Customer service continues to be crucial in the communication between businesses and customers, especially with the emergence of the culture of immediacy. Customers now expect instant and always-on interactions with businesses, especially now that everything happens online. According to research by Salesforce, 47% of customers won’t make repurchases if a company provides unsatisfactory customer experience. 91% of customers would even leave without complaining or providing feedback if they are no longer satisfied with the company.
However, customer experience has transformed tremendously, especially when WhatsApp launched two key software intended for businesses in 2018: WhatsApp Business and WhatsApp Business API. We have previously touched on the differences between both software here. This time, however, we will be guiding you to get your business on board WhatsApp Business API.
Preparation Before registering for WhatsApp Business API
The WhatsApp Business app and the WhatsApp Business API serve similar purposes but are two different systems. Businesses can download the WhatsApp Business app and instantly set up a profile in minutes. On the other hand, WhatsApp Business API is not a download-and-use service. It takes a bit more effort to optimize your customers’ experience through WhatsApp Business API. To access one, businesses should work with a WhatsApp Global Business Solution Providers (BSPs). Compared to WhatsApp Business, WhatsApp Business API offers more functions such as accessibility to more users. WhatsApp Business API gives unlimited user access while the WhatsApp Business account allows access to only one device.
WhatsApp Global Business Solution Providers (BSPs)
To obtain a WhatsApp Business API, businesses need to engage WhatsApp Global Business Solution Providers (BSPs). A bit of a recall: WhatsApp BSPs are authorized and trusted partners of Facebook who are granted licences as official providers in enabling conversations through WhatsApp Business API. At the time of writing, there are only 65 certified WhatsApp BSPs in the world today. These companies are the parties who will help you register and activate the API for your enterprise’s use.
Why WhatsApp BSPs are Important
You must be wondering why enterprises should work with WhatsApp BSPs instead of WhatsApp directly. The answer lies in security. WhatsApp cares about the privacy and the security of users; creating WhatsApp BSPs is a part of its efforts to create a secure environment for businesses and customers to operate in, which is crucial for maintaining trust within the ecosystem. WhatsApp BSPs are able to maximize the approval process that needs to be done before a business gets verified. Apart from security, WhatsApp BSPs also provides an effortless experience for businesses while setting up their own WhatsApp Business API.
Step-by-Step Guide to Apply for WhatsApp Business API
Step 1 – Get your Facebook business account verified to create a secure and pleasant business environment for everyone.
Step 2 – Set up and include important business details on your WhatsApp Business account which will represent your brand to customers.
Step 3 – Connect a WhatsApp Business API account to your phone number with the help of a WhatsApp BSP to complete the registration processes.
Step 4 – Verify your business on WhatsApp by providing all required information.
Step 5 – Formulate the infrastructure of the WhatsApp Business API and finalize the dashboard. This includes setting up your automatic responses for customers, integrations of messaging channels, and more.
Choosing the right WhatsApp BSPs
Not all WhatsApp BSPs offer equal services. One might provide a more complete experience in its packages than others and this depends solely on the BSPs. Thus, your business’ and customer’s experience with WhatsApp Business API may be varied. This makes choosing the right WhatsApp BSP when applying for WhatsApp Business API a crucial decision for businesses.
Therefore, businesses need to understand the things to consider when choosing a WhatsApp BSP to engage and partner with:
1. Integration of Various messaging channels
WhatsApp Business API aims to scale up the conversational experiences between businesses and customers. Several, but not all WhatsApp BSPs, provide businesses with a single dashboard that integrates multiple channels of messaging, ensuring efficiency and ease of reach when responding to customers.
2. Human-chatbot collaboration
Nowadays, customers expect instant replies from any business entity. Consequently, automating responses on Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) will quicken this process up. Having an option to utilize a chatbot as part of the WhatsApp Business API integration will help businesses in doing just that. Furthermore, several WhatsApp BSPs provide businesses the ability to automate responses through an auto-responder, which would allow businesses to respond to customers even during non-office hours. However, there are questions from customers that require a tailored answer. It is also worth noting that 59% of customers said that tailored engagement based on past interactions is very important. Businesses should then provide customers with answers that fit their needs and take into consideration their purchasing history and behaviour. A WhatsApp BSP that gives businesses the option to add an unlimited number of agents would hence speed up the process of responding to customers’ unstructured queries.
3. 24/7 quick and reliable support
When things go wrong while using WhatsApp Business API, businesses need to troubleshoot and solve problems straight away. Your WhatsApp BSP should be able to assist all of your queries from setting up your account, managing your account, to resolving unexpected issues. This is an often missed important feature that every WhatsApp BSP should be able to provide. An excellent WhatsApp BSP should have the answers to the “A to Z” questions of its users from the simplest one to the most complicated one. In addition, a very quick support that gives you the solution to the problem within minutes is highly needed to make sure that the WhatsApp Business API that your business owns could maximize your customers’ experience when interacting with your company.
Get Started with WhatsApp Business API
Qiscus has now been registered as a WhatsApp Global BSP! Qiscus ticks all the checklist of an excellent WhatsApp Business API provided through its Qiscus Multichannel Chat. We provide you with a fully customizable experience of using WhatsApp Business API, ensuring unlimited options to add on to your very own dashboard. Take the next step in scaling up your customers’ experience by reaching out to our team here.
