Customers taking time to download your new App? Get on WhatsApp with them!

Every new businessman, feels that building an app for customer service, is gateway to success. With this mindset, businesses spend thousands of dollars and time in coming up with a sleek, super-efficient app, compatible on multiple platforms. 

How Customers Look at Your New App: 

However, the real challenge in getting returns from app lies in making customers download your app and use it.  Especially, if you are an emerging or localized business (taxi, food ordering, grocery, service station, hospital, taxi, real estate etc.), customers think this way about your app:

 "Sould I install app for each restaurant in town? Why should I learn new UI every time?"
"I need to visit many doctors, why should I install apps of all the hospitals in town?" 
"For hiring a taxi, why should I have 10 apps downloaded, for each taxi service?"
"My city has 50 online grocery stores. Do you expect me to download 50 apps?"
"I don’t know this company…not sure, what data they might access from my phone?"

Bottom-line… Today, no customer is really interested in slowing down his smartphone, for installing an app, from a new company.  
So, to ensure the investment done on app development brings some results, we end up paying, another thousands of dollars on marketing the App. Even after that, we see fewer app downloads and not enough orders via app. Already going through this? Or seen someone go through this?

Why WhatsApp?

Growth of your client base is not because of a sleek app. It’s because of your nature of services, the delivery & pricing model, your excellent service repeatedly.  Your investment in new business must be focused around improving these aspects and not building an expensive app, to start with. Initially, you can focus on less costly customer acquiring channels like Phone call, Email, SMS and the most popular with customers now a days… WhatsApp.

WhatsApp is free for customers locally as well as internationally. Customer can send requests as text as well as media files (e.g. photo of grocery list, a broken product to be serviced etc.) to company. Customers are using the UI that they are most comfortable with. Customer can send requests round the clock. How convenient!

Benefits to your business using WhatsApp? 

Huge cost saving with more customers. You can provide customer service with just a single WhatsApp enabled phone. No investment on multiple phones and phone operators.  Whatsapp phone number is genuine.  So, no need to pay for an OTP authentication service, especially if you accept COD payment. For regular customers, who already know you, you can minimize orders via market place app who charge 10-30% commission on orders.

Customer service is even more easy on WhatsApp using Bag A Chat customer helpdesk solution. This solution is same as the automated Email or SMS based helpdesk, except for it connects to WhatsApp. If you have an existing CRM/helpdesk tool for customer service, then Bag A Chat solution connects WhatsApp to your service tool. So, your service portal remains the same for customer representatives. For details visit, http://bagachat.com/customer_helpdesk.html or contact info@bagachat.com to book a demo.

Investment on App will help eventually. But, the more your business grows, the more your customers will be happy to download the app! It’s not the other way round!

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Why Customer Service on WhatsApp is win-win for customers and companies?

Today, a business needs to be available on all communication channels with customers. Some customers like to use the sleek app, some are comfortable with the email & SMS and a few prefer calling. But a lot of customers are now finding it convenient to send their orders/requests on Whatsapp.

Let’s see why other channels are losing ground to WhatsApp?

Email – Once a very popular medium, email has been heavily abused now by spammers. Even fake customer queries are very common using Email, as real identity can be hidden. It’s also inconvenient to use on smartphone, which is a de-facto device for most customers today.

SMS & phone call– There is a cost to message or call. Also, you can’t send media files like photo of your shopping list. A call can be missed by company, if there is inadequate number of phones and operators are busy. Service on phone call, is restricted by working hours of company.

App – The cost of building and marketing a new app is huge and returns on investment take a long time! With more than 20 million apps available online, people have lost the craze of downloading new apps. By default, there are already 40-50 popular apps everyone has on their phone. So, new app download means slowing down the phone & learning another app UI. Also, if you are an emerging business, then people doubt if your app accesses personal data from the phone.

Why customers love WhatsApp?

1. This amazingly simple app is free to use locally as well as internationally for the customers. Send as many messages to company at no cost!
2.  It allows you to share your request as text as well as media files (e.g. photos of broken device to be repaired, medical report of blood test etc.).
3.  I does not breach privacy. Companies can connect with customers only when customers start the communication.
4. Customers can request round the clock. No need for the company representative to be present to take down the request.

