How to Sell Successfully on WhatsApp

Learn how to make sales on WhatsApp Business and maximize profit in 5 steps.

Are you wondering whether you should learn how to sell on WhatsApp and whether it will contribute to your Sales KPIs? The answers to both are yes. According to data provided by WhatsApp, more than 2,000 million users in more than 180 countries use the app for daily communication.

Since WhatsApp launched WhatsApp for Business in 2018, its use has become a standard tool among businesses looking to increase revenue exponentially. According to Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Meta Platforms Inc., the company estimates there are 1 billion users messaging weekly with brands via WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram. Shopping features, such as catalogs, and high conversion are just some of the benefits that brands can enjoy when selling online via the messenger.

If you want to discover how to sell on WhatsApp and get the most out of it, don’t miss this beginner guide, where we walk you through the best practices to grow your business.

Table of content

5 reasons to learn how to sell on WhatsApp

There are many reasons for devoting time to learning how to sell using WhatsApp Business. Let’s discover what benefits the app can deliver to your company.

Connect brands with their audience

Most people feel connected to a brand if it uses messaging platforms. This allows companies to build strong relationships with their customers and build loyalty.

Maintaining this connection is vital for the company because it helps reduce expenses. Retention is 5 to 25 times cheaper than acquisition, according to research by Frederick Reichheld of Bain & Company (the inventor of the net promoter score).

Higher conversion rate

Choosing the right channel to communicate with your clients is crucial. An omnichannel service model offers the best customer experience since the client decides the communication channel of his preference.

Selling on WhatsApp Business allows you to guide potential customers toward the purchase without risking that its use affects your brand image.

Messaging is proven to drive conversions! Sending initial contact messages to a potential customer increases the conversion rate by up to 112%. Some brands reported 200% increases or more.

Improve the sale process

Considering the data above, the “sweet spot” for increased conversion rates is not only one message but as many as three or more, which may increase the conversion rate by up to 328%, according to a study released by Leads 360, a cloud-based intelligent sales automation solution.

Minimal budget requirements

This platform is still a low-cost channel, making it an excellent opportunity for small businesses. All you need to do is download and install the application compared to other channels where you need to produce quality content. If you don’t know how to do it by yourself or do not have the time to do it, it will be more expensive because you may need help from copywriters, graphic designers, photographers, and social media managers.

Online store features

WhatsApp Business accounts now have the option to set up a shopping button on the platform, making it easier for customers to access the company's business catalogs and view their products and services. This feature turns a WhatsApp account into a storefront icon and can lead to increased sales. The shopping button is visible on the seller's profile, displaying the products being sold, and customers can tap the 'Message Business' button to get more information.

In addition, WhatsApp introduced a feature last year that allows users to browse businesses by category or search for a specific business by name. A WhatsApp catalog is a digital storefront for businesses on WhatsApp. Companies can add up to 500 items to their catalog, each with a photo, description, and price. Customers can browse the catalog and contact the business directly to learn more about a product or service, or to make a purchase. The platform is also testing new payment features in multiple countries, allowing users to make secure payments directly from a chat using their credit or debit card.

How to make sales on WhatsApp

Congratulations if you are still reading, because now you will learn from scratch how to create a successful strategy that will help you to start selling on WhatsApp or, if you are already selling on the messaging platform, to increase your sales exponentially.

Here is a summary of the steps that you need to bring your business to the next level with selling on WhatsApp:

1. Download WhatsApp Business App and create a profile
2. Set your welcome messages, description, and opening hours
3. Start managing chats on your desktop
4. Advertise your brand presence on WhatsApp via multiple channels
5. Supervise incoming chats and start selling online immediately

Let’s understand how and what you can do with WhatsApp Business once you have downloaded and installed it on your phone.

Step 1 — Create a business profile on WhatsApp

First of all, to start selling on WhatsApp you need to download the application on your iOS or Android device. Next, you will have to create your business profile; you need to understand that you cannot use the same phone number that you already use for WhatsApp Messenger for your personal reasons. Instead, you will need to get a new number that will be explicitly dedicated to your business.

Once the app is opened, you will be asked to verify your phone number, choose your business name (note: it can not be changed later), and set a profile picture for your business account.

To change your WhatsApp Business profile, you will need to:

1. Open WhatsApp Business > click Menu button > Business Settings > Company Settings > Profile
2. Click on “Edit” in the upper right corner
3. Edit the fields and save the changes.

Step 2 — Set your welcome messages, description, and opening hours

This section is one of the main differences you will notice in comparison with the personal WhatsApp application. From here, you can configure:

1. A welcome message that will be sent once the first message from the client is received
2. An away message, sent when you are contacted outside of opening hours
3. The opening hours of your business
4. Quick replies that allow you to respond quickly to frequently asked questions from your potential clients

You may notice that WhatsApp Business may lack many options to take your company to the next level and help in your selling efforts, but do not worry about it — from this article, you will learn about a robust fully customizable solution to fit your needs.

Step 3 — Employ WhatsApp Business for your desktop

In this phase, you must decide which tool to use to manage your chats.

