Painful Process

1. CVs are coming from various sources like Naukri, Monster, Indeed, LinkedIn, Career Page, WhatsApp & References but their existing HRM is not able to get them centralized into one place.
2. They have to manually upload the CVs and manage the candidates by uploading the details to their existing HRM which is a tedious and time-consuming process.
3. Each team member needs to work independently with different career portals to fill a position that needs a large effort and requires time for sorting, copying, and pasting data into HRM.
4. Existing HRMs don’t have WhatsApp integration so hiring executives use their own WhatsApp number to connect with potential candidates and the company doesn’t have any visibility or control over the conversations between candidates and HR recruiters.
5. They also observed that contacting candidates via WhatsApp is more responsive than calls or email as they can reply at their convenient time even if at the office or work without taking the calls
6. Matching skill sets with the provided JD is a tedious task as each of the recruiter executives needs to manually assess the CVs which is time-consuming
7. Qualified candidate CV’s along with summaries used to shared manually by each executive with the employers which are again needed a large effort like drafting emails, attaching CVs, entering email addresses, subjects, etc
8. Want to make use of ChatGPT or similar technologies to analyze, match skills, etc to process applications more effectively and automate.

Solution by Picky Assist

Being a communication automation company we took this as a challenge to address the painful process of this HR recruitment company and developed a few technologies to support similar use cases, read how we have solved the painful process and automated the entire hiring process

Centralizing CVs from all sources

The very first problem to solve for us is to centralize all CV’s coming from various sources as email, so we have created a new feature called “Email Parser” and given a unique email address to forward all emails to our platform, once we receive the email our system automatically extracts from address, subject, body, attachment in a structured way (JSON) which can be used further for any automation

PDF to Text Conversation & ChatGPT Integration

Then our next focus is to automate the process of analyzing CVs through ChatGPT AI, then we realized that 99% of the CVs are in PDF format and ChatGPT doesn’t support PDFs as input so we have developed a new feature “PDF To Text” converter which helps to convert the PDF to a Text and pass the CV to ChatGPT API for performing the following task

1. Extract Name, Mobile Number & Email
2. Summarise the CV
3. Match the skillset with the JD
4. Generate interview questions to be asked as per the given JD & Candidate’s CV

So now we have the output for each API response from ChatGPT but in order to use this further we need to save this data somewhere, so we have used the Picky Assist CRM custom attribute along with event feeds in the Picky Assist Teambox,

At this point, we have faced another challenge of extracting name, email and phone number from the ChatGPT output in a structured way which can be used further in our platform to create contact and assign the conversation to a HR recruiter, so to overcome this challenge we have developed a new feature called “JSON Extractor” and we have instructed ChatGPT to generate a JSON Object of the contact details which helps us to get extract the JSON output and further able to map into the connector

So now whenever a new CV is received via email, we will process this through ChatGPT API then creates a contact in the Picky Assist CRM then save the PDF CV as well, a Summary of the CV, the result of the Skills which matched, and sends an automatic WhatsApp & Email to the candidate informing that we have received their CV

Sending Automatic WhatsApp messages to the Candidate

After extracting the required details we will send a WhatsApp message automatically to the candidate asking for more details and then assign the chat to an HR recruiter for further communications

Bringing Human Into the Conversation

Now we have all the required data that is ready without any human interventions, its time to bring a human into the conversation, and for that, we have used the Picky Assist Teambox Assign Chat feature which automatically assigns the conversation to an HR recruiter

As soon the system assigns the conversation to an HR recruiter they will get a notification in their Picky Assist Teambox account and when they open the conversation, they can see the following details

1. Name, Mobile Number & Email
2. Summary of the CV
3. Match Skill Report
4. Interview Questions to be asked as per the given JD & Candidate’s CV

Automating the Interview Process

HR recruiter is now fully armed, and now its time to schedule a direct interview, so we have used the Mini App Macro button to automate this process, we have defined a WhatsApp & Email template for this process “Send Interview Request” and the moment HR recruiter clicks this button the system automatically send a predefined personalized WhatsApp Message & Email to the candidate, then added a tag “Interview Scheduled” no more switching apps, no more typing just one click that’s it.

Now when the candidate responds via WhatsApp the respective HR recruiter will be notified in the Teambox and able to continue the conversation till the hiring process is completed and able to add internal notes or whisper in the Teambox itself to keep track of the process

Sending CV & Summary to the Employer

The recruitment company has invited the employer HR to Picky Assist for easy team collaboration with the candidate.

Now no need to send any chained emails, recruiter, HR & candidates are in a single unified WhatsApp conversation.

