Many don’t know that WhatsApp offers a free-to-use business platform

WhatsApp and Enterprise Nation have announced a partnership to educate and support small businesses in the UK on how to connect with customers and grow their businesses using WhatsApp’s free business tools.

WhatsApp is the world’s most popular private messaging service, with over 2 billion users around the world, but many in the UK don’t know that WhatsApp also offers a free-to-use business app, specifically created for SMEs.

Already, two in three people surveyed globally say they have messaged a business, and the WhatsApp business app was built with the small business owner in mind. The app makes it easy for small business owners to connect with customers, highlight key products and services, take orders, and answer customer service questions, making customer interactions quick, personal and private.

Businesses can create a catalogue to showcase products and services and use special tools to automate, sort and quickly respond to messages.The WhatsApp business app already has over 50 million users worldwide and 175 million messages are sent to a WhatsApp business account each day.

Recent research also shows that 35% of small business owners believe that a lack of expert advice is a barrier to them adopting tech tools in their business. The new partnership aims to provide training and best practice tips to Enterprise Nation’s members in the UK to help them grow their business and build loyal and trusted relationships with new and existing customers.

Enterprise Nation is the UK’s most active small business network and has supported over half a million small businesses over the past year alone. It delivers national programmes on the topics that matter most to small business, including:

StartUp UK: a three year campaign helping 1 million people start their own business Business.connected: training 100,000 businesses on how to adopt technology, apps and software School of Sales: helping 10,000 business owners increase their sales She Means Business: training female founders on Facebook and Instagram to run and grow their business

‘Small businesses have faced unprecedented challenges in all areas of their business in the last couple of years,’ said Akua Gyekye, Public Policy Lead at WhatsApp. ‘Having a connection with customers is always important for businesses, but during the pandemic we have heard about so many examples in which WhatsApp has been described as an absolute lifeline for SMBs all over the world. WhatsApp lets customers talk to a business the same way they chat with their friends and family, allowing them to make orders, enquiries or browse products, and it gives businesses an easy way to stay connected to their customers, close sales and get business done . As the country looks to recover, maintaining meaningful customer relationships has never been more important for small businesses.’

Emma Jones, Founder of Enterprise Nation said: ‘We’re delighted to be partnering with WhatsApp, bolstering the support we already provide to small businesses across the UK.

Looking after your existing customers is essential for every business, however it can sometimes get neglected in favour of winning new business. Technology has played a huge role in supporting small businesses over the last 18 months and WhatsApp is making customer service a great experience for both the customer and small business owners.’