The benefits of Messenger-Based Sales
Although messengers can be considered as newcomers to the business scene, they already offer new opportunities for brands. They have a broad user base and regularly roll out new features and even apps that support doing business — such as Whatsapp for business. It’s no surprise that these newly available tools and platforms have been triggering new business approaches and one of them is Messenger-Based Sales.
Let’s define Messenger-Based Sales: a concept or an approach that prioritizes messengers as the primary communication channel between a buyer and a business throughout the sales process. Simply put, Messenger-Based Sales aims to produce a convenient and seamless buying journey via chat apps — communication platforms that customers use most.
It’s no surprise that it’s much easier to open up an app that is already installed on your phone if you want to send a message than write an email or make a phone call. We’re also getting more and more casual, favoring short bursts of messages over formal emails or sometimes even face-to-face conversations.
Let’s dive into the benefits of Messenger-Based Sales deeper and understand what makes it convenient for customers and businesses.
Why Messenger-Based Sales?
Asynchronous communication
One of the reasons why messaging apps are convenient is because of asynchronous communication. Unlike traditional communication methods, such as phone calls, emails, or even live chat, messengers allow us to respond in our own time, removing the pressure and the expectation of having to answer immediately.
Emoji, stickers & GIFs
Messengers can also be more interactive than other platforms. For example, adding an emoji to a chat can convey emotion and an animated GIF can make the conversation more entertaining.
No wonder why Facebook Messenger has even introduced larger-sized emoji — people love visual messages so much that every day on, they send over 900 million emoji-only messages on Facebook Messenger alone.
Automated responses
To save time and keep your audience engaged, messaging apps offer automated responses, also known as auto or instant replies. This means that if someone wants to start chatting with a messenger company, then the company can customize automatic answers to provide or gather information. This may include the company’s location or contact information.
Chat history
Another advantage of communicating with your potential and existing customers via messengers is because chat history is always available. It’s easy to miss something when you’re taking on the phone — you may lose the detail of the conversation. Live chats don’t always save your conversation history. By using messengers, on the other hand, you can know who you’re talking to, have access and review conversations with your clients, as well as access files and documents that you’ve shared.
Suitable for B2C & B2B buyers
Not only messaging apps can increase sales for B2C companies by offering advice, answering efficiently and offering options to submit inquiries, they’re also proving to be useful for B2B business.
Think about it, if people like chatting with each other, wouldn’t they like to connect with a B2B company just as quickly, especially in a lengthy purchase process such as B2B?
Moreover, B2B buyers demand that their buying journey is intuitive, secure and accessible. Research shows that 70% of customers say that convenience is essential.
High open rate & engagement
Although email is doing better at open rate and engagement when compared to a phone call, according to statistics, the open rate of mailing lists is still low, with just 2.4% of the audience who follow the links inside the emails. In addition, many emails end up in spam folders that would never get read.
It’s no surprise that today, people are far more likely to view and click a message in the messaging app. Firstly, the texts are usually short and thus much faster to read. Secondly, we always get notified about them right on our screen. Last but not least, conversations via chat apps just tend to be lighter and less formal.
Convenient for marketing, sales & customer support
Nowadays, customers expect immediate responses — they want companies to reach back to them as quickly as they can. And although messengers haven’t been utilized in the majority of businesses across the globe, they have already started to gain traction in various departments, including marketing, sales, and customer support.
Marketing team
Whether it’s sending out polls, delivering the latest blog posts or running ads, messengers have been used as marketing automation tools. Many companies already employ messaging apps for marketing purposes.
Sales team
With messengers, the sales team can carry the conversation throughout their entire pipeline. Payment can be made directly from the chat.
Support team
With messaging apps, the support team can do a much better job. Messengers are much quicker than emails; they have fewer formalities, offer asynchronous communication and multimedia exchange. Additionally, by creating a chatbot for frequently asked questions and replying to many users simultaneously 24/7, sales and support teams can save their time and focus on the more important stuff.
Featured image by Mika Baumeister on Unsplash