We found that few employers still prefer email so we have created another mini app for HR Recruiters to send the CV and summary via email to the respective employer in just a click, just select the employer and click Send CV and the system will automatically send the CV along with all the summary to the employer

Go LIVE In just 2 hours

The entire above setup takes less than 2 hours to GO LIVE, so if you are looking for a similar or even custom solution then please keep in touch with us via email support@pickyassist.com and we are happy to assist you to automate your business in the best possible way. For similar automation ideas join our Facebook community today

In today’s competitive job market, HR departments must quickly filter through numerous resumes to find the best candidates for their company. But with so many CVs to sift through, this can be time-consuming and challenging. That’s where Picky Assist and ChatGPT come in!

Our innovative integration allows HR departments to automate the initial screening of resumes using the power of artificial intelligence. ChatGPT, a state-of-the-art language model, can accurately analyze resumes and provide a comprehensive report on candidates’ qualifications and suitability for the job.

In this video, we’ll show you how Picky Assist and ChatGPT can help your HR department streamline the recruitment process and save valuable time. With our intuitive platform, you can quickly copy and paste and then analyze resumes, view detailed reports, and even schedule interviews with promising candidates.

So if you’re tired of manually sifting through stacks of CVs, try Picky Assist and ChatGPT today and take the first step towards a more efficient recruitment process!

Create a free account https://pickyassist.com

In this article, we are going to demonstrate how to Integrate Google Sheet & WhatsApp using Picky Assist Connector without any 3rd Party Automation Platforms

Pre — Requisite

1. WhatsApp Channel Activated In your Picky Assist Account
2. A Picky Assist Plan which has access to Connector Feature
3. Google Sheet (You should be the owner of the Sheet)

Google Sheet

Google Sheet is an easy to use online spreadsheet which allows businesses to collaborate with multiple teams, there are 1000’s ways the Google Sheets are used by businesses, in this article we will talk more about how to send WhatsApp messages from a Google Sheet using Picky Assist Connector.

What You Can Do?

You will able to perform different actions in the Picky Assist whenever a Google Sheet Specified Column gets edited or a new row is inserted, let’s explain with a usecase;

A Small Restaurant accept orders through a Simple Google Form and then they use the Google Sheet to manage the order, the Google Sheet is shared with the employees for easy collaboration

Now the Restaurant want to do the following actions whenever their employees make changes to the Google Sheet specified Column Status as shown in the below image;

Order is Accepted -> Send A WhatsApp Message to the Rider & Customer

Order is Ready -> Send A WhatsApp Message to the Customer and Inform the Rider

Order is Dispatched -> Send A WhatsApp Message to the Customer

Order is Delivered -> Send A WhatsApp Message to the Customer

How it Works?

Now let’s consider the above usecase and the order status is saved in Column F as shown below;

Now we want to perform an action of sending a message whenever Column F is edited, so how it works is that whenever Column F is edited Google Sheet will send a request to the Picky Assist along with complete data in the specific row which got edited.

Then using the connector you will able to map these row data and create different steps to send different messages, so in this case we need to send 5 messages based on the order update status in Column F, so in order to do this we have to create 5 steps in the connector along with the Filter & Actions.

Getting Started

The first step is to go to Picky Assist and create a Connector URL, just make sure the Connector is in Online Mode to start accepting requests from Google Sheet whenever the specified column data is edited.

Open Google Sheet

Then navigate to the Tools -> Script Editor

In the Code.js file just copy the below code and paste it

var TargetColumn = 'F';
function columnToLetter(column) {
  var temp, letter = '';
  while (column > 0) {
    temp = (column - 1) % 26;
    letter = String.fromCharCode(temp + 65) + letter;
    column = (column - temp - 1) / 26;
  }
  return letter;
}
function onEdit(e){

  var range = e.range; 

  var StartRow  = range.getLastRow() - range.getNumRows() + 1;
  var LastRow = range.getLastRow();

  if( columnToLetter(range.getLastColumn()) != TargetColumn)
    return false;
var ss = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet();
var sheet = ss.getSheetByName(range.getSheet().getName());

for ( var crow = StartRow; crow<= LastRow; crow++){

  var formData = {
      'CELL_UPDATED': range.getA1Notation(),
      'NEW_VALUE': range.getValue(),
      'SHEET':range.getSheet().getName(),
  };

  var range1 = sheet.getRange(crow, 1, 1, sheet.getLastColumn());
  var values = range1.getDisplayValues(); //getValues();

  for (var i = 0; i < sheet.getLastColumn(); i++){
    formData[columnToLetter(i+1)] = values[0][i];

  }

  var options = {
      'method' : 'post',
      'payload' : formData
    };

  UrlFetchApp.fetch('https://pickyassist.com/beta/url/470b5a2689e86f575f9bbcf4060f6b3c7913035', options);
  delete formData;
}
}

Now we need to update the 1st line code & 45th line of the code as explained below

The 1st line i.e var TargetColumn = ‘F’; is where we map the column, any change in the specified column data will trigger the details to the Picky Assist Connector along with the data in the specified row which got updated, you can specify any column for this as per your requirements

