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Reduce inbound calls with WhatsApp Call Deflection

Customers expect that they are able to reach your company anytime and anywhere. They expect to get a fast answer from your customer contact dpt. and they don't like to wait within endlesss telephone cues or navigate through your IVR menu. In this article we explain how you can reduce the pressure on first and second line customer contact with WhatsApp call deflection.

WhatsApp is a real game changer

Within the customer journey of a car owner, there are a number of times per year when the accessibility of your company comes under pressure. For example, think about the biannual tire change or other peak moments. A channel like WhatsApp can be a real game changer within the customer contact centre. Below you can find an example explaining how WhatsApp will help you.

For example

A car dealer proactively inform their customers via WhatsApp for the ideal time to have their tire change. Car owners will contact the office in the following weeks to schedule an appointment for the tire change.

However, due to the high response rate the customer contact centre cannot handle all incoming phone calls. Even the overflow groups cannot handle the requests, resulting in countless callback requests.

When following up on those callback requests, a large proportion of the customers are unreachable. Customers then call the dealer at a later time, but because the customer contact centre was not yet working on clearing the backlog, the customer does not get anyone on the line.

As a result, the phone keeps ringing, customers choose to have their car serviced by an independent garage and the customer contact centre capacity has experienced some severe pressure.

Use WhatsApp call deflection

Prevent your customer contact centre capacity from severe pressure by setting up a so-called "Call to WhatsApp" flow. This form of call deflection gives customers the opportunity to ask their questions via WhatsApp instead of waiting on the phone.

With WhatsApp call deflection the customer contact centre is able to process a much larger volume of incoming conversations. Since WhatsApp is an asynchronous channel, your company can receive incoming conversations without putting customers on hold. With the benefit that your company and the customer can continue the conversation when it suits them.

In addition, various practical cases show that a customer contact centre employee can conduct 4 to 6 WhatsApp conversations at the same time. As opposed to 1 phone call at a time. This greatly increases capacity and accessibility.

5 WhatsApp use cases for customer service

WhatsApp has several advantages, including benefits for your service team. Below we list five applications for your service team:

  • Proactively send offers; such as winter tire change, air conditioning check, etc.
  • Let customer directly pay invoices via WhatsApp, this makes waiting and paying at the reception is unnecessary.
  • Automate appointments and car maintenance reminders.
  • Send photos and videos from the garage for fast approvals on additional repair work.
  • Send your customer a notification when their vehicle is ready for pick-up.

Want to know more?

Do you want to know more about reducing telephone workload with WhatsApp call deflection. At Saysimple, we help car dealers with solving challenges in digital customer contact. With our customer communications management platform you are able to provide the customer with an excellent and personal service experience on WhatsApp, Apple Business Chat and Webchat. Request a free demo or download the automotive whitepaper for more information.