Why businesses getting attracted to WhatsApp?

• Customer service for all customers can be done virtually using one phone – with Whatsapp installed on it.
• No investment on multiple phones and call centers, just to avoid a missed call or busy tone. Customer representatives can focus on working on requests instead of getting busy with phone.
• A customer is authenticated naturally as Whatsapp is attached to a genuine phone number. Helps a lot to avoid fake requests/orders especially for COD mode of payment.  No need to spend on OTP authentication service.
• Request details are very clear thanks to media files supported on WhatsApp.
• Your company number is in the customer’s contact list!

To ensure the Customer service requests received on WhatsApp, Bag A Chat provides a helpdesk solution, which manages the messages just like any other helpdesk system on email/ SMS. And, if you already have your app or website, this solution helps connecting WhatsApp with your service dashboard. So now your existing system is also connected to WhatsApp to serve customers better! For more details, visit http://bagachat.com/customer_helpdesk.html or drop a mail to info@bagachat.com for a demo request.

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Still doing customer support, the old way using call, email or SMS? Shift to messengers like WhatsApp

Customer service is key function in every business. However, a conventional customer service comes at a significant cost. A typical customer helpdesk has one or many phones to attend the call. With every phone, there is a cost of attending it. You don’t want your customer to get an engage tone or a missed call. And still, many companies end up doing a restricted hours support (e.g. Monday-Friday 10am-6pm), based on the team’s availability. If you are looking for round the clock support, then the customer service cost multiplies.

This cost becomes a challenge for small and medium sector businesses like food ordering, real estate, consultants, hotels, e-commerce, startups, hospitals, service stations, customer care centers and many more.

Why WhatsApp?

Automated customer service using Email and SMS were good alternatives till recently, to reduce cost. However, thanks to advent of messengers like WhatsApp, telegram etc. customers are shying away from emails and SMS. WhatsApp which is a free messenger - has over 1 billon active users as of today.   An average user checks WhatsApp more than 23 times in a day. It supports text as well as media like images etc. and very quick and convenient to use. You can handle all your customers virtually on a single phone device using WhatsApp. No question of engaged or missed call!

With this, WhatsApp is too tempting to use with customers, right? However, it has some limitations that still discourage companies to use WhatsApp with customers:

• It does not save history beyond a few days
• Someone needs to continuously monitor the phone to take action.
• Keeping track of which customer queries are answered and which are open is hard to track. Organizing hundreds of messages every day, involves significant manual efforts.
• WhatsApp can’t be integrated with CRM or other customer dashboards used by business.

Bag A Chat has launched customer service helpdesk on WhatsApp – with an objective of eliminating the limitations of WhatsApp and similar messengers, in business use.

How ‘Bag A Chat’ works?

• Helpdesk app and Whatsapp are installed on the company customer service phone. Customers continue to message on WhatsApp only- no other app needed.
• WhatsApp messages from customers converted to ticket customer helpdesk system, on arrival.
• Auto routing to appropriate customer service agent based on the message type.
• Support agents can view these tickets, on any device like laptop, desktop, smartphone. There is no need to continuously check the phone for incoming messages.
• Support team and management get the graphical dashboard to track customer tickets, service SLA, generate alerts on delayed unresolved tickets etc.
• The solution is available on a monthly subscription. So no big upfront investment needed to try and establish customer service on WhatsApp.

Integration with business CRM:

If your business has a customer service system like CRM, app, website, helpdesk system etc. the Bag A Chat solution helps integrating WhatsApp with the same, using a simple API.

As you can see, Bag A Chat makes is hassle-free to run customer service on a single phone using WhatsApp – the next generation communication tool, popular with your customers. It offers all the features of a conventional ticketing system on WhatsApp without being heavy on pockets. More details about the solution are at http://bagachat.com/customer_helpdesk_usecase.html and to avail a free trial,  you can drop a mail to info@bagachat.com

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Using WhatsApp To Market Your Hotel ?

WhatsApp rules in South Africa, Malaysia, Argentina, Singapore, Hong Kong, Spain, India, Mexico, UAE, Italy, Netherlands and Germany as per a report by Statista. As a hotelier, if you have guests coming in from any of these regions, then WhatsApp is the best marketing tool to reach out to them conveniently. Big hotels like Sheraton Frankfurt Airport Hotel is one of the best example of using WhatsApp for marketing their hotel business.

