zendesk WhatsApp integration: Use one WABA for WhatsApp support, marketing & sales

This blog post is for companies that use an omnichannel support tool such as zendesk, wanting to offer WhatsApp customer support want to leverage WhatsApp Marketing to extend their new customer acquisition and retention marketing efforts, using the most installed and most populare messenger in the world: WhatsApp.

WhatsApp is not only the most frequently used mobile app in the world, with over two billion active monthly users, but it is also the number one favourized support channel, as statistics show.

”If you offer omnichannel support, chances are extremely high over 90%, or even over 95%, of the support tickets will chime in through WhatsApp. That is one of the core reasons why Chatarmin focuses on WhatsApp and WhatsApp only. - Johannes Mansbart, Chatarmin founder

Now, you can split WhatsApp customer support into two buckets:

• automated WhatsApp support through chatbots
• manual WhatsApp support through support agents

Whilst chatbots - whether they’re built on dynamic AI-, or static chatbot-logics - do have their reasonable use cases, as this statistic shows:

Verloop CSAT and Bot Deflection Report on Conversational Messaging, 2022 *Bot Deflection = % Automatically solved support tickets through Chatbots

So, we are all set: Your clients communicate with your brand via Instagram, Facebook, Mail, SMS, WhatsApp and Co. If you use an omnichannel customer support skin such as zendesk, you will face issues, since those different channels are limited to handling inbound support requests, and lack any necessary CRM features that you may want to use, to not only serve, but also market, in your favourite communicational channels.

WhatsApp is the number one channel for this use case by far.

Chatarmin is the only WhatsApp software worldwide to enable customer support to work in its favourite environment, whilst we enable marketing teams to use the best WhatsApp Marketing Software in their native infrastructure

Now, the problem is, that if you just natively use Zendesk’s WhatsApp integration directly, you will face the following problem:

• one WABA for support: your clients will naturally interact with your Zendesk WhatsApp Support hotline, through which they get their tickets solved and questions answered.
• one WABA for marketing and/or sales: your clients will get offers, events, deals, news and more through a separate WhatsApp business account with its own number which will be misleading, confusing, and presents a “crack” in your customers’ user journey

The topic here is, that you will have to

• manage two WABAs, one for support and one for marketing and/or sales
• make sure your clients are aware which WABA to address with which of their desires, questions and problems
• correspond and engage with your clients through two completely separated WhatsApp infrastructures
• ask your clients to ideally save your WABAs as contacts, if you are not yet verified

Your alternative is to

• not offer WhatsApp support at all
• split your WhatsApp traffic into two WABAs, with two phone numbers, and two business profiles: one for Support, and the other one using a WhatsApp CRM such as Chatarmin, for sales and/or marketing purposes

Chatarmin solves this topic through its Zendesk WhatsApp integration. Simply do not activate Zendesk’s native WhatsApp solution, but add Chatarmin as a custom 3rd party app, and thus use the same WABA both for support and marketing, without your team’s switching skins or hopping softwares operatively.

Your clients only communicate with one WhatsApp Business Profile, whilst they actually engage with your WhatsApp customer support on zendesk, and get their WhatsApp marketing campaigns such as automations and campaigns through Chatarmin

Check out this video about Chatarmins zendesk WhatsApp integration:

Q1 2024, Source: Chatarmin

How to get started: 5 steps until you have Chatarmin as your WhatsApp zendesk integration

Here is your quick five steps on how to get started with zendesk and Chatarmin, keeping one WABA and one phone number for ally our WhatsApp desires:

1. Get your Chatarmin account
2. Get your zendesk account
3. Copy & Paste your zendesk API key into your Chatarmin Dashboard
4. Install Chatarmin as your third party customer support channel in Zendesk
5. Test your solution by texting your WABA, iterate the solution as you see fit, finished!

It really is that easy to setup your zendesk WhatsApp integration with Chatarmin. We are the only WhatsApp CRM worldwide, that is flexible enough to offer customer support to work in zendesk, and Marketing to work in Chatarmin.

TIP: To upload and install private Support apps, you must have the Zendesk Suite Growth plan or above, or the Support Professional plan and above.

Why zapier is not a solution for scalable and robust software infrastructure

As soon as software sales tells you “they have an integration” or “you can use our zapier integration to access thousands of integrations”: run. It will neither be scalable, nor professional, nor unlimited solution. As soon as you’ll voice one custom individual request, you will be lost and left alone. Ask for native integrations and real demos of the solutions you request.

Chatarmin is the only WhatsApp Marketing Software in the world to offer a native zendesk WhatsApp integration

With this in mind, Chatarmin is the only WhatsApp CRM worldwide with a zendesk WhatsApp integration, that lets you install your custom WhatsApp account as a third party app in zendesk, so support and marketing can both work with their dream techstack, all whilst using the same WABA which is the only one your clients will have to engage with.

What is Zendesk?

Zendesk was founded in Denmark in 2007 and is now headquartered in San Francisco. The solution is a well-known customer service software.

Zendesk is a customer support suite that enables companies to manage their clients’ support-tickets through a multi-messenger-inbox and automated routing, ticketing and support-agent-system.

Zendesk is an Omnichannel customer support tool, so in addition to WhatsApp and email, customers can open tickets using chat, Facebook posts, private Facebook messages, Twitter, and many other social channels.

Through Chatarmin's 3rd party zendesk app, you can use a WABA to perform WhatsApp marketing in Chatarmin, as well as WhatsApp support in zendesk.

Zendesk offers an extensive array of features and tools designed to enhance companies' management of customer relationships. Here are some key highlights of Zendesk:

1. Ticket Management: Zendesk centralizes the handling of customer requests through tickets. This feature allows you to monitor and manage the status of requests, ensuring that no inquiry goes unanswered.
2. Customer Portal: Zendesk provides a user-friendly portal that empowers customers to access information and submit requests. This fosters transparency, enabling customers to monitor the progress of their concerns independently.
3. Multi-channel Support: Zendesk supports various communication channels, including email, chat, and social media. This flexibility allows customers to reach out through their preferred channels.
4. Knowledge Base: Users can create a knowledge base to address frequently asked questions, allowing customers to find answers on their own.
5. Analyses and Reports: Zendesk equips users with tools to analyze support requests and generate reports. This functionality aids in identifying trends and enhancing the overall performance of support teams.
6. Mobile Support: Zendesk offers mobile apps that enable support agents to access customer requests from any location. This facilitates quick responses and efficient handling of inquiries.

The integration of WhatsApp further extends Zendesk's functionality by introducing an additional communication option widely used globally. This integration allows for automated customer communications directly within Zendesk, streamlining the storage and management of all relevant data in a centralized system.

summary: Chatarmin is your flexible and scalable zendesk WhatsApp integration

As soon as you want to use WhatsApp as a GDPR-compliant channel for support and marketing, you will face the issue to either split skins for your team, or work with multiple WABAs which show multiple contacts in your clients’ address books. Those are all suboptimal solutions.

We have developed our unique zendesk app, which enables you to

• use zendesk as your omnichannel support tool
• use Chatarmin as your dream-WhatsApp-marketing tool
• keep one phone number and one WABA for all spheres

If you are not yet ready about your optimal setup, feel free to book your call with us below and get your free WhatsApp consultancy: