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Are your clients happy with the way your company communicates with them? Identify your mistakes so you can correct them!
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Are your clients happy with the way your company communicates?In this article we’ll go over the mistakes that most companies make when it comes to using WhatsApp Business so that you can improve performance for both you and your team.
Anyone can make mistakes, they’re simply part of the learning process.
However, many people (including me) would prefer to avoid them if we can so we don’t have to go through the consequences of making them.
That’s why I decided to write this article, since I (and not only I) consider client communication to be key to generating sales and creating branding.
Plus, a little help is always welcome, right?
Okay, so did you answer that first question about whether your clients are happy with the way your company communicates?
If you answered yes, congratulations!
According to a study, we know that almost 7 out of 10 businesses think they are communicating with their clients effectively.
Wait, hold on…think?
Yes, they think they are communicating effectively.
Because that study also revealed that only 2 in 10 clients agree about the way businesses communicate.
The study makes the following very clear:
“Many businesses aren’t as good at communicating with clients as they think they are.”
Do you see why it’s so important to learn more about those potential mistakes?
Whether your company is brand new or you have been working their for years, your business could be in that percentage of companies who think they are doing things right.
When they aren’t.
There are the 14 mistakes that your company should avoid when it comes to using WhatsApp Business to communicate with your clients.
I’ll start with ths one because it is one of the most important mistakes. If you’re doing this, it’s pretty likely you’re also making a lot of the other mistakes on this list.
Like a chain reaction.
It’s true, to be able to use the platform, you need enough time to respond to every message from your clients and to have the skills and experience to communicte effectively.
I’m not saying that you’re not capable of doing this!
Of course you can!
Although you could take a few minutes to learn techniques to communicate in the best possible way with each of your potential clients, and understand how to get the most out of a tool as powerful as WhatsApp Business.
That’s why it’s key to use some foolproof strategies for selling more with WhatsApp.
If you’re the person in charge of the business, one of my recommendations is to delegate this activity to other people.
Of course, this will depend on how big your company is and the amount of funding you have available.
Of course, if you’re just getting started, it can be difficult to hire personell.
But remember, if you company begins to grow, don’t hesitate to assign this work to other people so that you can take care of other key things related to your business.
So what would happen if you don’t delegate it?
Imagine you’re the sole person in charge of WhatsApp communications.
And, for various reasons, you don’t spend enough time learning about techniques for WhatsApp marketing. That could lead you to…
Often, communication with our clients will affect our businesses and companies in multiple ways, from how they perceive our brand to generating income.
Now let me ask you a question.
Would you read a message that is only made up of lines and lines of uninterrupted text?
Because I wouldn’t.
Just looking at it would put me to sleep.
And I’m certain that the same goes for your client.
Although I don’t know if they would go to sleep, I’m certain that they won’t even open your message and will not read everything that you’ve put so much effort into writing.
So one of my pieces of advice when it comes to using the WhatsApp Business app is to use as many audiovisual resources as you can.
How do you do that?
Here are a few examples of things to include along with the text:
And anything else you can think of.
To that end, it’s important that you know how to use photos, videos, and voice messages to sell more.
The more they attract the attention and curiosity of your client, the better.
Have you used any of these resources in your messages?
If you have, you’ve probably gotten a response. Now it’s time for you to answer, but make sure you don’t make….
Marketing via WhatsApp can be a great strategy for attracting new clients and building loyalty with the ones you already have.
It allows you to create messages with valuable information tailored to each user.
All this is possible with preparation and an appropriate strategy.
Otherwise, take a look at these statistics:
Although answering messages is a simple task, you need to prepare to be able to respond to each and every message.
For example, imagine that you receive a message from a business that is full of spelling mistakes. Or, even worse, your company sends messages in all caps.
And yes, writing in all caps, on the internet, is bad.
So it’s not just about knowing how WhatsApp Business works.
It goes way beyond that.
Believe me, this is true for most businesses.
One of the most common cases tends to happen to me when I post a job trying to hire some freelancers.
