Are You Doing Sales Over WhatsApp Without Realizing It?

Are you losing opportunities for sales without realizing it? Many businesses with physical locations believe sales are only done in-store. Providing answers to customers over chat is seen as “customer service” or “customer support.”

But the fact is, many of these people contacting your business are prospects considering whether to come and make a purchase. These online conversations are making money, and if you don’t recognize that, you’re missing out.

In an interview, respond.io COO Iaroslav Kudritskiy shared why many businesses began doing sales over WhatsApp without intending to do so and how awareness of the types of conversations you’re having helps maximize sales.

Why Physical Businesses Started Talking to Customers Online

Before the pandemic, most businesses with physical locations didn’t have many conversations online. While the businesses often had social media pages and may have done ads, most customers would simply come into the store.

Typically, online inquiries would be of a support nature rather than questions from people looking to buy. But with the pandemic, all that changed. Businesses started using instant messengers to manage almost every stage of their customer lifecycle because in-person business was impossible.

Iaroslav says, “I’ve seen many companies selling expensive items like massage chairs, jewelry, furniture change completely during Covid. Customers who would simply walk into the showroom before started asking questions over WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger.

“All those questions used to be handled by well-trained salespeople, and now they’re handled by an untrained customer service team online. More often than not, these businesses have no idea how many sales they lose over WhatsApp every day.”

Long after physical sales resumed, communication with businesses over WhatsApp remained a norm, and yet, many companies still don’t take full advantage of the opportunity.

How to Know If You’re Doing Sales Over WhatsApp

So are you doing sales over WhatsApp or other messaging apps? Not knowing is more common than you might think. Respond.io Customer Experience Analyst Chris Lai discovered in a survey of our new customers that over 16% reported that they weren’t doing sales over chat, but the activities they shared indicated that they actually were!

Iaroslav shares how to check: “Go to your inbox, read all the the messages and check out the kinds of conversations your customers are having. If they’re asking the same questions that customers ask on your showroom floor, they’re probably trying to buy something.”

If people are asking pre-purchase questions, that means they’re leads. The answers to their questions may make the difference between closing a deal or losing the prospect to a competitor.

Take Advantage of the Leads You’re Getting Over WhatsApp

If it turns out you’re getting a lot of leads over WhatsApp, evaluate how you’re managing conversations. For example, look at what metrics you’re using. Customer support metrics usually focus on how fast conversations are being resolved.

However, if you’re having sales conversations, you should track the number of leads or appointments booked. Measuring how long it takes to respond to a first inquiry is also important for sales as you need to respond to leads before they get cold.

Recognizing the value of the conversations your “customer service” team is having will change your mindset on how to handle online chats. For support inquiries, the goal is often to just resolve the conversation as quickly as possible.

When a conversation may lead to a sale, agents responding to messages should be trained to consult with customers on their product and service options to push them towards making a booking or coming in to a store.

Seize and Maximize Sales Opportunities

Businesses with physical locations often don’t understand the full value of online opportunities, even if they’re using social media marketing. Most conversations that you get are from people who are interested in making a purchase.

However, as Iaroslav says, “Just getting more leads over WhatsApp is not going to get you more sales; you’re going to have to invest to convert those leads into revenue.”

A conversation management platform like respond.io can help keep track of how many leads you’re getting and how fast agents are replying to them. It makes it easy to automate actions like appointment booking and also enables managers to view conversations so they can train agents to sell more effectively over chat.

What value do you see in the messages your business receives? Do you see them as simply a task to get done or as a chance to boost revenue? Will you view them differently now? Let us know in the comments. And don’t forget to subscribe for more insights on doing marketing and sales over chat.