Set up a WhatsApp business account in 5 steps

WhatsApp Business is a godsend for businesses. It is an ideal tool to use if you want to reach customers through their favourite platform.

Through WhatsApp Business, your support team easily makes multiple calls at once. Quickly set up automated messages for customer support staff to catch customers after hours. Send them notifications or newsletters. Do they label recurring calls. Or do they create chatbots, flowbots and dynamic content to make communication as personalised as possible.

The possibilities seem almost endless. And on top of that, WhatsApp Business is free!

You probably want to get started quickly with WhatsApp Business and streamline all customer contact through this channel. Logical. Fortunately, it is easy to create a WhatsApp business account.

We explain in five steps how.

But first: what are the benefits of a WhatsApp business account?

Your business is ready to offer customers the service they expect. Through the platform they prefer to use.

Some of the WhatsApp Business benefits at a glance:

- Reach customers via the most popular messaging platform in the Netherlands: Everyone already uses WhatsApp. 24/7 and from young to old. Especially in the Netherlands! Therefore, we can say: your customers are also on WhatsApp. So use this channel to also reach your customers via the platform they prefer to use.
- Offer customers a personal touch: WhatsApp is a social media messaging platform. This means it is more informal than email. This also gives your business a chance to address customers personally. This makes it easy to connect and build loyalty.
- Keep engaging with customers: When your customers approach you via WhatsApp, it is possible to stay in conversation with them. Even when they leave your website, for example. This is not possible with live chat.
- Be sure that customers receive your messages: WhatsApp has an open rate of 98%! This is high, very high. And much higher than the e-mail open rate of around 20%.

So are you sending customers an update? If so, they will definitely see it.

Start with the WhatsApp Business app

It all starts with the WhatsApp Business app. The app is ideal for small businesses with 1-2 employees. You use it exactly the same as the WhatsApp private app. Your customer service staff view the incoming chats and pick up calls alternately.

Do you have more employees? And do you want to answer customer queries at the same time? Then choose the WhatsApp Business API. Because, unfortunately, you can't work with the entire service or support team from the app.

But whether you choose the app or API, your starting point remains the same. Setting up a WhatsApp business account. And this is thankfully easy to do!

If you want to know a bit more about the differences between the app and the API: read on here.

We'll walk you through the steps:

Step 1: Download the WhatsApp Business app

The WhatsApp Business app is free to download for Android and Iphone. It can be found in the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store.

Important here is to always read through the terms of service. Does this sound ok? Then tap agree to accept the conditions.

You are already ticking off the first step!

Step 2: register as a WhatsApp Business user

The next step is to register your phone number for WhatsApp Business. Choose your country from the drop-down menu, and add your country code. Then enter your phone number using the international notation.

Please note that it is not possible to use the same number for both your private and business WhatsApp. We therefore recommend adding a new number to your business account.

Successful? Then press Done or Next. If you click OK now, you will receive the 6-digit registration code via SMS or a call. Enter this 6-digit code and complete the registration.

Want more information on registering a phone number? Then read this WhatsApp FAQ.

- You only make the first impression once. Are your customers making contact via WhatsApp? Then make sure your business profile is as complete as possible. Because this is how you best introduce customers to your business through your business account (What you sell, what time you are open, and more).‍

Tip: When setting up your WhatsApp business account, start by adding customer contacts to the address book. It is also useful to give direct access to media you want to use from your phone. Think of your image of the company logo or company videos etc.

Step 3: Create a company profile

Your WhatsApp business account really takes shape when you add the company name and category in settings. And, of course, a profile picture as well.
To do this, go to Discover > Company profile. Not only do you add your logo here. Also add the company address, a short description and opening hours!

The WhatsApp Business profile offers a fantastic opportunity to tell more about your business.

So make sure this is as complete as possible. Think carefully about the short description you add. Does it say enough about what you want to sell? Do you include all your opening hours? And don't forget to add your contact details such as e-mail address! Then customers can find you quickly and have all information at hand.

Step 4: Reach customers

Is your company profile ready? Then you can start communicating to customers from now on!

Wait for customers to approach you. Or instead, find specific contacts and send an update on their order, for example.

Step 5: Get the most out of your WhatsApp business account

Do you want to provide optimal customer service? And give your customers a great experience? Then go one step further. If you use a customer service software, you will have access to the WhatsApp Business API. WhatsApp is then added to your inbox as a channel.

And because of this API, there are many more functionalities of WhatsApp Business that you can deploy.

Think of:

- Sending bulk messages: with WhatsApp Broadcast, you can easily send newsletters to large groups of clients
- Efficient teamwork: all your employees can answer customer questions at the same time via the same inbox
- Respond outside opening hours: with automated quick-replies you can respond immediately and easily outside working hours
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But there really is much more you can do when it comes to customer contact via WhatsApp Business. Because when you link WhatsApp Business, via the API, to your inbox, you optimise customer service immensely. Then your team will simply work from an inbox, speak to more customers in less time through automated customer communication and much more.

For a full overview of the possibilities, check our website.

Customer contact has never been easier

Want some more information on how to get the most out of WhatsApp Business?

Trengo is a WhatsApp Business solution provider and offers WhatsApp customer service software. We connect to the WhatsApp API for you. So that you can use any functionality and add the channel to your inbox, website and more.

Through the WhatsApp Business API, it will be possible for your business to:

- Use WhatsApp business with more than 4 people at the same time, from any location
- Grow further based on WhatsApp data insights, you easily view statistics
- Automate communication with chatbots, rules, auto-replies and quick replies
- Add WhatsApp as chat on your website, and keep communicating with customers outside opening hours
- Link WhatsApp to your webshop software and use it to send automatic updates. Think of order confirmations, payment requests and much more.
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Get in touch with your customers. Improve communication and see customer experiences get even better.

Get in touch for a free demo.