You can see the general proposals from a mile a way, the people who haven’t even taken the time to personalize their application and adapt it to the project.
The same thing will happen for you.
Your clients will not feel like they are having a one-on-one conversation. They won’t feel like you’re really talking to them.
In general, clients and consumers demand a higher ability to respond and personalized communication.
And many businesses don’t understand that.
However, as the API boom gets ever larger (the WhatsApp Business API is one example), businesses can create their own personalized solutions.
And most importantly, they are designed to satisfy the unique needs of your clients.
More than three quarters of consumers we talked to told us that they have experienced long wait times, slow responses, and regardless of channel, many steps before they were able to obtain an answer or speak to a person. (Twilio Study, 2017)
I have a clear example of that last point.
When you call a friend to invite them to dinner, I’m fairly certain that you wouldn’t like to hear a recorded message that says the following: “Press 1 to schedule a dinner, or press 2 to cancel an appointment.”
That could get frustrating, couldn’t it?
Now, put yourself in your client’s shoes. How would they feel when they send a message to get more information about your services?
I assure you that if you make them wait they will go and look for another business that will respond more quickly.
I say all this because:
More than 90% of clients contact companies to get help or ask more information.
They won’t wait…
They want a quick solution with short response times.
“In fact, responsiveness is the number one factor that drives client perceptions about their general communication experience with a company.”
Responding quickly is not optional, because WhatsApp Business charges businesses that take too long to respond.
Remember, businesses that are leaders in client communications offer faster response times and resolution compared to other companies.
And they don’t stop there.
They also communicate proactively about relevant updates to keep their clients informed, according to the Twilio study.
That’s why Zenvia Conversion App has become the preferred choice for many companies, because thanks to the fact that they integrate with various lead-generating channels you are able to respond to clients very quickly
Now, it’s pretty likely that you make the following mistake…
Many experts know that the ability to respond is the most important factor in communication.
And this mistake can happen when your clients are in a different country and live in a different time zone from you.
For example, you send a message via WhatsApp Business to Argentina, or to Mexico, at 3:00 in the morning.
Your client will have every right to be annoyed, and even to block the number for your business to avoid receiving any more bothersome messages. At that hour, they’ll likely be asleep.
That’s why you should consider the times when your users are most likely to be online. (In general, WhatsApp users are most active between 7 and 10 pm).
You may be tempted to make this mistake by the promise of saving a litte bit of money.
This is not an option I would recommend.
There are some serious risks to using unofficial integrations.
For example, if you violate their policies, WhatsApp may remove your business from the platform and since the policies are very strict, and they make very clear that they forbid the use of unofficial integrations.
You should be very aware of this when it comes to using WhatsApp with your business.
I see a lot of businesses, above all small, new businesses that were recently founded, that make this mistake, and I don’t see the need for it
If you do this, you’ll be wasting a lot of time.
I don’t think you’d like that, would you?
In the first place, when you use your personal number, your clients or consumers will have to manually add you to their contacts.
And some of them may not even add you.
And that’s another reason not to make this mistake.
Put yourself in this situation:
You start a new project using your individual number for sales. I’m sure that, if your business grows, at some point you’ll have to get a new number, an exclusive number for your business WhatsApp, and in that process you’ll lose a lot of contacts.
Wouldn’t you rather avoid that from the beginning?
Still not convinced?
For example, for your personal WhatsApp, you can post photos with your family and friends.
No problem.
As long as they are just for your friends, but what about your contacts?
What would you put in the status section, personal things, or things to do with your business?
Imagine the impression it would make on your client if they were to see a video from the party you went to last weekend?
At the end of the day, it is also a profile for your business.
You’ll make a poor impression and they won’t answer your messages.
That’s why I recommend keeping the two separate: one number for your personal account, and one for your business.
Plus, it’s not hard to get a new number.
These days there are plenty of companies giving away chips and you can easily use WhatsApp Business for your iPhone.
No excuses!
This mistake tends to happen when you are trying to get someone to buy a product or service, even when they are already a regular customer.
Remember this.
