WhatsApp Business Integration

WhatsApp Business Integration

WhatsApp is one of the most commonly used text-messaging applications which has gained immense popularity among businesses owing to its quick, and hassle-free messaging services. Since it allows customers to initiate the conversation with the business, the customers get an edge over privacy and their decision to purchase.

Prerequisites

Before you can integrate WhatsApp Business into your Zoho CRM, you must meet the following prerequisites:
  1. A Facebook Business Manager account.
  2. A verified business.
  3. A WhatsApp Business account.
  4. A registered phone number to access the WhatsApp Business API.
  5. The phone number must meet the requirements mentioned here.

Availability

This integration is supported in the trial and all paid editions of Zoho CRM.

Integrating WhatsApp Messaging Service with Zoho CRM  

To help businesses to interact with their customers via business messages from the CRM account, as well as to keep a record of these interactions, Zoho CRM provides seamless integration with WhatsApp. Only an administrator can initiate this integration.

To integrate WhatsApp Business with Zoho CRM

  1. Go to Setup > Channels > Business Messaging.

  2. Under WhatsApp click Details > Integrate.

  3. In the WhatsApp access request page, log in with Facebook Business Manager's credentials.

  4. Click Get Started.

  5. Click Continue to give permission.

  6. Create a new Facebook Business account or select existing account from the options.
  7. Create a new WhatsApp Business Account or select existing accounts from the options.

  8. Click Continue.

  9. Create a new WhatsApp Business profile or select an existing profile from the options.

  10. Click Continue.

  11. Verify your WhatsApp Business number.

  12. Click Ok on the next screen.

  13. On the Configure WhatsApp Business Profile in CRM pop-up:

    1. Provide a nickname for the WhatsApp Business Profile in CRM.

    2. Select a phone number to be associated with the WhatsApp Business profile.

      All the numbers associated with your WhatsApp Business Manager profile will be listed here. If a number does not meet the conditions mentioned in the Prerequisites, you will not be able to associate the particular number.

  14. Provide a nickname for the WhatsApp business profile in CRM and click Next.

    1. Provide the account preferences choosing from the dropdown options.
      Choose add as Leads or Contacts

    2. Assign to users, groups or roles

    3. Choose the users, groups or role.

  15. Click  Save .
WhatsApp Business messaging account is activated.


Notes:

  • Once your business is verified, it will be reviewed for compliance with the WhatsApp Terms of Service and WhatsApp Commerce Policy.

  • If you have rebranded your domain (domain-mapped accounts), you must enable third-party cookies in your browser before starting the integration,

  • You cannot use WhatsApp phone numbers being used on other products. Only unused phone numbers can be used for the integration.

  • Migration of existing phone numbers is not supported yet.

To deactivate WhatsApp Business integration
  1. Go to Setup > Channels > Business Messaging.
  2. Click on the Deactivate button in the WhatsApp Business integration section.

  3. Click Yes, Delete on the pop-up to deactivate the integration.

Business Message Charges, buying credits, and auto-recharge  

Messages sent by the company are charged. You can buy credits based on the frequency of your usage so that the charges are automatically deducted from it. After the initial purchase of credits, you can use the auto recharge option to avoid running out of balance by setting the minimum number of credits that must be maintained in your account at anytime. You can also mention the number of credits that must be purchased when the limit is exhausted.  

To buy credits

  1. Go to Setup > Channels > Business Messaging.

  2. Click Buy Credits.
    This option will be available only after the phone number is active.

  3. Enter the value.

  4. Click Next.

  5. Click Make a payment.

To auto-recharge

  1. Go to Setup > Channels > Business Messaging.

  2. Click Auto recharge.

  3. Toggle on Enable Auto recharge.

  4. Enter Minimum credit balance to be maintained.

  5. Enter the number of credits to be added when the balance is minimum.

  6. Click Save.  


Instead of charging the customer for every message they send, businesses are now charged per conversation based on the new policies. Every conversation has a 24-hour messaging window where your customers can send unlimited messages. To know more about conversation-based pricing for WhatsApp Business and check the various rate cards click here.

Working with the Messages tab 

 1. Filtering and setting view for messages 

In the Messages module users can use the following filters and set criteria to find a message quickly:

  • Not replied in x days/weeks/months

  • Replied in x days/weeks/months

  • Message time in x days/weeks/months

  • Record owner is x user or logged in user

  • Replied by x user or logged in user 


 

Users can also set a view for the module to see the messages that are unreplied, all messages sent today, all unreplied messages etc.


2.  Receiving notifications for business messages 

When an interested customer or an existing lead/contact sends a business message to your business WhatsApp number, a notification is sent to the CRM user via SalesSignal and popup.
The push notification will be shown to the record owner. 

Within the push notification the user will get an option to be re-notified after a few minutes or hour. If the user cannot respond immediately, he can click remind after 15 minutes. This is not a global setting, therefore the user has to select when to be reminded for each push notification that they receive. Once the user clicks ignore, the notification will close.

When multiple messages are received the notification will display the count of messages.

The user can also access the message notification from
SalesSignal.

