Everything about WhatsApp CRM integration | 2024 Guide
If you are using a CRM solution that does not provide integration for messaging apps, you need to read this:
Why? Let’s take a look:
Customers prefer texts rather than calls or emails.
80% of WhatsApp messages are read 5 minutes after being sent, whereas email recipients generally take 10 hours to reply.
In this article, I will walk you through how to integrate your CRM customer profiles into WhatsApp communication. There are 2 steps: getting your WhatsApp API account ready and choosing a software solution that supports the integration of WhatsApp and popular CRM software like Salesforce and Hubspot.
What is WhatsApp CRM?
A WhatsApp CRM is a tool that connects your WhatsApp Business directly to your CRM, such as Salesforce or HubSpot. The integration ensures that customer profiles, purchase history, and past interactions are all accessible in a centralized platform, allowing your team to offer personalized service and stay on top of every conversation.
Simply put, you can manage WhatsApp customer chats, track interactions, nurture relationships, and store customers' information— all in a single platform.
Benefits of using a WhatsApp CRM tool
Why bother with a WhatsApp CRM integration? Here’s why it’s a game-changer for your business:
All-in-one customer data
: Gather and store every customer interaction and contact details across platforms. Whether through WhatsApp or other instant messaging channels, all data is neatly organized in the unified platform, giving your team a comprehensive view of customer history and empowering your teams with context for every conversation.
1. Seamless customer experience: Personalization is key to customer satisfaction. From customized conversation flows to automated follow-ups, a WhatsApp CRM tool ensures no lead falls through the cracks. It’s also easier to keep customers happy and engaged with a smooth, consistent experience across every touchpoint.
2. Automation at scale: Imagine automatically sending appointment reminders, order confirmations, or satisfaction surveys without lifting a finger. With WhatsApp CRM, you can automate routine tasks, freeing up your team to focus on higher-level conversations.
3. Improved team collaboration: Your team members can now work on the same customer conversations without any confusion. Shared access to customer profiles and chat histories ensures everyone is on the same page, leading to faster resolutions and a more streamlined team effort.
What else? Take it to the next level with AI capabilities—so you never need to switch tabs to generate AI-driven replies.
SleekFlow’s WhatsApp CRM tool includes built-in AI features. You can even train the conversational AI with your own company documents, allowing you to “grow” a dedicated agent that truly understands your business. This leads to faster, more accurate responses tailored to your unique processes and customer needs.
Read more: AI-generated responses with knowledge base in chats
How to choose a social CRM Platform for WhatsApp integration
You should be meticulous in choosing a social CRM platform since the cost of switching platforms is high. It takes time to migrate and transfer all the precious data. Your team might also need some time to adapt to the new interface. Here are the factors of considerations:
Ability to integrate with popular CRM softwares, e-commerce platforms, scheduling tools and other messaging apps: Salesforce, Hubspot, Zoho, Shopify, Magento 2, Calendly, Google Calendar, Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, WeChat, LINE, etc.
Level of convenience: Choose a cloud-based platform that users can access to the database anytime with mobile app and web app. Additionally, an official Meta Business Solution Provider (BSP) ensure you're getting the most up-to-date features of the WhatsApp Business.
Access to localized support: Request a demonstration, or sign up for a free trial to understand if the platform support your business
Scalability: As your business grows, your CRM should grow with you. Look for a platform that can handle increasing message volumes, support more users, and offer advanced features like AI-powered chatbots and multi-channel support.
Automated workflows: Automation is essential for streamlining sales, marketing, and support processes. Ensure the platform enables you to automate key workflows such as lead generation, follow-up reminders, and personalized messaging based on customer behavior. This will save time and enhance engagement.
Data privacy and GDPR compliance: Your chosen tool should prioritize data protection, ensuring all customer information is stored securely and adheres to GDPR or other relevant data privacy regulations.
Other advanced features: Look for a tool that offers advanced capabilities, such as customizable data structures. This allows you to create a personalized data architecture tailored to your specific business requirements. For example, with features like custom objects, you can design unique data models to track customer information, interactions, or any specialized metrics essential to your operations.
Want to learn more? Read the article to discover how custom objects can transform your data management strategy.
How to integrate CRM into WhatsApp
WhatsApp has two business versions: the native WhatsApp Business App and the WhatsApp Business API. To integrate your CRM into WhatsApp, you have to register a WhatsApp API account. What's the difference?
WhatsApp Business App
The WhatsApp Business App is majorly used by small and medium-sized entities and can engage their customers through a smartphone application. It’s a known messaging application among IOS and android devices. It provides simple business features to automate, sort, and respond to messages fast. The interface is just like the personal WhatsApp application.
A summary of WhatsApp Business’ features:
Create a business profile with contact information, official websites, and business location.
Set opening hours to inform your customers of the appropriate time to reach out.
Support swift automated responses to every message sent to the business account, but the automation is limited to greetings, quick replies, and away messages.
Create a simple product catalog that allows customers to discover your products.
Group chats with the labels and segment your customers.
WhatsApp Business API
Unlike the Business App, the WhatsApp Business API is more suitable for large-sized businesses that possess a large customer base and a large volume of messages.