In our example we want to send different messages whenever the value in Column F gets edited, so specify as “F” exactly as shown in the image below;

Now we need to update the Connector URL, just go to line number 45 and paste the Connector URL as shown below;

Make sure you have pasted it correctly inside the double quotes

Now Click on the “Save” Icon to Save the Project, you can give any relevant name to the Project to identify it later

Setup Trigger in Google Form

The next step is to Configure the Trigger in the Google Sheet so that every time google will trigger the code whenever the specified column get edited, to do this select the trigger menu from the left side menu bar and then click on “Add Trigger” then configure it as seen in the below screenshot;

After that click on “Save” button and that’s it

Testing the Integration

Now to setup the integration we need to map the Google Sheet data with Picky Assist Connector so that it can perform conditions and actions based on the update received from the Google Sheet.

Open Google Sheet & Just make any update to Column F so that we get the sample data to the Connector

Go to your Picky Assist Account then navigate to Connector, select the connector which was created for this Google Sheet then in the left sidebar you will able to see logs, this means Google notified the Picky Assist for the new update in the column.

Mapping the JSON Data Structure

In order to map the JSON data structure go to “Field Mapping” then click on JSON Code from the popup you will able to see something shown as below;

If you are not seeing this option then please click on the “Code” tab then Click on “Map” button as shown below

Creating Steps

Now we need to create 6 steps which take different action based on the value in Column F, in order to do this first let’s create one step with all necessary filter and action then duplicate the steps for ease the process,

Once a step is configured, we can simply take duplicates of the steps and change the filter condition value and message contents, the final settings will look like this

Now this automation does the following actions when the order status column i.e Column F here changes

1. Send a WhatsApp Message to the Customer when the google sheet status column changes to “Accepted”
2. Send a WhatsApp Message to the Customer when the google sheet status column changes to “Ready”
3. Send a WhatsApp message to the rider informing that there is an order which is ready for delivery when the google sheet status column changes to “Ready”
4. Send a WhatsApp Message to the Customer when the google sheet status column changes to “Dispatched”
5. Send a WhatsApp Message to the Customer when the google sheet status column changes to “Delivered”

Important Notes

1. If you add new columns to your Google Sheet then always make sure you have updated your JSON Code structure and steps accordingly so that you can able to make use of newly available fields in your connector.
2. Kindly keep in mind that the target column edit action will trigger for all sheets in a spreadsheet, so if your spreadsheet has more than one sheets then always filter the condition based on the Sheet Name in the Connector in order to avoid wrong trigger / action
3. Once a trigger from Google Sheet to Picky Assist happens there is no way to recall it so please be careful while writing conditions and actions in the Connector.

Workaround & Tips

Below are the possible workarounds for various use cases.

Sending Mass Messages from Google Sheet

The current integration doesn’t natively provide an option to send mass messages however you can try the following workarounds to achieve this;

The recommended method is to export the worksheet as csv and use the Picky Assist broadcaster feature to send personalised messages

If you can’t do this process then you can create any keyword like “SendMsg” in the column then create a filter and action for the keyword in the Connector, you can setup the Send Message action which enables you to send a specific message when the keyword is updated in the Column.

You can drag and drop the values from one cell to another to send bulk messages (this method is recommended only if you have less than 100 messages at a time) using this method for more rows will lead to missing messages due to the throttle limit of 5 triggers per second.

In this guide, we are going to learn how to Integrate Google Form & WhatsApp using Picky Assist Connector without Using Zapier or any other 3rd Party Automation Platforms.

Pre — Requisite

1. WhatsApp Channel Activated In your Picky Assist Account
2. A Picky Assist Plan which has access to Connector Module
3. Google Form (You should be the owner of the Google Form)

Usecases

Google forms are widely used to collect data from users which can be used for a variety of use cases, few are mentioned below;

1. Call Back
2. Contact
3. Product Request
4. Feedback
5. Interview Form
6. E-Commerce Orders
7. Surveys

Once you connected Google Form & Picky Assist Connecter you will able to perform a wide range of actions whenever a Google Form is Submitted, few usecases are listed below;

1. Send A Thankyou WhatsApp message to the User who fills the form
2. Inform your Sales Team via WhatsApp / Email about new form submission
3. Create an Advanced Filter and Send WhatsApp Message based on the Filter Condition.
4. Add the Google Form entries as PIcky Assist Contact
5. Add Tags & Categories for user segmentation and later using the Broadcaster feature.
6. Add User into a Sequence (WhatsApp Drip Campaign)
7. Assign a Chat to a Team Member / Department using Teambox

Getting Started

The first step is to go to Picky Assist and create a Connector URL, just make sure the Connector is in Online Mode to start accepting requests from Google Server whenever a new form submits.

