Zendesk, a leading customer service software solution, recently announced a series of exciting updates. Facebook has selected Zendesk as a core CX partner for providing enhanced support to customers across messaging channels. What’s more, Zendesk and Facebook will be working together on new product capabilities and features, like a Messenger API for Instagram.
The strategic partnership is one of the first of its kind in the communication industry. It expands the current partnership with Messenger, and will empower companies to engage with clients, share more information, and respond to questions across all Facebook services for messaging, including Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp.
As customers make the shift towards messaging as a primary method of communication, over 24,000 Zendesk customers have already demonstrated demand for Facebook messaging channels. Insights from ESG and Zendesk says that companies with the best customer experiences invest in offering various channels to customers. CX-focused organisations are more likely to embrace messaging apps (89%) and social media (87%).
Meeting Customers Where They Are
According to Matt Idema, the COO of WhatsApp, businesses need to be prepared to meet customers where they are in this current landscape. More than 175 million people already message business accounts on WhatsApp to ask crucial questions and gain information. The partnership with Zendesk helps more mid-sized businesses to embrace the messaging environment.
President of Products for Zendesk, Adrian McDermott, said that there’s a growing shift in the way that customers interact with companies. A 50% surge is evident in messaging channels this year. The new messaging capabilities of Zendesk, alongside customisation options and automated workflows, help customers to deliver better conversational experiences across channels for end users.
Partnerships with Facebook and WhatsApp provide Zendesk customers with simple APIs to connect with customers on the channels they use. This ensures that businesses can create seamless conversations on the web and mobile. Companies can add out-of-the-box messaging features to mobile and website apps, so customers have a rich and more engaging experience.
Message conversations will also flow to the Unified Agent workspace, so support teams can respond to and manage customers over any channel in the same single-pane-of-glass environment. This will reduce the risk of customers having to repeat themselves.
Driving Better Messaging Experiences
WhatsApp and Facebook chose Zendesk as one of the initial core solution providers to provide enhanced customer conversations and support across messaging services. The partnership allows companies to engage and respond quickly to customers via WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Instagram. Zendesk and WhatsApp will be collaborating on crucial product capabilities going forward to give customers early access to new features and effective workflows.
To help with scaling conversations across various channels, brands will also be able to automate common conversations with AI-powered workflows and Answer Bot. This will ensure that consumers can access information quickly, and escalations to live agents can be reduced. For instance, retail companies could offer support on frequently asked questions like what payment options a customer has, or how to deal with a return.
Furthermore, through Zendesk’s flexible platform, companies can connect various external and internal applications to build tailored messaging opportunities. This includes sending proactive notifications to clients, adding third-party bots for certain use cases, connecting to internal tools to help customers take immediate action, and engaging with partners and customers in group messages.
One example of a customized solution could be a food delivery brand that wants to create a group message in Zendesk to open up a conversation with the various parties involved in an order. You might have a conversation that includes the customer, the restaurant, and the driver all in one chat environment.
Bringing Messaging to Everyone
The expanded partnership between Zendesk and Facebook/WhatsApp represents a continued commitment from Zendesk to invest in messaging opportunities. Companies of all sizes are now working hard to stay one step ahead of their customer’s preferences, ensuring that they can communicate on all channels.
Zendesk presented the new messaging solutions to customers as part of a virtual webinar earlier this month on the 10th of November 2020. Companies interested in using Zendesk to tap into better messaging integrations for their customers can reach out to a representative for Zendesk, or check out more details on the Zendesk website.
