Guide · Marketing

WhatsApp Business: How Small Firms Use It for Leads

By the editorial team · Digital Agency Award · 2024-05-13

WhatsApp Business is a free app that lets a small firm chat with leads from a business profile, with a catalog, quick replies and labels. This guide shows how to set it up and use it, and how to keep your lead chats within the PDPA in Singapore.

What WhatsApp Business is
WhatsApp Business is a free app made for small firms. WhatsApp launched it on 18 January 2018, first for Android phones. It lets a firm chat with customers with tools built for business, apart from personal chats.
WhatsApp said it built the app to make it easier for firms to answer customers and to keep customer and personal messages apart. By January 2019, the company said more than five million businesses used it.
For a small agency or shop, the draw is simple. Many customers already use WhatsApp every day. A lead can message you in one tap, with no form to fill in.
Sources: WhatsApp Blog, Introducing the WhatsApp Business App (18 January 2018); WhatsApp Blog, Celebrating One Year of WhatsApp Business (24 January 2019)
Set up your business profile first
The profile is the first thing a lead sees. At launch, WhatsApp described a business profile as a place for a business description, an email, store addresses and a website. Fill in each field with plain facts.
The app also marks you as a Business Account, so people know they are talking to a business. WhatsApp said some firms would later get a Confirmed Account, shown once it checks that the account number matches the business number.
Use a number your team controls. If one person leaves and takes the phone, you lose the chat history. Keep one shared device or a clear hand-over plan.
Sources: WhatsApp Blog, Introducing the WhatsApp Business App (18 January 2018)
Use quick replies, greetings and away messages
Most leads ask the same few questions. What do you charge? Where are you? When can we talk? The app has messaging tools for this. WhatsApp lists quick replies for frequent questions, greeting messages that welcome new customers, and away messages that say you are busy.
On WhatsApp Web and desktop, you can press the "/" key to pick a quick reply and send it. That saves time when you work from a computer.
Keep each reply short and human. Give the answer, then ask one question back, such as the best time to call. A reply that reads like a robot loses the lead.
Sources: WhatsApp Blog, Introducing the WhatsApp Business App (18 January 2018); WhatsApp Blog, Celebrating One Year of WhatsApp Business (24 January 2019)
Add a catalog to show what you sell
On 7 November 2019, WhatsApp added catalogs to the Business app. A catalog is a mobile storefront. Before that, a firm had to send product photos one at a time and repeat the same details.
For each item, a business can add a price, a description and a product code. WhatsApp hosts the catalogs, so they do not fill up the phones of the business or the customer. At launch, catalogs worked on Android and iPhone in a handful of markets, with a wider roll-out promised.
Service firms can use the same idea. List each package as an item, with a short description and a starting price. Customers can then compare options inside the chat.
Sources: Facebook Newsroom, Introducing Catalogs for Small Businesses (7 November 2019)
Sort leads with labels
Labels let you tag contacts or chats, so you can find them later. A simple set works well: New lead, Quote sent, Follow up, Won. WhatsApp also added chat list filters, which sort chats by unread messages, groups or broadcast lists.
Review your labels each week. Any chat still tagged New lead after three days needs a reply. This small habit does more for sales than any extra tool.
Sources: WhatsApp Blog, Celebrating One Year of WhatsApp Business (24 January 2019)
Keep lead chats inside the PDPA
In Singapore, a customer's name and phone number are personal data. The Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) gives a baseline standard for how firms collect, use and share it. PDPC, the regulator, says the Act covers data in electronic and paper form.
Three habits help. First, say why you are collecting details, and use them only for that reason. Second, get clear consent before you send promotions. Third, make it easy to stop: PDPC publishes sample wording that lets a person withdraw consent to marketing, and you can add a similar line to your chats.
Singapore also runs a Do Not Call (DNC) Registry. People can list their numbers to opt out of unwanted telemarketing messages. Check PDPC's DNC guidance before you send a promotion to a number you did not get directly from the customer.
This guide is not legal advice. For your own case, speak to a lawyer or read PDPC's advisory guidelines.
Sources: PDPC, PDPA Overview (archived 15 April 2024); PDPC, Sample Clauses for Obtaining and Withdrawing Consent (8 May 2015)
Sources

All guides · News · Methodology

What WhatsApp Business is

Set up your business profile first

Use quick replies, greetings and away messages

Add a catalog to show what you sell

Sort leads with labels

Keep lead chats inside the PDPA

Sources