WhatsApp Business app: Save time and make your small business more productive

One common way to increase productivity across a business is to take advantage of the wide array of tools designed for communication and collaboration.

Like many small businesses, you might have a small workforce. This means you and your employees will often be juggling a variety of duties and working to complete a litany of daily tasks.

The WhatsApp Business app combines the power of a simple and highly popular communication tool with the benefits of a solid resource that supports collaboration and productivity.

In this blog, we look at which of the app's features can help you save time and free you up to focus on other aspects of your business.

WhatsApp chat search –find what you need, faster

As a small business owner, you spend much of your day multi-tasking. With so many things occupying your mind, it's easy to forget details and have a hard time finding information about customers, clients and so on.

With WhatsApp's in-built chat search feature, you can find chats, messages, photos, videos and much more in no time. Here's how:

• Open WhatsApp.

• Tap the conversation you want to search in.

• Tap More Options, then Chat Search. This will return you to the chat thread but add a search bar at the top.

The search feature lets you search your chats on your device with a keyword. Or, you can return to the Chats screen and tap the search icon at the top. This will allow you to search by words, photos, videos and more.

Business profile – make it simple for customers to understand what you do

The great advantage of having a business profile is that you can save time when presenting your business and explaining what it offers. By providing helpful information in your profile, you make it easy for customers to find and get to know your business.

People can easily see this information when they look at your profile. If they want a simple detail, it's there without them having to ask for it. Not only does it save them time, but it means you avoid having to answer the same questions over and over again.

Your business profile lets you add information about your company, including your business name, address, category, description, email address, and website address. It's recommended that you add as much detail as you can. The more you add, the less people will have to contact you to ask basic questions.

Personalised, automated greeting messages – a way to be responsive

Greeting messages are another great feature that the WhatsApp Business app offers to help you save time. These automated messages let you continue to respond to your customers while you focus on other things. This is especially useful if you're self-employed or a sole trader, and working alone.

Being responsive is hugely important in driving sales. Greeting messages allow you to maintain quick and efficient communication with your customers. This way, no one is ever wondering when will you initially respond.

Quick replies – answer common questions promptly

With quick replies, you can save time and make your day more efficient. Avoid having to craft answers again and again to questions you're used to receiving. Instead, save and reuse messages you frequently send so you can easily answer common questions in no time and focus on other things.

For example, if a customer asks you how much your product costs, you can create a quick reply from that chat and use it with other customers. With quick replies, answering a question will be only a matter of tapping the pre-written answer that works best with the question.

Labels – time-effective organisation

With labels, you can organise and segment your contacts or chats to make them easy to find again. No more scrolling through your chats to recall what the status is with each of your customers or suppliers.

You can tag conversations or chats and know their topic at a glance. Adding labels to an entire chat or to certain messages within a chat is really simple and very worthwhile.

Catalog – show more in less time

With the 'catalog' feature, you also save time. You can showcase and share what you offer so people can browse easily and discover something they would like to buy from you.

You only need to set up your catalogue once, and update it whenever you have new products or services to offer. Previously, businesses had to send product photos or explanations of services one at a time, and repeatedly provide information. Now customers can see your full catalogue right within WhatsApp.

It's also easy to share with your existing and potential customers in WhatsApp, whether it's a single item or the entire catalogue.

Relevant resources

Use the WhatsApp Business app to:

• Create an engaging business profile

• Build an engagement plan

• Create engaging content

• Reach your target audience

• Boost your sales