Open Google Form

Then navigate to the Right Side 3 dotted menu and select the “Script Editor” and you will see something like as shown below;

In the Code.js file just copy the below code and paste it

var POST_URL = "https://pickyassist.com/beta/url/a3f1d43f95ecd4ac26b534e4bb2cce6c58dab";
function onSubmit(e) {
    var form = FormApp.getActiveForm();
    var allResponses = form.getResponses();
    var latestResponse = allResponses[allResponses.length - 1];
    var response = latestResponse.getItemResponses();
    var payload = {};
    for (var i = 0; i < response.length; i++) {
        var question = response[i].getItem().getTitle();
        var answer = response[i].getResponse();
        payload[question] = answer;
    }
  
    var options = {
        "method": "post",
        "contentType": "application/json",
        "payload": JSON.stringify(payload)
    };
UrlFetchApp.fetch(POST_URL, options);
};

Now we need to update the 1st line code, your need to replace the connector url with your own here as shown below;

Make sure you have pasted the Connector URL correctly inside the double quotes

Now Click on “Save” Icon to Save the Project, you can give any relevant name to the Project to identify it later

Setup Trigger in Google Form

The next step is to Configure the Trigger in the Google Form so that every time google triggers the code when a new form is submitted, select the trigger menu from the left side menu bar as shown below;

Then Click on “Add Trigger” then configure it as seen in the below screenshot

After that click on the “Save” button and that’s it, please make sure you have selected the settings exactly the same as shown in the above image.

Testing the Integration

Now open the Google form and fill in the data then submit the form.

Go to your Picky Assist Account then navigate to Connector, select the connector which was created for this Google Form then in the left sidebar you will able to see logs, this means the Google notified the Picky Assist for the new form submission as shown below;

Let’s Map the Form with Picky Assist

Now it’s time to map the Google form structure with Picky Assist so that it can perform various conditions and actions as per your business requirements.

Go to Field Mapping

Click on JSON Code and from the popup click on Map after that, you will able to see the form question and answer sample in the Picky Assist as shown below;

Adding as Contact / Contact Subscriber

If you wish to add the Google form details as a contact in the Picky Assist then you need to start mapping the fields, please note this step is required only if you need to save the contacts into Picky Assist Account

Please note Mobile number with a country code is mandatory for sending WhatsApp messages from the Picky Assist Platform, so always ensure you are collecting the WhatsApp Number along with Country Code.

Sending WhatsApp Message

To send a WhatsApp Message you need to create a Step and inside the Step Create an Action “Send Message” after that you can draft the message as shown below;

You can personalize the message using the Google Form fields or Picky Assist Subscriber fields using the Attributes.

Creating Filters

Filters are useful if you wish to check certain conditions in the form and then perform the actions based on the condition for example if you offer 3 services and when the user selects Service 1 you want to alert a sales rep who handles the Service 1 and move the user into the specific category.

Please note if the filter condition is false then it will skip the action configured in the step and moves into the next step in the order, so if you want to perform separate action for both filter conditions i.e true and false then please create another step with the false condition just below the true condition step.

Advanced Features

Using the Connector Multi Step, Filter & Actions features you can achieve more advanced features as listed below ;

1. Sending different messages to different Mobile Numbers, like alerting your sales team about new form submission, sending a thankyou message to the user who filled the form.
2. Adding User into a Sequence (WhatsApp Drip Campaign) to send a series of messages which are related to the customer enquiry, using the filters it’s possible to enroll users into specific drip campaigns automatically based on the Google form value.
3. Segmenting users automatically into Category & Tags that help to identify the user later or send personalized mass messages using Broadcaster
4. Assign to an agent for instant engagements through WhatsApp using Teambox, using the filter it’s possible to assign a chat to the right department or agent as per the user form values.

Picky Assist Connector is capable of integrating WhatsApp into any Online Forms & Softwares.

Important Notes

1. After the initial setup if you are editing the form then please make sure that you update the latest Form Structure in the JSON Code under field mapping To do this after making the changes in the form, fill and submit a sample entry then go to the Picky Assist and from the right side logs click on the last log received time and from the popup copy the Request Body Code and paste into the JSON Code section then click on Map to update the Structure.
2. Always make sure you are adjusting the filter conditions and attribute values if the form field names are getting an update.
3. If your form allows users to upload files then the uploaded file will not be available with Picky Assist due to Google Drive restrictions, the uploaded file will be visible only to the form owner.
4. Always ask users to fill in the mobile number along with the country code to avoid failed messages.

Facebook lead ad form is one of the top choices for digital marketers and companies who want to generate quality leads, the audience needs to fill a form in order to connect with advertisers which increase the quality of the lead as only interested prospects will fill out the form.

The Problem

When the prospects fill a form Facebook collects the details and the advertisers need to download the csv sheet each and every time from the Facebook advertising platform manually this makes the leads hot to cold.

Why Instant Engagement Matters?

