Simplify Support, Enhance Engagement With Zendesk and WhatsApp Integration

Albert Einstein once said, “Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.”

For businesses, this means that while boosting sales is important, the true game-changer lies in the support and experience offered to customers.

Studies from Zendesk reveal that 62% of B2B and 42% of B2C customers tend to purchase more after a positive customer service interaction⁽ⁱ⁾.

When businesses go beyond just selling products to truly assisting their customers, they build trust and foster long-term loyalty, driving higher ROI.

For this reason, Zendesk stands out as a leading customer support platform. It helps customers reach support through their preferred channels — phone, chat, email, or social media — and ensures a cohesive experience.

However, today’s customers want quick fixes and easy access to information. They prefer solutions readily available without the need to search extensively.

That’s why, WhatsApp, with 2 billion active users worldwide, is the most used mobile messenger app globally⁽ⁱⁱ⁾.

And, integrating a support platform like Zendesk with WhatsApp positions businesses at the forefront of customer service excellence.

The Zendesk and WhatsApp integration centralizes and streamlines all customer-agent interactions, and offers a familiar, convenient channel for customers, enhancing customer satisfaction and service efficiency.

In this blog post, we’ll explore the benefits of Zendesk and WhatsApp integration in detail. Additionally, we’ll look at a real-life example of how this integration helped a business to engage its users more effectively and boost conversions.

Benefits of Zendesk and WhatsApp Integration

Zendesk and WhatsApp integration brings together the best of both worlds, empowering your business with Zendesk’s robust capabilities while tapping into WhatsApp’s expansive reach to bolster your customer support operations and foster stronger connections with your clientele.

Utilizing the WhatsApp Business API enables you to enrich customer relationships by sending various notifications, from payment alerts to order updates and promotional offers.

Here are the other advantages of Zendesk and WhatsApp integration.

• Unify Inbox: Zendesk consolidates all communication channels, including email, live chat, phone, and WhatsApp, into a single shared inbox. This integration eliminates the need to switch between multiple platforms for your teams.
• Enhance Support Experience: Customers can initiate conversations through WhatsApp, with each incoming message automatically creating a new ticket within Zendesk Support. This seamless integration facilitates effortless tracking and management of customer inquiries. Moreover, WhatsApp supports the exchange of rich content, including emojis, link previews, and media files, to enrich communication.
• Streamline Agent Tools: Agents can seamlessly view and respond to WhatsApp messages within Zendesk Support. Leveraging automation features, predefined message templates, and automatic agent assignment, Zendesk enables efficient customer engagement while minimizing response times.
• Gather Data-Driven Insights: Zendesk gathers comprehensive data from WhatsApp interactions. Through this data, you can drive valuable insights into agent performance and ticket metrics, such as satisfaction ratings and response times.

Zendesk and WhatsApp Integration Pre-Requisites

Before integrating Zendesk and WhatsApp, having a Meta Business Manager account for your business is crucial.

Here are the other prerequisites and implications to keep in mind.

1. You can link multiple WhatsApp numbers to your Zendesk account. By default, you can have up to 20 numbers, but you can add more.
2. Once your number is linked to WhatsApp Business API, it can’t receive calls on WhatsApp anymore (Meta’s rule).
3. Only an admin in Meta Business Manager can link the phone number. If you don’t have access, you must create a new Meta Business Manager during setup.
4. The phone number must be able to receive international calls/SMS (Meta’s rule). If using a Zendesk Talk number, disable IVR and Voicemail first.
5. If the number is currently used in the WhatsApp for Business mobile app, follow Meta’s steps to remove it before connecting it to Zendesk. Moreover, you can’t use the same number for WhatsApp mobile app and Business API (Meta’s rule).
6. The display name must match your business name or branding, or WhatsApp will reject it.
7. You can still use your number with WhatsApp for Small Business or any WhatsApp app by deleting the Business API integration and 2FA, and then removing the number from your WhatsApp Business Account.