3.  Replying to the business messages 

The CRM users can reply to the business messages by clicking the notification or by clicking on a record from the Messages tab. Users can also click on View conversation from SalesSignal notification to  reply.
They can respond to the customers by typing the message or by sending a predefined business message.
Merge fields can be used to pull the related value, for example, Hi, $[Leads.First Name] while responding. The user can preview the value before sending the message.
Note:

  • CRM users can reply to a message within 24 hours of receiving. After this time the WhatsApp messaging window will be closed.

  • WhatsApp allows only the end customer to initiate a conversation by sending a message to the business. A user is not allowed to initiate a conversation to leads or contacts via WhatsApp. This restriction is enforced by WhatsApp.

To reply a business message

  1. Click on the notification to view the message.
    Alternately, you can go to the Messages tab and click on the record.

  2. Type your message or click Predefined text and select a text.

  3. Click Send, to respond.

4. Setting and managing predefined text 

The users will have the option to create predefined text that they can be quickly sent to the customers, for example:
  • Answers to commonly asked questions like what is the cost of the mobile cover? My order is delayed, can you help me track?

  • Greetings, like Hi, $[Leads.First Name] how are you doing? How can I help you?

 

To create predefined text

  1. Go to the Messages tab, click on a message.

  2. Next to the typing bar, click New Predefined Text next to the typing bar.
    Alternately, click Manage and + New Predefined Text.

  3. In the New Predefined Text popup, give a name for the text (for eg., Greetings)

  4. Enter the text message.
    You can use merge fields too.

  5. Click Save.

The predefined text messages can be edited or deleted by clicking the Manage button. All the texts are stored here, the users can filter them module-wise or search using the text name.

Note: You cannot change the module while editing a predefined text. This is to prevent errors in case of merge fields have been used in the predefined texts.

To manage predefined text

  1. Go to the Messages tab and click Predefined Text from the text area.

  2. Click Manage from the drop-down list.

  3. In the Manage Predefined Text, hover on a text and click Edit or Delete icon. 

5.  Sending attachments via business messages 

CRM users can send attachments through text messages. They can attach up to 5 files using:
  • Upload a file from their computer.
  • Attach files from the Inventory such as sales orders, quotes, purchase orders, and invoices.
  • Attach files from supported cloud drives like Google drive, Sky Drive, Evernote, and Dropbox.
The user can either select a quote that is associated with the prospect, create a new quote or send one of the available quotes depending on the business need and type.
Each conversation view tab is divided into two tabs: Messages and Attachments where respective information are stored. You can preview and download all the attachments from here or from the messages.


Custom templates 

You can configure personalized WhatsApp templates within Zoho CRM, and use them to configure actions, and in-turn automate your business process. You will have the
option to configure templates of different categories based on the requirement— both utility and marketing messages. Utility message templates could be about details on transactions while marketing templates could be used for welcome messages or other such notifications.
 
To configure custom templates:
  1. Go to the Setup page, and navigate to Actions, under Automation.
    You will find the WhatsApp Notification tab once WhatsApp Business is integrated.
  2. Navigate to WhatsApp Notification > WhatsApp Templates.
  3. Click on + New WhatsApp Template.
  4. On the pop-up for template configuration, do the following:

    1. Name: Give the template a title for reference.
    2. Module: Select the module to which the template should be associated.
    3. Select the language.
    4. Select template category: Utility, or Marketing.
    5. Provide the message content.
      You can use # for merge fields.
  5. Click Save.
Note:
  1. Upon saving, the template would be automatically sent for review from Facebook.
  2. Only approved templates can be used for creating WhatsApp notifications in CRM.
  3. Approval time might depend on the content and the language used.
  4. A template cannot be edited when in review, and once it is approved.
  5. To learn more about Facebook guidelines for about WhatsApp Business message templates, click here.

WhatsApp Notifications

Once your custom template has been approved, you can use them for creating notifications.
 
To create WhatsApp notification:
  1. Go to the Setup page, and navigate to Actions, under Automation.
    You will find the WhatsApp Notification tab once WhatsApp Business is integrated.
  2. Navigate to WhatsApp Notification > Notifications.
  3. On the pop-up, provide the following details:

    1. Name the notification for future usage.
    2. Select the specific module from the list of user based modules
    3. Choose the recipients for the WhatsApp notification.
    4. Select the template from the list of approved templates.
  4. Click Save.

Setting up automated notifications via WhatsApp 

You can set automated WhatsApp notifications from Workflow rules, Blueprints, and CommandCenter.

Workflow Rules  

On the workflow rule configuration page,
  1. For Instant Actions, go to Notify > via WhatsApp.
  2. Associate existing notifications or create a new one.
  3. After making your selection, click "Associate".

    In case you have created a new notificatoin "Save and Associate". 

Blueprint 

For blueprint transitions, you can set a WhatsApp notification as an action for After transitions. The WhatsApp notification option is also available for states.

CommandCenter 

You can choose WhatsApp notification as an action in a transition for CommandCenter's Journey Builder tool.

Viewing messages in the Notifications tab

When automated notification messages are triggered and sent to end users, they will appear in the messages module, as well as in the separate Notifications tab dedicated to transactional messages, for a comprehensive overview. 




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