Developing a customer base for a small or local business can be tough. Whatsapp can help you to not only develop your customer base, it can help you retain it. Since Whatsapp uses a data plan instead of SMS, the cost of mass information has reduced dramatically.
With Whatsapp, you can set up a group of up to 100 people for your business. You can use this feature for preferred customers to receive sales information before the general public. This feature could also be used to create a “club” which customers can pay to join, where you offer discounts and deals. This will not only provide you an additional revenue stream but it will also facilitate customer loyalty.
You can also develop a modern age calling list with Whatsapp. With the broadcast option, you can message multiple people at once. This can be used as both a form of advertising and as gateway into inventory transparency. Have people provide their number at the time of checkout and add them into your weekly broadcast list. Then when you have a sale or just want to promote yourself, send out a broadcast. Everyone on the broadcast list will receive it. Whatsapp is also a great way to help customers contact you if they are in need of something in your store but can’t quite get there right now. By integrating an inventory script on your end, you can have customers text you an items name, with Whatsapp, and have a response sent on if you have the item or not. While this would require you to obtain a system that can facilitate the script, it would be a huge step in the correct direction for customer service.
With Whatsapp’s location services, it will be very easy for customers to find your store. This will lead to increased exposure, which in-turn will lead to having more contacts for you to reach out to. Whatsapp can also be used very effectively as a back-end communication system, allowing workers to keep in-touch and up to date. Just create a group and they can use it to send messages that everyone else in the group can see. This will raise workers efficiency, leading to increased work getting done.
Whatsapp is a very versatile tool for business. The possibilities are endless when you think of it as a communication foundation, not just a tool to be used.