automate an entire conversation workflow that covers all the business processes and actions, including how to respond to customer queries, confirm their orders and keep the conversation going to make it a more engaging experience.
Send notifications and alerts for your campaigns
WhatsApp Business API automation can also help businesses proactively send important notifications and messages to customers, like reminders for upcoming events and special sales, in a timely manner without putting in too much effort. Here is our blog on how to set up WhatsApp Automated Notifications
Deflect calls to an IVR
With the API, businesses can also deflect phone calls and redirect them to WhatsApp. They can use an IVR (Interactive Voice Response) that can be used to get the consent of customers who are looking for instant support from either an automated bot or agent.
9 use cases and examples of WhatsApp Business Automation
The following are some of the most popular use cases for WhatsApp Business automation and how they can assist your business boost your business revenue.
Create an engaging welcome message
Customers have a short attention span. So, it's important to immediately engage with every customer who visits your business. Sending an automated customized welcome message will allow you to create a better rapport with your customers. This will also allow customers to feel more special and encourage them to continue the conversation.
Template:
Hi! Thanks for reaching out to us. Please let us know how we can help you.
- Product Catalog
- Offers & Deals
- Returns & Complaints
- Others
Our representatives are waiting to support you. can_copy_tExt
Acknowledge orders and answer shipping questions
To increase customers’ trust, it is important to immediately acknowledge customer queries regarding their orders and shipping as quickly as possible. With an automated notification, you can not just help customers help track their orders but also help them resolve their shipping queries immediately. This can help them save time and avoid any unnecessary complication.
Template:
Customer: Hi
Dear customer, please let us know the nature of your query
- Order Tracking
- Shipping Enquiries
Customer: 1
Hi <Customer Name/Guest>, we’ve packed and shipped your order. You can track your order through this link <Link>.
Customer: 2
Please select the suitable query from the list, you can also type in your query to directly connect with our executive
- How much time does it take to ship the product?
- Can I cancel my order during the shipping process?
- How do I track the order during transit?
Share product recommendations (and more discount codes)
Timely product recommendations can help boost your business revenue. Automating the process will allow you to quickly share product recommendations and discounts with your customers. Adding these automated templates as replies to product queries or sending them as abandoned cart/out-of-stock notifications can help boost your business revenue.
Template:
Customer: Is this <product name> available in <size/other specifications>?
Hi Customer, we are sorry but we don’t have this <product> currently available in <specification>. However, please check out our other <product name/catalog/catalogue> which are currently on discount.
<Product Catalog>
When a customer abandons the cart:
Hi Customer, we see that you’ve not completed your purchase yet. If you don’t like the product, you can check out other similar products
<Product List/Catalog>
Confirm customer appointments
WhatsApp automation can also help your business send instant business confirmations to customers who've booked an appointment. This automated response system can not just remind your customers about their appointments but also help you jumpstart a conversation and build much-needed rapport with new customers.
Template:
Hi Customer, our scheduling system confirms you’re booked with <business name> at <time slot>. Would you like to reschedule?
- Yes
- No
- Speak to Agent
Automate replies to frequently asked questions
In today’s day and age, customers want their questions answered immediately. Building a self-service FAQ automation system can help you address your customers' questions. Allowing customers to simply select answers from a list to solve their queries without having to contact your team will also ensure that your team has more time to deal with critical issues.
Template:
Hi, thanks for reaching out to us. We have collated some of the Frequently Asked Questions in the list below. If your query is not part of the list, you can connect with an agent to get it resolved immediately.
- Should I login to purchase the product?
- How long does it take to get the product shipped?
- I would like to return a product, what should I do?
- …
- Speak to an agent
Suggested read: 25 WhatsApp Business Auto Reply Message Samples (Copy Now!)
Promoting new products, events and offers
Automated messages that promote new products, events and offers can help you generate traffic to your shop/website. This template can be part of both new customer introductions and remarketing broadcasts for regular customers. In both cases, it will help you stay active and relevant in the minds of your customers and help elicit good feedback about your business.
Template:
Hi, welcome to the <company> family! We are currently running a new seasonal event <event name> where we provide discounts for the following products
<Product List/Catalog>
Hi <customer name>, we hope you’re doing well! We have launched a brand new product <product name> and we feel that you might be interested. You can sign up for the launch by simply visiting this link <link>
Gathering feedback and reviews
Any company that is looking to grow needs to constantly listen to customer feedback and act on it. This template can help you automate and organize the feedback response process. This can help you gather valuable information about your customers’ preferences, interests, and expectations and address them quickly.
Template:
Hi, we would love to know what you think about your recent purchase <product name>. Could you spare a few minutes to answer our questions?
Customer: Yes
Thanks! Based on a rating of 1-10, how would you rate the usefulness of the product?
Customer: 7
How would you rate the product delivery & tracking process?
Customer: 8
Thanks for answering the queries, you can also send additional feedback or constructive criticism based on your experience as a reply. This will help our team improve our overall process.
Increase Repeat Business With Abandoned Cart Messages
WhatsApp Business allows business owners to send automated messages to customers who have left the site without making a purchase. With a well-planned set of automated messages, you can ensure that you can follow up with customers and nudge them into making a purchase.
Template:
Hi Customer, we’ve noticed that you’ve not completed your purchase yet. We would love to help you, please let us know the reason.
Suggested read: WhatsApp Cart Recovery Tips You Can Use Now!
Customer Service Chatbot With WhatsApp Templates
Chatbots are one of the best ways to provide the best customer experience. Chatbots can be easily automated with different WhatsApp template messages to help customers solve their queries in real time. Therefore, you can save your business time, energy, and efforts by offering automated customer service chatbots using WhatsApp Business.
Template:
Hi <Customer name>, welcome to our <website/social media page>. Our chatbot <chatbot name> is created to assist you. Let us know how we can help you
<search for a new product>
<complete your order>
<track your order>
<connect to customer service>
WhatsApp Business Automation with Gallabox
Now that you’ve understood the importance of WhatsApp Business automation, you might want to partner with a leading WhatsApp Business Solution Provider like Gallabox. Gallabox’s WhatsApp automation solutions have helped businesses across several domains engage with their customers 24/7 in a hassle-free and affordable manner.
Automate conversations with our intuitive interface
Gallabox’s intuitive interface, you can create a list of predefined rich text snippets that can help your business respond to your customers with a single click.
Create customized customer segments and broadcast lists
Our no-code WhatsApp chatbots also helps you create customized customer segments and broadcast lists with the help of labels. These labels can also help profile your customers for future actions and re-targeting.
Set up quick replies
You can also use the Quick Replies automation tool to define the specific quick responses that can be used as resolution messages.
Collaborate with multiple agents
Our conversation screen can be accessed by multiple agents who can collaborate with each other through mentions by using ‘@’. This can ensure that you leave no customers behind and offer on-the-go resolutions to customers.
Read more: Collaborate with Teams: Gallabox's Shared Inbox for WhatsApp Business
Create a no-code chatbot and automate WhatsApp Business in a few easy steps
Use our no-code chatbot builder to develop an advanced WhatsApp chatbot and automate your conversations. It’s an easy way to develop a chatbot in just a few minutes without coding. All you have to do is chat with our team and inform them about your unique business needs.
Once your chatbot has been developed, you can automate it with the required rules and get real-time insights. You can manage the bot responses in real-time and provide personalized customer support that your customers can trust.
Let us know if you’d like to learn more or schedule a demo.
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