Good communication isn’t just “a nice touch,” for businesses, it’s a necessity.
Poor communication always has a negative impact on the results for your business.
In the same way, good communication can be a key factor in your company’s success.
In conclusion for this point, keeping a schedule, being organized, and keeping to a regular routine of sending promotions, news, or updates, is fundamental.
In addition, this will allow you to increase efficiency for your business and economize on costs.
If your business has effective digital communication, you’ll see the impact not just in the loyalty of your clients, but you’ll also see a direct impact on your business’s results.
This doesn’t mean that you should send SPAM via WhatsApp Business.
This is one of the worst mistakes you can make when it comes to striking up a conversation with potential clients.
If not, I’ll tell you the story of the business that lost its clients for sending SPAM on WhatsApp.
This is a very personal piece of advice. I recommend taking advantage of the platform’s versatility and not just staying in a “bubble.”
Here’s an example case:
The mayonnaise brand Hellman’s invited users to send their phone numbers along with a photo of their refrigerators. The goal was to inspire people to think of mayonnaise as an ingredient to cook with, not justa condiment.
In the end they connected them with professional chefs via WhatsApp who created recipes using Hellman’s mayonnaise and the ingredients in the refrigerators.
The cooks showed all the users how to cook new dishes using images and other WhatsApp features.
The end result was:
So you should use all the alternatives you can think of on WhatsApp, and not limit yourself to simply sending messages.
Your clients will be very grateful.
Never do this!
All your clients, even those new clients that were born in this digital era, won’t be happy to see that a stranger is contacting them.
I don’t think you are either.
In addition, these new consumers are more expressive about their purchasing experiences.
There’s a higher chance that they will talk about your experiences, whether good or bad.
And if they have a bad experience, it’s more likely that they will cancel their services or orders.
Ideally you would use WhatsApp to connect with loyal existing clients rather than trying to use it to reach new users.
Everyone hates messages from unknown numbers.
Yes, even though you may not think it’s that important.
It will be one of the first impressions your clients have of your business.
It’s not enough to simply download the WhatsApp Business App for Android or WhatsApp Business for iOS. You need to consider the following:
Remember to keep your consumers well informed.
This will convey professionalism, seriousness, and, most importantly, trust.
Are you worried about not having a better handle on the conversations your employees are having with each of your clients?
Who isn’t?
If you aren’t monitoring the conversations, it can become a problem because you have no idea what’s happening in these messages.
That means you won’t know how to improve and optimize your work to generate more sales.
Want to be the first to know if something is going wrong?
Zenvia Conversion App is for you.
This new Zenvia Conversion interface allows you to know what they’re talking about and what actions clients are taking via WhatsApp.
As we’ve seen, businesses tend to overestimate how well they communicate with their clients.
I know it was a little rough to start off this way, but it was necessary to make you aware of all these potential errors.
At the end of the day, everyone makes mistakes.
The key is to learn from them.
I hope you haven’t been discouraged if you see that you’re making any of the mistakes on this list, as that was certainly not my intention.
On the contrary.
My goal is to help you save time.
Identify which mistakes you’re making and take action to fix them.
Remember that consumers expect communications to be relevant, receptive, and sent via their preferred communication channel.
But most businesses don’t understand this.
And it can be a point in your favor that can help you outpace the competition.
That’s very simple.
Out of all clients who have had a good experience when it comes to communication with a company:
Unlike clients after a poor communication experience:
And I’d like to underline that point. Imagine that your client has a bad experience; they will tell their friend, that friend will tell someone else, and the chain goes on.
And your company’s reputation and brand will be negatively affected.
But what happens if your customers are extremely satisfied with your digital communications?
According to the statistics:
Isn’t that great for you as a business?
Remember that trying to resolve all 14 of the mistakes on this list at the same time would be impossible, and would be a mistake in and of itself.
I’m sure there are a lot of things you’re doing right.
Remember not to abandon the strategies that are working for you in favor of resolving these mistakes.
Don’t do it! Keep what works.
Take some time to reflect and make goals that will help you correct these mistakes.
