Sometimes the fastest and easiest way to interact with businesses is to chat rather than call or email. As in private life we are more and more used to sending messages via WhatsApp, why not do it also in business? For this there is WhatsApp Business: a free app, designed for small business owners and entrepreneurs .
It was launched in January 2018 and quickly gained acclaim from small and medium-sized businesses around the world. After all, today more than ever the online presence is important for a business, which must be contactable by customers in a simple and immediate way. Consumers need to be able to ask questions, request information, or search for the right product to buy to have a positive shopping experience.
A Whatsapp Business profile, unlike that of a private user, includes interesting features. First, it can be created with useful information for customers, such as address, business description, email contact and website .
It also includes ad hoc messaging tools, such as quick answers, to quickly answer frequently asked questions. The function allows you to save and reuse the messages you send most frequently in order to give quick answers to the most common questions and save precious time.
WhatsApp Business also allows you to send welcome messages to introduce the company to customers who send a message for the first time.
Absence messages are also provided , to let your customers know when you are not available. You can pre-set automatic messages: phrases to send when you are unable to reply, so customers know their request has been received and will have indications on when they will receive a reply.
Having a WhatsApp Business profile allows you to organize your contacts or chats with different labels and colors . Conversation filters allow you to easily manage your chats and view only unread messages, groups or broadcast lists.
Also on WhatsApp Business it is possible to share the catalog of a company’s products or services . Catalogs allow businesses to showcase their products and services, thus facilitating sales. They have become a widely used tool: every month over 40 million users around the world view catalogs on WhatsApp. Thanks to the catalog, there is no need to send numerous messages and photos to provide product information to customers.
For each item, the company can add information including price, description and product code. All photos and information are stored on WhatsApp to avoid taking up storage space on corporate and customer phones. This feature adds an extra touch of professionalism to small business WhatsApp profiles. And it gives customers the ability to find the information they need right in the chat.
Finally, among the latest features introduced, there is the possibility of chatting via WhatsApp Business by scanning the QR Code of the activity with which you want to talk.
Each company can display its own QR Code in the window, can put it on product packaging or print it on receipts and business cards. The QR Code works like a digital front door: when you come across an interesting activity, you no longer have to manually add the number to your address book.