When customers are engaged instantly it increases the buying chances upto 50%, the right time to contact a customer who submits a form is within 10 minutes. This is the time they are looking for a product or thinking to have a product that you offer, so connect with them instantly is very important to win the customer in this competitive market.

The Picky Solution

When someone fills your Facebook lead ad-form the details will automatically feed into the Social CRM in the Picky Assist, businesses can also configure Smart Actions like instant alerts on WhatsApp, SMS & Email or even you can send a thank you message or start a drip campaign with the customer instantly using our automation tools.

Unique Features which makes your task easy

Connect Your Facebook Ad in 30 Seconds

You can connect your existing Facebook ad account in just 30 seconds using Picky Assist seamless integration with Facebook Lead Ad Forms, once connected you will able to see all the lead ad forms your created with the ability to setup automation.

Get Instant WhatsApp, SMS Alerts

Our powerful automation tools allow you to take various actions when a lead form is submitted like you can send customers an instant WhatsApp, SMS, Email or inform your team members about the new leads via WhatsApp, SMS or Email and much more without any manual intervention at all.

Start WhatsApp Drip Campaign

Emails campaigns are now dead, get 10X more CTR than email through our Unique WhatsApp Drip Campaign, automatically enroll leads into your WhatsApp Drip campaign and increase your sales closure chances by 50%.

Nurture Leads In Social CRM

Our Social CRM helps you to nurture the leads more effectively than before, create attributes to map the form fields with CRM fields, auto-tag the leads, automatically categorize leads, add tasks, comments and more features like Segmented broadcaster, smart replies make your lead nurturing process easier than never before.

Click Here to Get Started with Facebook Lead Automation with WhatsApp

Twillo Advantages

One of the major advantages twillo is having is the flexibility to get started with no monthly rent or setup charges i.e after getting approval from WhatsApp you can get started with pay per message. You will be billed only for messages you send and receive and no monthly bills or fixed fees.

Disadvantage of Twillo Pay as You go billing

Everything is good with Twillo as long as your messaging volume is less, the moment your customer base increases or the business demands to send more messages then you will be surprised with steep hiked bills, let's take an example 👇

On average, a user chat session may consist of 100 to 200 interactions, let’s take 150 interactions as average ;

Let’s assume you have 500 customers who interact with your business in a month then 500 x 150 = 75000 interactions i.e 75000 x $0.005 = $375 would be your average cost with Twillo, the interaction count and the number of users may not always predictable, so expect a surprise bill when you will be sending more messages.

Twillo Pricing Reference https://www.twilio.com/whatsapp/pricing/us

How Picky Assist Monthly Plan Works

Picky assist monthly plan starts from $199 and all plans come with free session messages i.e you need to pay additional fees only if your monthly free quota is exhausted and that too 86% cheaper than Twillo per interaction charges, let’s compare different plans of picky assist Whatsapp official for better understanding;

Medium Plan $199

The monthly rent for medium plan is $199 and if you go yearly then it costs you only $1999

Free Session Messages Included: 150000 (150K) monthly
After Free Quota : $0.0007 (86% cheaper than Twillo $0.005)

Large Plan $299

The monthly rent for large plan is $299 and if you go yearly then it costs you only $2999

Free Session Messages Included: 300000 (300K) monthly
After Free Quota : $0.0006 (88% cheaper than Twillo $0.005)Large Plan $299

Unlimited Plan $399

The monthly rent for the unlimited plan is $299 and if you go yearly then it costs you only $3999 and no interaction based billing, i.e Unlimited interactions for a fixed fee.

Monthly Bill Calculator

You can simply enter your estimated monthly messaging volume and get the estimate monthly bill for various plans as shown below 👇

https://pickyassist.com/pricing#WhatsApp-Official

Conclusion

Twillo is a good option for those who would like to experiment with WhatsApp API or having less messaging volumes, if your plan is to get started with Twillo and later shift to another WhatsApp provider then please keep in mind that as of now WhatsApp doesn't allow porting number from one solution provider to another, so you have to change the number or continue paying higher charges.

References

Twillo Pricing Reference: https://www.twilio.com/whatsapp/pricing/us

Picky Assist Pricing Reference: https://pickyassist.com/pricing#WhatsApp-Official

Groups are a great place to share ideas, discuss, keep informed, let’s explore how we can make use of WhatsApp groups effectively for business.