If you're starting, you should expect a low volume of messages, so the WhatsApp Business app on your phone is enough to handle all the chats and selling activity.

When the volume of messages increases, you could then employ WhatsApp Web, a desktop interface that allows you to reply to chats from a desktop browser.

If you want to increase your capabilities to answer more users and sell on WhatsApp Business in a more structured way try Umnico Inbox — an omnichannel messaging platform with customizable features, which allows you to process all inquiries and chats from several messengers in a single window, so that you will never miss a message from your client again.

Step 4 — Set up and share WhatsApp catalog

Sharing and promoting your WhatsApp catalog provides a direct channel to connect with customers, showcase your products, and drive sales. WhatsApp's large user base and free-to-use platform make it an effective and cost-efficient marketing tool.

Promote your WhatsApp catalog through various channels, including:

• Link sharing: Copy and paste the link to your catalog on your website, social media, email newsletters, and other marketing materials.
• WhatsApp sharing: Directly share your catalog link or individual product pages within WhatsApp groups or individual chats.
• Website embedding: Embed your catalog directly onto your website for seamless browsing.
• Social media promotion: Share your catalog link or embed it on your social media profiles.

Step 5 — Advertise your brand’s presence on WhatsApp Business

At this point, you need to be sure that customers can find you. In fact, you can’t be searched by name or location on WhatsApp Business. Instead, you need to provide your customers with your phone number so they can reach you.

The possibilities to advertise your business are many and depend on your budget; you can start by simply offering your WhatsApp number in your store, printing billboards on your receipts, conducting online advertising campaigns, leveraging Google MyBusiness, Social Media pages or your website, to name a few.

For the best results, promote your business with ads that prompt a user to start a chat with you directly. Since the WhatsApp Business app interface and options might be not enough to manage a great number of conversations with clients, try Umnico omnichannel messaging platform for free and chat with customers across multiple channels in a single window.

Step 6 — Supervise incoming chats and start selling immediately

Once you've followed those steps, you can finally begin chatting with your users and selling your products and services on WhatsApp.

Now it's your turn: depending on the nature of your products and services, you can use this communication channel to guide your contacts towards the purchase and, why not, assist them in the post-sale phase.

At some point, you will need to upgrade to a more robust option that allows you to use many devices, different WhatsApp accounts in one window, and provides metrics to analyze your clients and keep all the records.

That’s why we suggest you try messaging CRM for WhatsApp, which will allow you to take your business to another completely different league, help sell on the platform and provide prompt and personalized customer support.

WhatsApp Business integration by Umnico

It is becoming more common for businesses to use instant messaging services to communicate with their customers. Thanks to the WhatsApp integration by Umnico, you can communicate with your customers and sell products efficiently on WhatsApp in a friendly interface and from multiple devices at the same time.

Umnico API (application programming interface) allows company developers to build on the same tool to leverage the functionality of various instant messengers, including WhatsApp Business. This is very useful since it will enable you to personalize the experience and increase the speed of response to customers.

The API lets you integrate all social media and instant messengers into your business environment. Thanks to the most robust API, potential customers will not have to wait hours and days for a response. Integrate Umnico API and boost your communication between customer service teams and clients, decreasing response time massively.

Advantages of using WhatsApp in Umnico Inbox

Integrating Umnico API into your business can fully automate some aspects of the conversation, decreasing response time and helping to sell products or services on WhatsApp. People expect to reach brands on messaging apps and not wait hours to get a response.

• You can use as many devices as you want and not be restricted by the number of devices you can use simultaneously.
• Advanced automatization and CRM Integration.
• Use as many accounts as you need.
• You are also able to reach out to your prospects first.

Cons of not using WhatsApp with Umnico

As your business grows, you will need a more sophisticated platform to handle all the volume and sell on WhatsApp effectively. Unfortunately, WhatsApp Business alone does not provide all the features that you need by itself to make your business grow and sell products successfully. However, Umnico does.

• You need to reconnect once a week; it is seldom but the API may fail.
• Mixes between private and business communication.
• Regular WhatsApp integration lacks Enterprise support. Only professional enterprise messaging services provide 24/7 monitoring and support with dedicated personnel.

How Umnico can help your selling on WhatsApp

Social messengers today are crucial for the success of any brand. Integrating all your social messengers into one is a fantastic opportunity to engage with customers who already spend a lot of time on social media.

Umnico makes it easy for businesses to implement workflows and integrate their Social Messenger applications and databases to drive meaningful conversations with customers, followers, and users.

With thousands of customers following your business, it is common for them to comment on your posts frequently. Some may even go a step ahead and tag your brand in their stories. Umnico Integration enables you to quickly respond to such comments and mentions with a direct reply. Thus, helping you to pay attention to customers seeking to connect with you.

What’s the bottom line?

If you are a businessman looking for the best way to sell on WhatsApp Business, you can try our Umnico Inbox and start harnessing the power of Messaging APIs.

Umnico helps businesses across the world master conversations on messengers through a single messaging API with clean code and prompt online support. Transition into omnichannel messaging automation seamlessly.

The content has been updated on December 7, 2023