CRM vendor Zendesk has struck a deal with Facebook to improve customer messaging capabilities through WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger.

The partners said businesses can add out-of-the-box Zendesk messaging capabilities to their website and mobile app so customers can have “rich, engaging and automated (where preferred)” conversations over Facebook's messaging platforms.

Messaging conversations flow into a unified agent workspace so a support team can manage and respond to customers over any channel - all from a single place - and with complete history and context of the conversation, meaning customers are “less frustrated” and do not have to repeat themselves.

In order to scale conversations across multiple channels, brands can automate common question and answer conversations using AI. Bots can divert conversations to “live” conversational channels when required.

Zendesk says over 34,000 of its business customers have already added WhatsApp and/or Messenger to their consumer support offerings.

Matt Idema, chief operating officer at WhatsApp, said: “Businesses today need to meet their customers where they want to be met, and that’s increasingly through messaging. More than 175 million people already message a business account on WhatsApp every day to ask questions and get helpful information.

“And as more conversations shift online during the ongoing pandemic, messaging tools can help businesses of all sizes increase their efficiency and improve customer satisfaction.”

He added: “Through this partnership with Zendesk, we’ll help many more medium-sized businesses get started using messaging to communicate with their customers in a matter of minutes, and build new features to make WhatsApp the best way to get business done.”

Adrian McDermott, president of products at Zendesk, said: “The new Zendesk messaging capabilities, automated workflows and customisation features are helping our customers provide conversational experiences that flow seamlessly across channels and devices while remaining engaging, personal and contextual.

“Our partnership with Facebook, which provides Zendesk customers access to simple API tools to connect with their customers, is integral.”

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