1. Education
2. Travel & Tourism
3. Manpower Consultancies
4. Stock Market Alerts
5. Hospitals
6. Seminars
7. Internal Communications
8. Tracking Field Staffs

Education

Groups are widely used in the education industry right from toddlers to universities

• Share important announcements to parents
• Share celebrations, picnic, event pictures and videos
• Let parents clear doubts about programs and various events with teachers and school management
• Let students discuss and clear doubts each other with the help of a guide or teacher
• Organize Online Learning more effectively through Groups like “Learn English Through WhatsApp”

Travel & Tourism

Manage Group Tours hassle-free with WhatsApp Groups

• Send Itinerary Details, Travel Schedules
• Send Reminders, Important Informations, List of Important Documents to carry
• Send each day schedules, places to visit, important information
• Let group travelers shares photo and video each other
• Share Location of Assembly point, parking point etc
• Share Contact details of Guides, Hotel, Drivers, Emergency etc
• Collect Feedback, Suggestions & Video Testimonials
• Conduct Quick Polls & Voting for a better

Internal Communications

Approval
Take internal approvals quickly with groups, connect the groups with existing approval or workflow system to automate the approval system through WhatsApp Groups, make use of group mentions effectively

@Manager I need a leave tomorrow
@Employee Name, your leave is approved

Update the records automatically to HRM or let the HR in the group do this manually

Announcements
Let the company make important announcements through WhatsApp Group so that all are well informed.

Conduct Polls & Surveys
Make accurate decisions with polls sends to groups, employees can vote to a poll in a specific format like sending a keyword #support #notsupport

Manpower Consultancies

Organize manpower effectively with WhatsApp Groups

• Create Groups for Employers to Post their Vacancies
• Automatically Post New Job Vacancies to Candidates Groups

Stock Market Alerts

• Create Portfolio-based WhatsApp Groups
• Send real-time trading tips and suggestions
• Let Customer ask a recommendation by mentioning Admin or expert member in the group

Hospitals

Make nurse and doctor communication more effectively with groups

• Inpatient monitoring and send automatic alerts to the Panel of Doctors & Nurses when certain vitals of a patient goes below the specified limit.
• Plan roaster and handover more effectively with groups, let all are updated with key vitals of an inpatient.
• Create Groups with Ambulance drivers, Scanning Centres, Blood Banks for effective co-ordinations

Seminars

Seminars are a great place for networking, people used to exchange the business card and product flyers each other, lets this happens through digitally using WhatsApp Groups.

• An organizer can create a group and share the invitation link with all participants via SMS
• An organizer can share the seminar location map, an important point of contact, agenda of each session, the profile of the speakers etc
• Let’s all participant interact with each other and share their contacts and introduce about their company and products in a more professional way
• Conduct Quick Polls & Surveys
• Ask A Question to the discussion panel by sending a voice message or even
• Groups are more effective than flooding with business cards and product flyers.

Tracking Field or Freelance Staffs

Tracking the productivity of the field employee is a challenge for many organizations. WhatsApp Group is one of the best effective methods to track them.

• Ask employees to send attendance reports through Groups so that other employees and reporting manager can see when they are logged in.
• When a new customer meeting is completed ask them to send the location and a few pictures of the customer’s office or business card. The details can be extracted and stored in the Sales Software or HRM.
• Sending daily Sales Reports, Field Visit Summary so that the manager and HR can efficiently track the productivity of each employee, which also motivates other employees to perform better.
• Let them upload traveling bills and other reimburse bills by mentioning the accounts team, the details can be directly synced with the accounting systems.

Integrate WhatsApp Group Today with Picky Assist. Learn More

WhatsApp Marketing An Ultimate Guide

Businesses need more leads in order to close more sales and majority of marketers and business owners thinks sending mass messages to Unknown WhatsApp Number generates more leads similar to Email & SMS marketing and to some extent, it's true that if we manage to reach the potential customer via WhatsApp sales closure chances are quite higher than any other marketing channels but unfortunately, till now WhatsApp doesn't have any official advertisement platform similar to Google or Facebook to scale up.

There are plenty of Bulk WhatsApp Sending Software which makes use of WhatsApp Web automation, Phone automation like Picky Assist or even the recently launched WhatsApp Official Business API but none of them able to effectively send a large number of marketing messages to unknown contacts.

Sending too many messages to unknown contacts leads to blockage of your number within few days sometimes in few hours, As per WhatsApp report, they are blocking approximate 2 million numbers every month who sends unsolicited messages either manually or using some automated software like Picky Assist phone automaton.

Even though these are the facts still there are many ways to effectively use WhatsApp as a great marketing tool for your business, let’s dive more into how you can leverage WhatsApp for your marketing strategies

1. Integrate WhatsApp Widget Into Your Webpage

Integrating WhatsApp into your webpage increase the chances for the visitors to interact via WhatsApp , include WhatsApp number along with Shorten URL so that users can simply click on the URL and start a conversation without manually saving your contact details into their phone book.

2. Integrate WhatsApp as Call to Action links in your Social Media Campaigns

This is one of the most effective ways to engage the user rather than sending them into a webpage where bounce ratio is more than 80%, instead, you can create a WhatsApp link as Call to Action and capture the mobile number then send them a targeted message along with a link to your webpage.

This method also considers as an OPT-IN since the user initiated the conversation.