How WhatsApp helps in marketing of hotel business?

1. Hotels can display their WhatsApp mobile number and logo on their website so visitors can know that you are available on WhatsApp for business. Share WhatsApp numbers on Facebook and other social media platforms recurringly for broader reach.

2. Share last minute offers to your list of customer telephone numbers, on the days when occupancy is low and the offer you are giving away.

3. Communicate directly with guests for hotel booking, sharing hotel photographs, pricing information, billing inquiries, other travel information and help them take quick decisions.

4. Use group chat for repeat customers who visit often by adding them to a special group and send them the offers, events designed exclusively for them, rewarding guest loyalty.

5. Respond quickly with a turn around time of 5 minutes. Training staff to handle inquiries on WhatsApp is crucial.

6. Cross-selling when the guest is on the stay, such as sightseeing, outdoor activities, etc.

7. Small hotels and restaurant owners can accept food orders from the local market.

Another best example is of Hotel Barcelo Illetas Albratros in Spain, that offers guest a free mobile number with a welcome card to allow them to communicate with the hotel 24 hours free of cost. However, there are certain limitations to WhatsApp. Everything isn’t possible under one roof.

Why you should also use Bag A Chat app with WhatsApp for hotel business?

1. Hotels can organize chat messages from particular guest under labels such as guest name, country, city, season, company, etc.

2. You can also selectively save chat messages those are important

3. Do a quick search of chat messages using multiple filters such as guest name, date, labels

4. Backup guest chat messages on cloud like Google Drive or DropBox or on mobile phone

5. Create labels and group chat messages logically for quick reference

6. Create analytical reports based on guest chat messages to get insights 

7. Set alerts or reminders to chat messages such as informing the guest about a site visit time, pick up or drop time, following up with regular guests for Christmas holiday season.

Hotels using WhatsApp for business can get a customized Bag A Chat app exclusively designed to suit their business operations including integration with their own hotel management systems (HMS). To know more, write to us at info@bagachat.com. 

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Using WhatsApp for Business: Brazil Leads, SA, India, Ireland, Spain, Malaysia Next Best

WhatsApp was founded in the year 2009 and in just six years it has succeeded in acquiring 1 billion users worldwide. No other instant messenger has been able to achieve this phenomenal growth in such a short period of time. Moreover, about 1 million new users register everyday so you can assume the potential reach it will have in the coming few years.South Africa is the top country using WhatsApp with highest % of online adults in this market.

When it comes to business, Brazil leads the way. With 56% WhatsApp penetration among mobile internet users, Brazil still has 60% of mobile users who use pre-paid plans as per a report by Statista. WhatsApp is the single most used app in Brazil with over 95 million users and 93% of country’s population. The core reason being the cost-effectiveness and no obligatory monthly mobile bill contracts for those who cannot afford to spend on those expensive plans, especially the youth and the poor.

Large multi-national corporations and small businesses too have already started use of WhatsApp for business in Brazil. Telefonica, one the of largest telephone companies in Brazil uses WhatsApp for customer service. Real estate firms sell properties to middle class population using WhatsApp. Right from online shopping to flight booking, everything that people need has a source to get it done through WhatsApp.

Brazil is one of the best example of a country using WhatsApp for business. WhatsApp in Brazil is not just limited to customer service, Mitsubishi Motors used WhatsApp in 2014 for pre-sales tasks such as providing car color, models and other details to potential customers and if the customer liked it, they were then directed to a local dealer for the test drive or purchase.

Around 1 in every 5 companies in Brazil use WhatsApp for advertising and marketing. Itau Bank is one of the largest bank in Brazil that uses WhatsApp for communication with their customers. Many hotels and resorts accept bookings and orders using WhatsApp. There are many other functions that are carried out routinely on WhatsApp in Brazil.

Speaking about other countries, US is bit slow to adapt to WhatsApp as of now. Germany, UK, Italy, Ireland, Argentina, Spain, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Australia are showing signs of quick adaptation. 83% of teens in Germany use WhatsApp, India has more than 70 million users and Italy, Argentina has more than 83% of mobile users using WhatsApp. UAE too has 77% social media users that use WhatsApp for communication.