The Business API has a verified business profile that ensures trust from the customers. It also supports unlimited simultaneous log-ins and can be used on numerous devices, permitting larger teams and user access. Although it has various functions and features, it needs a software solution and an official WhatsApp provider to integrate with. It is not a stand-alone app provided by WhatsApp.
To delve deeper into WhatsApp Business API, check out our essential guide.
Normally, the software solution provider does not just Integrate with WhatsApp. Like SleekFlow, it integrates with various platforms like Salesforce, Hubspot, Shopify and Calendly to fill every gap in your e-business ecosystem. This way, a CRM with WhatsApp integration can improve communication with customers.
How to register a WhatsApp Business API account
Companies can obtain the WhatsApp Cloud API through an official BSP, like SleekFlow.
Each company (WhatsApp Business Account) can register for the Official WhatsApp Business API with more than one phone number. Register different numbers for each shop branch to better segment internal workflows while still allowing the management to see the full picture.
The entire approval process from start to end will take approximately one to two weeks. When your API account is provisioned, you need to complete the Facebook Business verification to increase the message sending limit. Looking for a step-by-step guide? Check out the Facebook Business Verification Guide.
After setting up the WhatsApp API account, the next thing to do is taking care the billing process. Please be aware that the message rate differs in the region, and WhatsApp determines your market operations by the person receiving the messages and the recipient’s country code. There is also a daily limit to the number of people you can message. To increase your messaging limit, you must maintain a quality rating of High or Medium.
Check our complete guide about how to apply for WhatsApp Business API with SleekFlow.
SleekFlow as a WhatsApp CRM with advanced integration
SleekFlow, as a CRM with WhatsApp integration, performs various duties to raise efficiency for marketing, sales, and customer service. We support your customers in every step of their request and purchase journey. Take a quick look at the list of some of the CRM features.
Offers a two-way contact sync with Salesforce, Hubspot and many other CRM softwares through Zapier and make.com
Offers a native Shopify integration, filling the gap between Shopify and popular social messaging channels such as WhatsApp Business API, Facebook Messenger, Instagram DM, WeChat, and Live Chat on a Shopify site.
Offers AI chatbot development tools, designed with a visual builder and detailed analytics dashboard that enable merchants to streamline the workflows and processes associated with sales, marketing, and customer support along the conversion funnel
Offer unique in-chat payment solution. As sales agents bond with customers, they can proactively add the customer's product of interest to the cart, draft an order on SleekFlow, and close the case with a one-click checkout link powered by the most trusted payment gateway - Stripe.
WhatsApp CRM for sales, marketing, support, and operations
Using WhatsApp CRM across your business can bring real benefits to your sales, marketing, support, and operations teams. Here’s how your team can make the most of it:
Sales: Drive conversions with instant communication
With WhatsApp CRM, your sales team can instantly connect with leads and customers.
Imagine sending an automated message to a lead right after they sign up for a demo or downloading your content—this quick response helps you engage them when they’re most interested.
You can also personalize sales messages, like recommending specific products based on their past behavior. And by automating follow-ups, your team never misses the chance to nurture leads or close deals.
WhatsApp CRM also makes it easy to keep track of all conversations in one place, so sales reps can collaborate better and ensure a smooth handoff from one team member to another
Marketing: Create conversational campaigns that connect
WhatsApp CRM makes it easy to automate your entire marketing flow—from lead generation to nurturing and conversion.
Capture leads from various touch points such as Facebook or Instagram ads, click-to-chat buttons, or even offline touch points with QR codes.
You can opt leads into your WhatsApp newsletter and send bulk messages that are personalized and relevant. Whether it’s targeted promotions, event invites, or special offers, these messages connect customer on their favorite channel and make your campaigns feel more timely and tailored to their needs.
Automate follow-up messages based on customer behavior, like sending a thank-you after a purchase or reminding them about an abandoned cart.
Support: Faster and better customer service
In customer support, speed and accuracy matter.
WhatsApp CRM helps your support team respond faster by automating answers to common questions using WhatsApp chatbots. This means customers get quick solutions, even outside business hours.
If an issue needs a human touch, automatically route chat to available and most capable agent to support. What’s great about WhatsApp CRM is that the team member can loop in other colleagues to the chat by adding collaborators and leaving internal notes. Thus, the agent who takes over the conversation knows the context well to better provide personalized help without having customers repeat themselves.
Operations: Streamline your internal processes
WhatsApp CRM doesn’t just help with customer-facing tasks—it also improves internal operations.
Imagine automating key operations, like sending a confirmation message to a customer via WhatsApp as soon as their order is shipped, or creating records in your CRM when new appointments are scheduled. This not only saves time but also ensures accuracy and timely responses.
You can also monitor team performance at a glance, with dashboards showing metrics like message response times and customer satisfaction scores. By providing an overview of how each team member is performing, you can identify areas for improvement and allocate resources effectively.
Additionally, with control over channel access, you can assign specific permissions to different teams, ensuring they can only access relevant data or customer conversations. This helps to build an organized team structure while maintaining data security.
Want to outcompete your peers with SleekFlow's help?
Book your personalized demo with SleekFlow today and unlock the potential of seamless communication
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