With over 2.78 billion monthly active users, WhatsApp is the most popular messaging platform in the world. It’s also an opportunity for faster, more direct engagement with your restaurant guests.
That’s why, Servme is excited to announce the first release of the WhatsApp Messaging for Restaurants feature.
This new feature brings you closer to your guests and can boost your engagement and conversion rates.
Read on to learn more about this exciting feature!
Like the regular WhatsApp mobile app, WhatsApp Business is a real-time communication channel. It includes a paid service by Meta. For restaurants, WhatsApp Business acts as a channel to communicate with guests and receive booking notifications.
Besides real-time communication, WhatsApp Business offers additional benefits such as creating promotional campaigns, managing automated responses, and more.
Restaurants using WhatsApp for Business are charged a monthly subscription fee along with a conversation fee, which is based on the number of conversations started per month.
Restaurants and F&B groups using Servme can now add WhatsApp Business to their arsenal of communication tools. They can create and manage messaging campaigns from the Servme dashboard.
With our new WhatsApp integration, restaurants can now engage with guests like never before:
Direct Communication: Reach your guests where they’re most active, ensuring that important messages like reservation confirmations and updates are delivered instantly.
Increased Engagement: With WhatsApp’s high open and response rates, your messages are more likely to be seen and responded to, leading to fewer no-shows and better guest engagement.
Personalized Interactions: Activate notifications based on specific guest actions, offering a more tailored and branded experience that resonates.
Cost-Effective Solution: Communicate efficiently and affordably with your guests, maintaining high service levels without breaking the bank.
We’ve also included 13 default messaging templates you can use to communicate with your guests. These templates include confirming and canceling reservations, asking guests for reviews, adding guests to the waitlist, and confirming payment, among others.
Here’s an overview of a few of the templates you can use and send:
To activate the WhatsApp notifications feature for your restaurant, simply contact your dedicated account manager or email us at customercare@servmeco.com.
When can I start using WhatsApp Business for my restaurant?
You can start using WhatsApp Business notifications as soon as your account manager activates the service for you. (which is almost instantly).
Once the Servme’s customer care team activates WhatsApp Business for you, we recommend sending a test message. You can do so by going to the Settings tab then select WhatsApp in the Servme web app.
Turn ON the toggle button, customize your WhatsApp cover image, preferably a picture from your venue, choose a template, choose an action or template from the drop-down menu, enter the WhatsApp number you wish to message, then click ‘send test message.’
If you don’t upload a custom image, a default Servme image will be used instead.
It’s worth highlighting that while guests will receive your WhatsApp messages, you, the outlet, will continue to receive emails about any communication.
For example, when a guest makes a booking, your venue will receive an email with the reservation and details.
Further reading: The Starter’s Guide to Using WhatsApp Business for Restaurants
Additional preference settings
If a customer doesn’t use WhatsApp, there are several alternatives to message them. For example, you can choose the ‘Email if WhatsApp is not available’ or ‘SMS is WhatsApp is not available’ option.
This ensures your message is delivered to your guest in their preferred messaging platform.
As mentioned, there are two fees involved in WhatsApp Business. There is a monthly subscription, set by Meta, along with a per-conversation fee.
WhatsApp charges you on a pay-per-use basis. This means if you send a WhatsApp notification to the same phone number within 24 hours, there will be no additional charges.
If you send a notification to the same number after the 24-hour mark, you’ll be charged a new conversation fee.
To learn more about WhatsApp for Business pricing, contact your dedicated account manager or email sales@servmeco.com.
Not a Servme user? Reach out to sales@servmeco.com to book a personalized 15-minute demo and learn more about WhatsApp Business for your restaurant and Servme’s restaurant reservation software.
Nada Sobhi
Marketing
