By using the API to build and manage your official WhatsApp contact, companies have a number of advantages.
Advantages of having WhatsApp Business API
1.Automated service: With the help of chatbots in service via WhatsApp, it is possible to serve a large number of customers and best of all, reducing the service time and waiting lines.
This ensures efficiency and speed when offering a customer support service, leaving the consumer satisfied. It is always good to remember that the time it takes for a customer to be served can be the deciding factor when finalizing a purchase or joining a service.
2.Unlimited number of attendants on the same phone number: If you already use WhatsApp to service your company and do not have an official WhatsApp Business Solution account, we know that it shouldn’t be easy to manage service on this channel.
Many companies end up providing more than one phone number or keep an attendant on the cell phone and another on WhatsApp Web. With the WhatsApp Business API you can say goodbye to that.
The API allows you to integrate your number into a Digital Service platform and use as many agents as you want. In addition, you can easily identify, in the conversation history, which attendant met the customer’s demand at a given time.
3.Use the same number that your company already answers: You can use one of the phone numbers your company already has to create a business account on WhatsApp.
This is a great practice that helps in the perception of your brand. It is very bad for customers to have to memorize several numbers to talk to your company.
4.Integrating WhatsApp with other channels: The integration of WhatsApp with a Digital Service platform, through the API, allows you to centralize all your service channels in one place. Thus, your attendants will not need to be aware of multiple channels in different environments.
Imagine having your calls via WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook Messenger, SMS, VoIP and online chat, all in one place! This will help your team not to forget a customer on a particular channel or take a long time to respond.
5.Service reports: Without using WhatsApp Business Solution, to create reports on WhatsApp, it is necessary to extract the data manually. However, using integration with a Digital Service platform, you can monitor statistics and extract reports regarding your services.
6.Authentication badge: Only through WhatsApp Business Solution is it possible to obtain the WhatsApp authentication seal. This seal helps your company to give more confidence to the customer the moment you want to communicate with him.
How does customer communication work and what are the rules of the WhatsApp Business API?
If you want to start a communication actively, that is, by sending the first message, it is necessary to obtain the customer’s opt-in. This is a measure that seeks to prevent the WhatsApp Business API from becoming a SPAM channel.
Opt-in: The opt-in is a formal authorization from the customer indicating that he really wants to chat with your company via WhatsApp. To collect the user’s opt-in, there are some rules that must be followed:
- The invitation must be made available on an external channel, such as website, email and etc.
- It must be clear, visual and contain the name and logo of WhatsApp. In addition, the user himself must inform his phone number through an active action, such as typing.
Opt-out: Opt-out is the exact opposite of opt-in. This feature is the customer’s refusal to receive notifications via WhatsApp. In both cases, you are responsible for managing consumers’ subscriptions and refusals to receive content through the messenger.
Remember: the customer’s wishes must always be respected. Thus, if at any point the customer who joined the opt-in wants to stop receiving messages from your company, you should remove it from your contact list.
Conversations and notifications
You can chat with your customer without the need for opt-in, within an interval of up to 24 hours in relation to the last message sent by the same, if he contacts you directly. Whenever the customer sends a new message, this interval is restarted.
It is important to emphasize that this communication with the customer can be done through chatbots, human attendants or both. And if your company wants to send messages to the customer after the 24-hour interval, those messages will be considered notifications.
Notifications on WhatsApp are prepaid and can also be sent via a chatbot or human. This feature is interesting for reporting service updates, appointment reminders and other notices. In a practical way, if the customer starts a conversation with your company, you answer it within 24 hours and keep him engaged in the conversation, you don’t need to invest in notifications for that.