6 Steps to Integrate Zendesk-WhatsApp Seamlessly

To integrate a WhatsApp business account into Zendesk, you’ll need approval from Meta Business Manager. Initially, you can only add one WhatsApp channel, which has a restriction allowing you to message a maximum of 10 users. However, once your WhatsApp business account gets approved, this messaging restriction will be removed, and you can add more channels using the self-service flow.

Here’s a step-by-step guide:

1. Go to the Admin Center and navigate to Channels> Messaging and Social> Messaging.
2. Click on “Add channel” and choose WhatsApp from the drop-down menu.
3. Proceed with the WhatsApp setup flow by clicking “Continue with WhatsApp” and provide the required information as instructed. Once you’ve completed the setup flow, click “Done.”
4. In the Admin Center channel configuration, select the number you want to activate from the drop-down menu and click “Next.”
Note: If the number appears dimmed and marked as “pending,” you’ll need to verify your Meta Business Manager and wait for the approval of your phone number display name from Meta. After receiving approval via email, restart the setup flow to finish connecting your phone number.
5. Assign a name to the new WhatsApp channel for easy identification in the Channels list, then click “Add channel.” Once the channel connects successfully, you’ll see a “Channel added” message.
6. Manage your WhatsApp Business Account through your Meta Business Manager, where you can monitor the display name, message usage, quality rating, etc. Access your WhatsApp Business Account Manager through your Facebook Business Manager by navigating to Accounts > WhatsApp accounts, locating your WhatsApp Business Account, and opening Settings > WhatsApp Manager.

Before finalizing the setup of your WhatsApp number, it’s crucial to ensure the following.

• Confirm that your Meta Business Manager has undergone verification.
• Check if you’re eligible to use WhatsApp by following WhatsApp’s Commerce Policy, and make sure your WhatsApp business account is approved.
• Ensure that the display name you’ve chosen complies with WhatsApp’s guidelines.

If your Business Verification is not completed, it will result in restricted access, including:

• Limited to customer-initiated conversations.
• Cap on sending notifications to 250 unique customers within a rolling 24-hour period.
• Capability to register up to two phone numbers.
• Inability to apply for an Official Business Account until completion of Meta Business Manager verification.
• You can initiate verification at any time to remove these restrictions.

Practical Use-Case of Zendesk and WhatsApp Integration

A customer, a US-based e-commerce company, noticed a growing demand from customers to interact via WhatsApp and wanted to:

• Seamlessly integrate WhatsApp channels into the Zendesk Agent Workspace.
• Ensure prompt responses, effective issue resolution, and tailored customer support.
• Elevate the overall customer experience to meet evolving expectations.

With Grazitti’s assistance, the customer was able to integrate WhatsApp with Zendesk seamlessly, resulting in:

• A 28% increase in conversion rate compared to the baseline.
• A 13.33% improvement in issue resolution rate.
• Acquisition of 5,000 new contacts who actively engaged with the business on a regular basis.

To read this case study in detail, click here.

Conclusion

In a world where customer communication is king, Zendesk and WhatsApp have emerged as a dynamic duo, offering support and convenience in equal measure.

With Zendesk and WhatsApp integration, you can put your customers first by managing inquiries with superhero speed and efficiency. From sending purchase receipts faster than The Flash to updating customers on shipping changes, the possibilities are endless.

Once you activate the WhatsApp integration, customer requests transform into tickets within Zendesk Support, allowing your team to swoop in and save the day with the same support workflow used for other channels. Moreover, agents can even drop in some visual flair such as images and gifs directly into the conversation, adding an extra layer of engagement.

Also, with tools to automate, sort, and zap out responses quickly, interacting with customers has never been easier.

So, are you ready to be the hero your customers need– with just a WhatsApp message away?

Statistics References:

⁽ⁱ⁾ Zendesk
⁽ⁱⁱ⁾ Backlinko