3. Include WhatsApp Number in your Offline Promotions

You can include the WhatsApp number to your offline promotions by generating a QR Code and print in banners, hoarding, flyers , TV Ad etc

4. Tag & Segment Leads for Personalised Conversations

This will help to identify which marketing source is performing well and able to give relevant and more personalized messages, users are more likely to respond to a personalized message than a generic message. Try to include their name and messages which are relevant to their interests rather than trying to sell your interests.

5. Create A Good Drip Campaign

A perfectly designed WhatsApp Drip Campaign will increase the sales closure ratio. A highly relevant campaign with 8 message sequences send twice a week for a month may change the customer attitude and could nurture towards sales.

6. Add A Human Touch For Conversations

Customers will start ignoring if you send too many automated messages, so please draft the messages in a way that a human is available at another end to take care of them.

7. Respect Customer Preference

Sending too many messages won't change customers' mindset instead it creates more frustration among your prospects. So always include an option to OPT-OUT messages from you and remove non-engaging subscribers from your messaging list periodically,

8. Include Product Catalogs

WhatsApp recently starts allowing you to create product catalogs to showcase your products & services within WhatsApp Business App as Catalogue. Create A Product Catalogue that allows your customers to find more details about your product & services.

In this article, I am going to explain how businesses can get Official WhatsApp Business Account approved by WhatsApp based on my experience of onboarding 15+ clients with WhatsApp directly and through Solution providers.

Before we start if your use case is to send promotional, marketing messages then you will not able to do this through Official Account instead you can consider some other Phone Automation Platforms like Picky Assist Phone Automation

First Step to Apply

There are 2 ways to approach WhatsApp for getting Official WhatsApp Business Account

1. Apply Directly through WhatsApp
2. Apply through a Solution Provider

Apply Directly through WhatsApp

If you have a team of developers who can host and manage the whatsapp docker services and integrate the REST API’s into your system then you can consider an on-premise solution. You can directly apply for a WhatsApp Business account here

Apply through a Solution Provider

Solutions providers are technology companies who having handsome experience with WhatsApp integration and usually offer you a simple API and ready-made solutions without worrying about the Infrastructure and managing the docker services of WhatsApp.

Before Your Apply

Before you jump into and apply please make sure you are clear about the WhatsApp Terms & Conditions, Approval Process & Pricing. Keep reading for complete information;

No Marketing Messages

WhatsApp wants to ensure their user base is not bombarded with marketing messages, so WhatsApp official API doesn't allow a business to send promotional messages and you might be wondering how they restrict this technology, let’s explain more about Template & Session Messages.

Template Messages

Templates are pre-approved messages from WhatsApp which used to send outbound messages like OTP, Shipping Alert, Transaction Alert, Appointment Alerts. Marketing or Promotional Messages are not allowed.

Templates need to be used only if you want to send a message after 24 hours from your last user interaction. You can send any messages including marketing or promotional within 24 hours of last user interaction time.

1. All outbound template messages are charged as per the destination country. See Country Wise Pricing Here
2. WhatsApp offers price discounts for large messaging volumes starting from 750k or more template messages in a calendar month. See Volume-Based Pricing Here
3. Currently, media files are not supported through templates and all templates must be approved by WhatsApp.

Sample Template with Dynamic Variable
Hello {{1}}. Your order has been dispatched on {{2}} through {{3}} and order number is {{4}}

You can request upto 250 templates per number and once it's approved you can programmatically replace the dynamic elements like {{1}} to {{4}} with your own value. Read More About Template Approval Process

Session Messages

When an inbound message is received in your WhatsApp number a session will start and it's valid for the next 24 hours, every time a user sends a message the session time gets updated to next 24 hours

When a user session is active you can send any type of messages including marketing, promotional, media, contact, location etc.

1. A session is valid only for 24 hours from the last message received time of a particular user
2. Any type of messages including promotional, marketing, images, video, location can send during the session period.
3. WhatsApp will not bill for Session messages however almost all Solutions providers bills you for the session messages or platform charges from $0.00050 to $0.010. This is because of the docker service approach by WhatsApp which involves recurring technology costs.

Approval Process

WhatsApp usually takes 2–3 weeks for approving a WhatsApp Business Account and if you are directly applying with WhatsApp this may take more time than usual, based on my experience out of 10 only 2 manage to get approval directly from WhatsApp and that too takes more than 7 weeks.

I have observed that solution providers have some weekly submission slots and usually get approval within 2 weeks.

Before you apply please make sure the followings;

1. You should have a Facebook Business Manager because WhatsApp maps your Mobile number & WhatsApp Business Account to an existing Facebook Business Manager, in case if you don't have one please create it for free. Click Here to Create One
2. From November 13th, 2019 onwards WhatsApp required all the business should be approved and few contracts should be signed (Electronic) before approving any requests, you can start this process right from your Facebook Business Manager by uploading the documents as needed by Facebook.
3. Please note that your business and messaging needs must comply with the WhatsApp Business Policies | Commerce Policies | Opt-In Requirements

After Getting Approval

The process which you need to follow after getting the approval may differ based on how you managed to get approval;

Activating WhatsApp Business Account

After getting approval the very first thing you need to Create a WhatsApp Business Account inside the Facebook Business Manager

1. If you got approval directly from WhatsApp then you have to Create A New WhatsApp Account from your Facebook Business Manager yourself.
2. If you got approval through a Solution Provider then they will send you a request to your Facebook Business Manager and you just need to Click and Approve the request.

