Customer service is an industry that is constantly reinventing itself. It changes, adapts, and evolves according to your customers’ consumer habits. Since Millennials and Generation Z consumers take up a growing spot in the economy, the integration of WhatsApp into your omnichannel customer service strategy is essential.
At the start of 2020, WhatsApp announced that it had officially passed 2 billion users globally. At the intersection of telephony, instant messaging, and social media, WhatsApp is especially valued by Millennials and members of Generation Z. Coldwell Banker Global Luxury’s report, A Look at Wealth 2019, highlights that by 2030, American millennials and Generation Z members will have massively greater buying power than they have today. The reason ? A five-times increase of their wealth thanks to the inheritance left by their Baby Boomer parents. This financial boon may reach 68 billion dollars. This reality is therefore pushing brands to integrate WhatsApp as a decisive element in an omnichannel customer service strategy.
According to a 2019 study by PeterConnects called Customer Contact Radar, 72% of overall survey respondents agreed that WhatsApp makes customer contact more informal. And for good reason ! Through WhatsApp, customers are able to interact with a contact center agent promptly. This immediacy allows businesses to gain closeness to customers by complementing traditional channels such as phone, email or SMS with a hybrid channel that combines digital interaction with quick handling of service requests. This combination subsequently leads to great service for an ultra-connected target audience accustomed to instant messaging. With benefits such as saving customers and agents time, availability, and an ability to show real understanding of customer expectations, the integration of WhatsApp into your customer service is also a means of showing your company’s modern mindset.
To facilitate the integration of WhatsApp into your strategy, you must be able to rely on a flexible contact center solution which allows you to easily add new communication channels. The omnichannel capacity of a customer service center depends on being able to integrate a wide range of social media channels and instant messaging applications in addition to traditional channels. And if there’s one invaluable condition for keeping the key promise made to your customers, it’s being ready for them on their preferred channel. Facebook, Messenger, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp, WeChat, Telegram, and TikTok…Without a WhatsApp-friendly contact center solution that is also 100% omnichannel, you will not be able to adapt easily to your customers’ expectations.
Unlike chatbots, voicebots, and other kinds of callbots, human agents manage interactions on instant messaging platforms like WhatsApp. For this reason, agents must master their rules and functions. Either way, in order to offer a personalized and seamless experience, an agent must have quick access to a customer’s interaction history on all communication channels and rely on the flawless integration of CRM data. He must have real-time access to reliable data that helps him switch quickly to a phone call for more complex or emotional requests, in order to guarantee optimal customer satisfaction.