You have an online business and structured the entire commercial operation according to the "sales funnel" model. You invested in content through WhatsApp to attract customers, activated the right triggers to raise interest for more information, made the sale, and delivered the order quickly. And then, in light of the positive result, you relaxed. After all, the sale happened...

Also read: How to structure a sales funnel on WhatsApp?

If this is what you do in your company, be aware that your business is at risk of losing steam in the short term due to a lack of serious work in post-sale. This is the moment when the brand strengthens the relationship with the consumer, creates bonds, and manages to retain and retain the customer.

In this sense, few tools are as effective for the task as WhatsApp. According to the survey CX Trends 2024 from Opinionbox, the app was cited as the most used channel to talk to companies in post-purchase by 54% of consumers interviewed.

The high message open rate and the familiarity users have with the platform have made WhatsApp the ideal option for direct and personal communication, not to mention the practicality in maintaining contacts after the purchase. But how to use it strategically and maximize results?

Also read: Turn data into decisions with the help of WhatsApp

Why is WhatsApp essential in post-sale?

Before diving into strategies, it’s important to understand the advantages of using WhatsApp in post-sale:

• Immediate and direct communication: allows for quick and bureaucratic-free contact to resolve doubts or problems;

  
  

• Personalization: facilitates the creation of personalized messages, showing the customer that they are valued;

  
  

• Cost-effectiveness: it is a low-cost tool to communicate with a large volume of customers;

  
  

• Customer familiarity: most customers already use WhatsApp daily, making interaction more natural;

  
  

• Building trust: good post-sale reinforces the customer's commitment and trust in your brand.

Also read: WhatsApp for retargeting in e-commerce

Strategies to retain customers with WhatsApp

Retention is the main goal of post-sale. Loyal customers not only return but also become promoters of the brand, and WhatsApp can help:

• Thank you and purchase confirmation demonstrate attention and professionalism from the very first moment;

  
  

• Order support and tracking keeps the customer informed about the status of delivery, tracking codes, and any relevant updates;

  
  

• Simple satisfaction surveys with quick and direct questions show the customer that their opinion matters;

  
  

• Relevant and educational content adds value to the customer experience;

  
  

• Exclusive and early offers for loyal customers make them feel valued and incentivized to buy again;

  

• Reminders on special dates can be used to maintain contact. Personalization makes all the difference;

  
  

• Customer service channel allows customers to ask questions, make complaints, or request help quickly and efficiently. Agility in response is crucial.

Also read: 10 practices to improve service via WhatsApp

Generating new business opportunities in post-sale

Once the checklist of essential tasks for adopting WhatsApp in post-sale is completed, why not take this step to extract insights that contribute to business intelligence and thus generate new sales?

This is where upsell and cross-sell marketing strategies come in based on the consumer’s purchase history, to offer complementary products. For example, if someone bought a cell phone, also offer a case, screen protector, or a better-quality headset.

Creating incentive programs for satisfied customers to share links to a product or promotion via WhatsApp in exchange for benefits is an excellent tactic to expand the brand’s reach.

In product and service launches, WhatsApp is essential to ensure successful promotion, especially among existing customers. Those who already know the brand are more likely to buy. This moment is also a great opportunity to strengthen the community and promote exclusive events, webinars, tests, and send free samples for feedback collection.

Also read: WhatsApp in retail: increase your sales with intelligent monitoring

Best practices for using WhatsApp in post-sale

Creating a powerful mailing list is not enough for good post-sale service. It’s necessary to consider customer privacy and handle registration data appropriately. With the General Data Protection Law, companies’ approaches, including via WhatsApp, have undergone reevaluation, so certain practices must be adopted.

After careful segmentation of the customer base, it is good practice to request permission for periodic information sending. This avoids blocks on WhatsApp and keeps this channel active. It is also worth reinforcing to the contact that personal data will not be used in other situations or shared with the market. This brings more trust to the relationship.

Respecting business hours is also an important criterion and demonstrates respect for the consumer. Likewise, if a customer contacts during off-business hours, it’s essential that an automatic response is set up for this situation, with information about days and hours of service or even the use of chatbots to carry out initial triage and expedite the process.

Monitoring conversations via WhatsApp is the major differentiator for companies using the platform to engage with their audience, as monitoring conversations allows for the detection of everything from attendant misconduct to operational failures, enabling quick interventions.

In Brazil, the platform capable of executing this function while also protecting chat content and analyzing it is Zapper: a suite of governance and communication intelligence solutions through WhatsApp.

Also read: Companies can monitor corporate WhatsApps

Created in Brazil and pioneering in Latin America, Zapper is a tool that monitors corporate conversations occurring across multiple accounts simultaneously and notifies the communication manager of suspicious conversations, allowing for more thorough monitoring and the adoption of necessary measures.

This procedure is very important in post-sale, as it detects any speech flaws, points out areas for improvement in logistics operations, assists in controlling order deliveries, and indicates customer satisfaction levels.

All content from conversations, including image and audio files, is collected and saved in the cloud full-time, with exclusive access for the manager, thereby minimizing information leaks. All material is stored indefinitely, allowing for future consultations.

In addition to these functionalities, Zapper can technically analyze communication, providing metrics for the operation, such as the best times for interactions, campaigns that had the highest message open rates, most clicked links, promotions with the best performance, among others.

And to further enhance service, Zapper now has the ‘Pulse’ feature, which uses AI to analyze the sentiment of conversations and bring more value and contextualization. Pulse can comprehend the intention behind dialogues, thus providing more accurate information about consumer behavior and attendant performance.

If adopting WhatsApp in marketing and communication strategies is essential for a business's survival, Zapper has been the differentiator for companies aiming to expand reach, increase visibility, achieve growth, and ensure sustainability in the market.

Also read: How WhatsApp data reveals insights about consumer behavior

More than a platform for sending and receiving messages, WhatsApp is now at the center of consumer retention and loyalty processes. Count on Zapper in your sales journey and in scaling your business!

Click here to schedule a demonstration of the tool.