Activating WhatsApp Number

Once the Whatsapp Business Account is created you need to activate a WhatsApp Number.

You can use any existing mobile number, landline, virtual number, toll-free with WhatsApp as long as it can receive SMS or Voice Call.

If you want to use an existing WhatsApp number then before you register it with the official WhatsApp Business Account please delete the number from your WhatsApp Personal / Business Account which is configured in a mobile app. You need to delete it please note uninstalling the mobile app will not delete the number.

1. If you got the approval directly from WhatsApp then you have to add a new number from your Facebook Business Manager and once the number is added WhatsApp will send you an SMS / Voice OTP which needs to be inputted in the respective field in order to link the number with WhatsApp Business Account.
2. If you manage to get approval through a Solution Provider then they will place a request and WhatsApp will send you an SMS OTP which can hand over to them to link the number with WhatsApp Business Account.

After Activating the Number

Once the number is successfully activated you can start sending and receiving session messages immediately however to send template messages (after 24 hours) first you have to request the template and wait for WhatsApp approval.

1. Those who manage to get approval directly from WhatsApp can use the Certification Authority (CA) to configure the docker app on your server and start building the conversation using API’s
2. Those who manage to get approval through Solution provider can start using the service based on the connectivity they offer, majority of the solution providers offers Webhook & API to programmatically integrate WhatsApp with your Server or they may have Plug-In for Zendesk, SalesForce, Zoho CRM, Shopify etc

Myth About Getting Green Tick Mark & Display Name

Majority of people are in an impression that getting approval from WhatsApp means they will get Green Tickmark & Display name as default and user will able to see their brand name even if the number is not in their phone contacts, but the truth is as below;

1. In order to get the green tick mark and display name, a business must apply separately through Facebook Business Manager after a few months of going LIVE with WhatsApp Business Account.
2. WhatsApp will check for the Spam report and various scores in your account and take a decision. Read More
3. Currently, the green tick mark is approving only for renowned brands and companies.

Choosing a WhatsApp Solution Provider

Below points may help you to choose a good solution provider ;

1. Check whether they have successfully integrated any WhatsApp official solutions or not.
2. Make sure they are GDPR Compliant or the ability to manage the data as per the law in your country.
3. If you want to integrate the WhatsApp with your server or applications then make sure they have Webhook & API’s as a connectivity option.
4. If you are looking for a UI based ready-made solution like using as Omni Channel Communication then make sure all your requirements can be full filled by their product.
5. Make sure they have proper subscription management tools including OPTIN and OPTOUT management inline with WhatsApp Guidelines in order to avoid blocking your numbers.
6. Ability to interconnect with the software you use like Zendesk, Zoho CRM, Gmail, Shopify or Zapier Integration.
7. If you are paying session charges to any solution providers then make sure they have an option to blacklist a particular user and not to bill incoming messages from the blacklisted users. This is a very important feature in order to avoid generating huge bills which don't add any value to your business. A competitor can bombard your number with lot many messages which result in high bills

You can try Picky Assist All In One WhatsApp Business Solution. Click Here for more details

Your Android Phone As Gateway

Use any android phone as a gateway with picky assist and connect Zendesk as a Channel

About Zendesk

The best customer experiences are built with Zendesk. Zendesk’s powerful and flexible customer service and engagement platform scales to meet the needs of any business, from startups and small businesses to growth companies and enterprises. Zendesk serves businesses across a multitude of industries, with more than 125,000 paid customer accounts offering service and support in more than 30 languages. Headquartered in San Francisco, Zendesk operates worldwide with 15 offices in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and South America. Learn more at www.zendesk.com.

WhatsApp, SMS & Call As Zendesk Channel

Convert all or specific incoming WhatsApp , SMS & Call as tickets in Zendesk Support.

Unique Features

1. Use your existing phone number for support/sales
2. A single number for all customers using WhatsApp, SMS & Call.
3. Let’s customers having no internet and smartphones reach you through SMS & Missed Call.
4. Deploy Answerbot for frequently asked questions without any agent. Questions which not able to answer by the bot will convert as ticket.
5. No approval required from WhatsApp to get started
6. Use WhatsApp Web parallelly
7. Replace costly toll-free numbers with Missed Call and offer call back to your customers.
8. Easy to install and configure, available as Zendesk App

For more details visit https://pickyassist.com/whatsapp-channel-for-zendesk