According to Starberry, one of the UK’s largest providers of retail agency website and lead generation technology, adding a WhatsApp chat module to their website can dramatically help agents enhance their communication with visitors and gain more business.
Ben Sellers, Co-Founder of Starberry, part of the nurtur.group says, that the property sector has long been used to communicating with potential vendors and buyers in person or over the telephone, however, other methods of communication have grown in popularity with many agents turning to WhatsApp to engage with customers who visit their websites. Live chat on websites and social media, through platforms such as WhatsApp has transformed the way the customers contact the businesses they want to engage with.
“Essentially, adding WhatsApp to their website allows agents to engage with visitors as the brand rather than as an individual. It also allows agents to communicate with potential customers via a channel they are comfortable using. Customers want personalised services, immediate answers and up-to-date information, which WhatsApp allows, especially when used in conjunction with an automated response service such as Yomdel. Yomdel not only manages web chats, but WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger messages that all get recorded into the dashboard and pushed back into your CRM,” says Sellers. “While WhatsApp provides the opportunity to speak to customers directly, it also allows agents the ability to leverage the AI that responds to customers instantly, helping to cut costs and save time. Several tasks can be delegated to the chatbot, such as repair reporting, mortgage advice, property queries and scheduling viewings.”
According to Sellers, WhatsApp can be added to an agent’s website as a ‘click and use’ icon. “By clicking on the icon, the customer will be connected to the right person when they are browsing the site. This will ensure that the customer receives assistance right away and the agent will be able to directly engage with potential customers, ultimately increasing the chance of gaining more business. With this tool, agents can build a direct relationship with website visitors, while having the added advantage of access to business analytics to see how they interact with messages,” he adds.
WhatsApp is a massive platform with approximately 1.6 billion monthly active users, who on average, visit the platform around 23 times a day. It is also the communication channel of choice throughout the UK across all ages, not just millennials. Given these key stats, it makes sense that visitors to agents’ websites would probably want to communicate via WhatsApp as their preferred method of communication.
“Through WhatsApp, agents can create a company profile with their brand logo and taglines that customers will recognise and engage with, as well as details like opening hours, location, and more details of the business, just as you would for social media pages. It is also possible to share content, like property and neighbourhood photos, videos, audio messages and direct links to product pages,” Sellers comments.
He adds that Starberry customers who have added the WhatsApp chat module to their websites have achieved some incredible results. “Most recently, after implementing the WhatsApp button on their website, one of our clients saw their Google ads conversion rate going up by more than 500%. This was due to the instant WhatsApp chat button that encouraged website visitors to instantly connect with the right person, rather than fill out forms and wait for a call-back,” says Sellers. “Our team of digital marketing experts are always on the lookout for new ways to improve estate agents’ website performance and deliver results. We know from experience that the WhatsApp chat module is a great tool estate agents can add to their websites to connect with users in an engaging, personal way.”
