A huge share of sales conversations today happen on WhatsApp. Pairing it with your CRM means you can send messages to your leads and customers and see the whole conversation right from your CRM.
In this article, we’ll show you everything you can do with WhatsApp CRM integration. We’ll also walk through other WhatsApp-related features available in OnePageCRM that make the sales process more efficient.
What is WhatsApp CRM integration and why do small businesses need it?
A WhatsApp CRM integration lets you connect your WhatsApp Business directly to your CRM, such as OnePageCRM. This way, you can send and receive messages from leads and customers directly in your CRM and see all your conversation history in your CRM, where you already track deals and contact details.
A recent report by Meta showed that 79.8% of consumers find messaging a quick and easy way to connect and communicate with a business. That means a lot of conversations with leads and customers happen through WhatsApp.
But when you have to constantly switch between your WhatsApp and CRM, it’s easy to lose track of conversations, customer details, and follow-ups.
By connecting WhatsApp Business with the CRM, small businesses can manage their sales pipeline and customer conversations from one app.
Manage WhatsApp conversations from inside OnePageCRM: Key features and benefits
With OnePageCRM’s new WhatsApp integration, you can send and receive WhatsApp messages, get message notifications, and use custom WhatsApp templates without leaving your CRM.
Send and receive messages from the Contact Page
According to the Meta report, 73.3% of consumers now prefer messaging when contacting a business over traditional channels like phone or email.
Once WhatsApp is synced to your OnePageCRM account, you can send messages to any lead or customer right from their contact page.
The integration also shows read receipts, so you can check which prospects or leads have read your messages.
For example, say a prospect messages you on WhatsApp asking for a quote for your service. You can quickly open their Contact Page, check previous interactions and other details, and send them a more relevant response or quote straight from your CRM.
Get notified the moment someone replies
Meta’s report also revealed that 45.5% of customers said that fast response and real-time support are a key driver of customer satisfaction when communicating with a business through messaging apps.
So, when a lead or customer sends you a message, getting back to them quickly can make a real difference in closing a deal and keeping them satisfied.
With OnePageCRM’s WhatsApp CRM integration, you get an instant notification in your CRM whenever a new WhatsApp message comes in. A red dot appears next to the WhatsApp logo, so you can see at a glance when someone has replied without having to switch over to WhatsApp.
Reach out with Meta-approved templates
Starting a conversation with a customer on WhatsApp Business isn’t as simple as sending a message. A customer has to message you before you can send a free-form reply. And once they do, you get a 24-hour window to respond normally.
If a customer hasn’t messaged you recently, WhatsApp requires businesses to use pre-approved message templates to start or resume the conversation. You’d need to go to the Meta Dashboard to configure this message.
With OnePageCRM’s WhatsApp CRM integration, you can send any template Meta has approved straight from the CRM.
This can be especially useful for routine follow-ups for small businesses. For example, if a prospect has asked for a quote but hasn’t responded, you can send an approved follow-up template to check whether they’re still interested.
Customize your message templates
Meta-approved templates can also include interactive buttons, so contacts can reply, visit a link, or call you with a single tap.
For example, if you regularly follow up with leads after sending a quote, you could create a template in your Meta account that says, “Hi [Name], just checking in to see if you had a chance to review your quote. If you’re ready to move forward, you can confirm below.”
You could then add buttons such as “I’m interested”, “View quote”, or “Call us.” This gives the customer an easy way to take the next step without having to type out a response.
Prioritize your most recent WhatsApp conversations
We’ve also revamped the Recent tab in your Action Stream. This makes it easier to keep up with WhatsApp conversations.
Previously, Contacts were sorted based on when you last viewed them. Now, they can be sorted by their most recent WhatsApp activity, so contacts with new messages appear at the top. If someone is waiting for your reply, you can spot them right away instead of having to search through your contacts to find the conversation.
For example, imagine you’re following up with several leads and three of them reply on WhatsApp throughout the day. Their contacts will move to the top of your Recent tab.
This makes it easier to stay on top of active conversations and ensures that the contacts waiting for your reply don’t get buried among other contacts.
WhatsApp as a Contact Page Widget
When customer conversations are spread across WhatsApp and your CRM, it’s easy to lose track of what was discussed. You might remember the customer’s name, but not the questions they asked you last week or what you promised to send them.
With OnePageCRM WhatsApp CRM integration, WhatsApp is now available as a Widget on the Contact Page alongside your other connected apps, like Help Scout, Aircall, and QuickBooks.
That means you can scroll back through the conversation to see what has already been discussed when replying. There is no need to dig through the conversation on your phone to remember where a conversation left off.
You might also need to check QuickBooks for their latest invoice, Aircall for a recent call recording, Help Scout for a support ticket, and WhatsApp for sales-related questions. Widgets give you all that information on the customer’s Contact Page.
Other ways to use WhatsApp CRM tools in OnePageCRM
Besides the sync and the WhatsApp widget, OnePageCRM also offers various other WhatsApp CRM tools to make the sales process easier for small businesses.
Call customers directly from your CRM
If you already have a customer’s phone number in OnePageCRM, there’s no need to search for them again in WhatsApp before making a call.
With our click-to-call feature, you can set WhatsApp as your default option and open the WhatsApp app in one click.
For example, say you’ve just exchanged a few emails with a lead, and they have a question that would be easier to discuss over the phone.
You can call them directly from their Contact Page instead of copying their number and searching for them in WhatsApp.
Once the call is over, you can also add a call note to the contact in OnePageCRM to keep a record of what you discussed.
Let website visitors start a WhatsApp chat
If a lead has a quick question while browsing your website, making them fill out a contact form or search for your phone number can add unnecessary hassle.
OnePageCRM offers a WhatsApp chat button, which gives small businesses a direct way to add a WhatsApp chat button to their website.
This feature is especially useful as many people now prefer messaging apps to get in touch with a business. Prospects can get in touch with you without leaving your site or looking for another way to contact you.
Capture new leads without manual data entry
Finding a potential customer online is only the first step. The next one is getting their contact details into your CRM so you can actually follow up. Manually copying names, email addresses, phone numbers, and other details is tedious.
With OnePageCRM’s Lead Clipper browser extension, you can automatically capture contact information from webpages, WhatsApp Web, social media profiles, and even your email account.
The extension automatically picks up available details such as the person’s name, job title, company, email address, phone number, and website or social media links.
You can also add a Next Action to the new contact straight from Lead Clipper, so you can schedule your follow-up right away instead of having to remember it later.
Benefits of a WhatsApp CRM
Connecting WhatsApp to your CRM offers various benefits, such as:
- Conversation isn't tied to one phone: Anyone with access to a contact in the CRM can see the conversation and reply, not just whoever has the phone with the customer’s WhatsApp number and conversation.
- Faster replies: Notifications land inside the CRM, so a message doesn't sit unnoticed in a separate app while you’re working in your CRM.
- One place for everything: The WhatsApp conversation sits next to the rest of the tools connected to that contact, instead of being one more app to check separately.
- Shared context: A teammate covering for someone else, or picking up a lead for the first time, can see exactly what's already been said instead of starting from scratch.
Bring WhatsApp conversations into your CRM
WhatsApp is where a lot of your customers already want to talk to you. A CRM is where that conversation should live once it happens, alongside everything else you know about them.
With OnePageCRM’s WhatsApp CRM integration, you can sync all your WhatsApp conversations to your CRM, send and receive messages, see read receipts, and get notifications of new WhatsApp messages without leaving your CRM.