WhatsApp has become one of the most popular messaging platforms in the world, with over 2 billion active users. Given its massive user base, many businesses are eager to use WhatsApp to engage with customers and provide customer support. This has led to the question – does Zendesk, one of the leading customer service software solutions, integrate with WhatsApp?
The Popularity of WhatsApp for Businesses
There are several key reasons why WhatsApp is so popular for businesses looking to interact with customers:
- Huge user base – With over 2 billion active users, WhatsApp has one of the biggest instant messaging user bases in the world. This presents a massive opportunity for businesses to reach and engage with customers.
- High engagement – WhatsApp has one of the highest rates of user engagement compared to other messaging platforms. This means customers tend to respond faster on WhatsApp.
- Real-time communication – WhatsApp allows for real-time communication, allowing businesses to have conversations and interact with customers in real-time.
- Cost-effective – Interacting with customers via WhatsApp is relatively low-cost compared to other communication channels like phone or email support.
- Supports multimedia – WhatsApp supports sharing of images, videos, documents and other multimedia, allowing for richer customer interactions.
With these advantages, it’s not surprising that a survey found 80% of businesses want to message customers on WhatsApp. The platform presents an excellent opportunity for customer service and customer engagement.
Does Zendesk Offer Native WhatsApp Integration?
Zendesk is a popular cloud-based customer service and engagement software. It provides businesses with tools to communicate with customers, track tickets, manage knowledge bases, analyze data and more. Does it integrate natively with WhatsApp?
Unfortunately, the answer is no. Zendesk does not currently offer any native integration with WhatsApp. There is no way to directly connect a WhatsApp business account with Zendesk out of the box.
Zendesk focuses primarily on more traditional customer engagement channels like email, phone calls, social media and live chat. It does not provide native integrations for popular messaging apps like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, LINE or WeChat.
Workarounds to Use WhatsApp with Zendesk
While Zendesk does not offer native WhatsApp capabilities, there are some workarounds that businesses can use to bridge the two platforms:
Use Zendesk Chat for WhatsApp Conversations
Zendesk Chat allows businesses to have live chats with customers via their website or mobile app. Agents can have multiple chats simultaneously.
While Zendesk Chat does not directly use WhatsApp, it can provide a similar conversational experience. Agents and customers can exchange messages in real-time via the chat window.
The downside is that customers would need to visit the business website or app to start a chat. You cannot proactively reach customers via WhatsApp using this method.
Build a Custom Integration
For businesses that want tighter WhatsApp/Zendesk integration, it is possible to build a custom integration using the WhatsApp Business API. This would involve:
- Creating a WhatsApp Business account and linking it to a Facebook Business Manager account.
- Obtaining access to the WhatsApp Business API.
- Developing a integration app that links the WhatsApp API to the Zendesk API.
- Routing WhatsApp messages into Zendesk as tickets.
- Sending replies from Zendesk back to WhatsApp.
While this requires development work, it enables two-way conversation between your agents in Zendesk and your customers over WhatsApp.
Use a Third-Party Integration Service
Rather than building your own custom integration, another option is to use a third-party integration platform. Providers like Workato, PieSync, Zapier and Integromat offer pre-built integrations between WhatsApp and Zendesk using connectors and automation.
These tools can automatically capture WhatsApp messages as Zendesk tickets, route replies back to customers on WhatsApp, and sync data between the platforms. This can save development time and resource. But additional licensing costs may apply for the integration service.
The Benefits of Integrating Zendesk and WhatsApp
Enabling conversations between Zendesk and WhatsApp can provide several benefits for businesses:
- Omnichannel customer service – Customers can move between WhatsApp and other Zendesk channels like email, social media, chat etc.
- Faster response times – Answering customers on WhatsApp enables faster responses.
- Increase satisfaction – Messaging customers on their preferred platform results in higher satisfaction.
- Lower costs – WhatsApp conversations are cheaper than phone calls.
- Proactive engagement – Businesses can proactively send messages to customers about orders, shipping updates etc.
- Richer interactions – Multimedia messaging allows for richer, more contextual engagements.
With WhatsApp being such a popular messaging platform, integrating it with your existing Zendesk workflow can provide immense value in improving customer experience and loyalty.
Conclusion
While Zendesk does not offer native WhatsApp capabilities, businesses have a few options to bridge the two platforms:
- Use Zendesk Chat for a conversational experience, albeit not on WhatsApp.
- Build a custom integration between the WhatsApp Business API and Zendesk.
- Leverage third-party platforms like Workato, Zapier or Integromat for pre-built integrations.
Integrating your WhatsApp business account with Zendesk takes some work but can significantly improve your customer service. Customers can enjoy seamless omnichannel experiences while agents can manage conversations efficiently from within their existing Zendesk workflow.