To sum it up all, using WhatsApp for business seems to offer numerous opportunities to businesses all over the world. A business can absolutely not afford to neglect using WhatsApp for advertising, marketing, sales, project management or customer service. Bag A Chat provides a seamless way of using WhatsApp for business with an integration of customized application that suits every business need. Find out more here how you can use Bag A Chat app with WhatsApp for business.

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Using WhatsApp for Business: 6 Core Functions You Can Manage Effectively

WhatsApp, the world’s fastest-growing communication platform surpassed 1 billion users recently. Over 42 billion messages are sent every day while 1.6 billion pictures & 250 million videos are shared daily. These stats are clearly tempting for every business owner to use WhatsApp.

Here are 6 core functions that companies are managing effectively using WhatsApp for business

1. Using WhatsApp for Marketing & Advertising

The best example of creative use of WhatsApp is of Colgate, where they invited people to send their selfies of smile using WhatsApp to a number printed on the toothpaste pack.

2. Using WhatsApp for Customer Support

According to techinbrazil.com, one in every five companies in Brazil uses WhatsApp for customer service and communication with customers. See here the examples..

3. Using WhatsApp to Conduct Research

WhatsApp serves as the best tool to do qualitative research. Encouraging participants to use emoticons is one of the great way to know their opinion. There are around 58 yellow face emoticons in WhatsApp portraying different emotions.

4. WhatsApp for Sales Communication

The data shows that a sales follow up done on WhatsApp gets 40% more response than a direct call. People dislike receiving calls from unknown numbers. Chat proves to be better option.

5. Using WhatsApp for Team Communication

The best example is the Chennai corporation, using WhatsApp for staff reporting and timely attendance. They have formed a WhatsApp group to exclusively monitor UPHCs, garbage cleaning and road work.

6. WhatsApp for Recruitment

Our Pune-based company Bag A Chat app invited applications for the position of app development by sharing the job requirement on a WhatsApp group of software developers. The response was quick and sharing of resumes and references was easy.

Integrating customized Bag A Chat app can skyrocket your business when using WhatsApp for Business.

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Bag A Chat App: A Scalable Tool for Customer Support Via WhatsApp & Hike

Businesses are now switching to providing customer service using IMs such as WhatsApp and Hike. Users too these days value a relationship that is interactive, responsible and spontaneous. Customer service using WhatsApp or Hike has thus become the most preferred choice for any new or old business.

With 1 billion  users, WhatsApp has opened up a new channel of communication for businesses. From voice calling to sending images, videos and other media files to most of the mobile devices such as Android, iOS, Windows and Blackberry.

Organizing Chat Messages - The Biggest Business Challenge

Many businesses were initially reluctant to use instant messengers for customer service due to their inability to organize chat messages efficiently. However, a business cannot ignore the fact that WhatsApp allows speedy interaction required to solve queries and answer customer questions instantly.

While WhatsApp and Hike allows you to save, backup, email and favorite chat messages, businesses always looked for a way to organize chat messages using labels, filters and quick search. Analysing chat messages from team and customers and creating reports was always a dream of a team leader or manager.

Bag A Chat app overcomes this challenge by allowing you to organize chat messages by way of creating labels. You can name the labels as per your choice and save chat messages under them logically.

For example: If you want to group all the chat messages related to new orders. You can create a label named as New Orders and save chat messages under this label. So, later on, you can simply go to this folder and review all the new order enquiries without getting lost in all the chat messages together.

You can also forward/assign messages to team members along with all details of messages like the timestamp and sender of the message. So a complete track of information is available to team easily.

Other benefits that you can leverage are creating analytical reports based on WhatsApp chat messages, set reminders or alerts to chat messages and selectively save or cloud backup your customer service chat messages. With a easy to use interface and brilliant features of Bag A Chat app, the entire customer support team can provide long lasting and improved customer support to thousands of customers in real time.

Bag A Chat app can also be customized and integrated with your business CRMs and customer support helpdesk systems like freshdesk, zendesk for better management. See more details here - Bag A Chat app for Customer Service Using WhatsApp and Hike.

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