When a solution didn't exist, Wazzup created their own
The company
Wazzup offers a simple integration of WhatsApp and Instagram with Zoho CRM. It helps companies improve communications with their clients and automate business processes.
Sales representatives can interact with customers using the means of communication convenient for them, right from your Zoho CRM window, where all the message history will be stored.
The challenge
When sales representatives use their devices to communicate through WhatsApp with customers, there are certain drawbacks. While communicating with customers through WhatsApp, it was impossible to piece together each transaction’s history as sales representatives used different WhatsApp numbers. In the absence of a representative, the communication established with the customer would be cut off. The company could also potentially lose customers when a sales rep leaves their job, taking their chat history with them. Managers also won’t be aware of how much, when, and with whom sales reps correspond.
The founders of Wazzup faced the same problems. Upon testing out service platforms to overcome these issues, they faced other problems, such as messages not being sent or being sent out of order. This was when it became evident to the founders of Wazzup that they needed to build their own integration.
The solution
Integrating WhatsApp with Zoho CRM enabled customers to start a WhatsApp conversation directly from Zoho CRM. Wazzup has the same messenger interface and functionalities of WhatsApp. Managers have access to all sales reps’ conversation history stored in Zoho CRM. Allowing managers to access chat history ensures there will be no excuses from sales reps.
On the other hand, sales representatives would also be able to correspond with their customers through the Wazzup mobile application.
The integration offers additional features such as automatically sending messages and creating contacts and deals for new customers, allowing sales representatives to spend less time on routine work in Zoho CRM.
Building the integration
The integration was built using the Sigma platform. To learn more about Wazzup’s association with Marketplace and their experience in developing the application, we spoke to Kirill Kharitonenko, the product manager of Wazzup.
According to Kharitonenko, Wazzup’s first experience with Sigma was a pleasant one. He further stated that the documentation made it easy to comprehend how to build the application.
The application built was later tested directly in Sigma’s editor, making it easier for the developers to evaluate the application.
Benefits and ROI
Wazzup’s experience with Marketplace
After launching the application, Wazzup was able to analyze the performance of the integration through the partner console. For example, they decided to localize Wazzup to Spanish after evaluating the application’s performance in Latin America. This improved the user experience for customers from Latin America.
When listing the integration on Marketplace, the description of the application must be published for the users. When drafting the description, Wazzup was able to rely on Marketplace's knowledge base to find tips on writing the best application description. If the description needs to be edited, the marketing team could do so quickly on their own without developers.
Interacting with the support team and partnership team
Wazzup’s interaction with Marketplace's support and partnership teams has been gratifying. Kharitonenko said, "Working with the support team is extremely productive and leaves a positive impression afterwards." They also report that the support team is friendly and committed to solving their queries or issues either through email or directly from the partner console. "It's nice to know Zoho staff cares about your app and its success," Kharitonenko said.
Co-marketing
Similarly, the partnership team offered Wazzup opportunities to participate in various marketing activities.
"What we liked about Zoho is that it has several options for marketing activities. You'll definitely find an option that will work for the promotion of your app."
Results
With over 1,700 installations on Marketplace, the integration enabled Wazzup to increase revenue by 187% in the US and by 79.2% in India.
Looking forward
To wrap it up, Kharitonenko shared a few pointers for partners looking to list an integration on Zoho Marketplace.
"If you're planning to create useful apps for business or are already doing so, be sure to publish it on Zoho Marketplace. It's a great place to help other businesses and make money. [. . .] Beginners will find it easy to publish here. Zoho has instructions, documentation, and support that will tell you how to do everything better."