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There are millions of WhatsApp Business users in the world, per the latest WhatsApp statistics.
These users recognize WhatsApp's value as a business communication channel. Many use it for sales, marketing, vendor management, and several other use cases, all because of the tool's communication capabilities.
The same communication features make it a preferred channel for sales, as it makes your messaging more personalized.
WhatsApp sales have become common. However, the tool originally developed for personal communication presents some challenges (like syncing WhatsApp with CRM) when used by a business’s sales team. Tools like Cooby resolve these challenges by seamlessly syncing WhatsApp chats and group messages with HubSpot and Salesforce. These tools supercharge WhatsApp for work with various other features.
As it became easier to sell efficiently on WhatsApp, people started creating WhatsApp sales funnels. These funnels catered to the attention, interest, decision, and action stages of a buyer’s journey.
Let’s take a deep dive into understanding WhatsApp sales funnel and learn how to create it for your business.
What is a WhatsApp sales funnel?
WhatsApp sales funnel caters to every stage of your lead’s buying journey on WhatsApp till they convert into sales and remain a customer. Your sales team supports potential buyers in the funnel through their sales journey while keeping them engaged all along.
Modern WhatsApp solutions allow sales teams to create processes that cater to all sales funnel stages. Each stage requires different strategies to move the customer closer to buying your product.
Let’s take a look at WhatsApp sales funnel stages and how sales teams can lead potential buyers through them.
How to create a WhatsApp sales funnel covering all stages
Below are the WhatsApp sales funnel stages you can target in your sales program.
The awareness stage in the funnel
The awareness stage aims to make potential customers aware of your product or service. In this stage, you can use WhatsApp as a marketing platform to generate leads.
Cooby makes individual WhatsApp numbers fit for bulk broadcasting. To make it more engaging, you can send messages to unsaved numbers and personalize them with their WhatsApp account names.
When they reply, you can create them as a CRM contact directly from WhatsApp. This saves you time while you engage other leads on WhatsApp.
Discover: How to use WhatsApp for lead generation.
Interest stage in the funnel
The interest stage engages potential customers and piques their interest. Here, you should offer valuable content that addresses your customers' needs or problems. You can use WhatsApp Status to post updates, promotions, or behind-the-scenes content.
However, when you’re running this WhatsApp sales machine for several users, it can be tricky to prioritize chats and respond to them accordingly.
Cooby’s Inbox Zero feature comes to your rescue here. It helps you push chats for later if they’re not a priority and helps you reach chats that need your undivided attention faster.
Tip: Create four tabs, “Awareness,” “Interest,” “Decision,” and “Action,” on your WhatsApp (powered by Cooby) to judiciously engage potential buyers in all stages. Organized chats will help you set context according to the WhatsApp funnel stages.
Decision stage in the funnel
This stage is about convincing potential customers that your product is the best solution. You can share testimonials, case studies, and success stories via WhatsApp.
Use direct messaging to offer personalized recommendations. Set up WhatsApp reminders to send limited-time offers or discounts to create a sense of urgency and FOMO.
At this stage, buyers seek the best deal you can give them. Cooby lets you collaborate directly with your product team or sales leaders on sales conversations. You can tag them on the message, work collaboratively to give the best deal, and send it to the prospect.
Action stage in the funnel
At this stage, your job is to encourage the users to purchase. Make the buying process as easy as possible. Share links to your online store or product pages directly in WhatsApp messages.
Try to offer support and answer any last-minute questions. With Cooby, you can organize people in the “action” stage into a separate tab and offer more personalized and faster responses to their chats.
After the purchase, follow up with a thank-you message and provide information about after-sales support.
How to efficiently leverage a WhatsApp sales funnel
These tips will help you leverage your sales funnel on WhatsApp to produce maximum impact.
- Build a contact list. Start by collecting phone numbers from your existing customers and website visitors. To encourage sign-ups, you can offer incentives like discounts or free resources.
- Segment your audience. Divide your contacts into groups based on their interests, purchase history, or engagement level. This allows you to send more targeted and relevant messages. Cooby can help you organize them in different tabs.
- Automate. Use WhatsApp automation to send bulk messages and manage your conversations efficiently. You can also automate sending offers and discounts to prospects based on their funnel stage.
- Be personal and human. Despite automation, ensure your messages feel personal. Cooby automatically populates WhatsApp account names in respective fields while broadcasting messages.
Best practices to operate a WhatsApp Sales Funnel
Below are a few best practices that can help you make the WhatsApp sales funnel more effective for the business that creates it.
Drive visitors to WhatsApp
Put your WhatsApp button on your website and social media handles. This will open up a direct line of communication between your audience and your team. Many customers prefer chatting over calling, which can direct them to the optimal areas of your website.
This is especially important now that WhatsApp Web and desktop versions are widely used. The button helps visitors eliminate doubts and get quick responses to their queries. Just make sure your team understands the workflow when someone clicks the button.
Greet visitors with engaging welcome messages
Avoid mundane or robotic tones. Your marketing team should brainstorm to craft a message encouraging visitors to check out other pages and solutions. Help visitors access relevant information by adding links to your help center or creating a form.
You can automate these messages through Cooby using individual WhatsApp numbers. You don’t need the WhatsApp API to do this.
Collaborate on customer chats and monitor them
Collaborate with different teams on chats to ensure high customer satisfaction.
Rather than having the marketing and sales teams handle everything, identify the customer’s needs and assign the right team member to the conversation. This ensures that each query is addressed by departments that specialize in it.
Actively monitor these WhatsApp chats to maintain effective communication. Keep conversations active and respond promptly. A lack of responsiveness can turn off potential customers, so stay engaged to capitalize on sales opportunities.
Segment customer chat intelligently
We suggested segmenting customer chats based on their stage in the WhatsApp sales funnel. However, segmentation is not limited to this. You can create multiple tabs on your WhatsApp with Cooby to create multiple segments.
For example, you can segment buyers on demographics or any other factor relevant to your business. This targeted approach makes your campaigns more effective.
Supercharge WhatsApp for creating and managing sales funnels
Let your WhatsApp support your team’s potential to close more deals on WhatsApp. Don’t let them hang with the limited functionality and features of WhatsApp. Offer them more and improve their chance of closing deals faster.
Try Cooby and equip your sales team to excel at selling on WhatsApp.
