Interview with Victor Marco, Founder & Project Manager for Silicon Cities Consulting & Advisory
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TL;DR
Using a CRM for WhatsApp allowed Victor to shorten his sales cycle and drastically boost the conversion rate.
Background
Victor Marco is the founder of a consulting company called Silicon Cities Consulting & Advisory headquartered in Sydney, Australia. They specialize in project management, business transformation and international market development advisory. Simply put, Victor helps companies expand internationally.
The company has two primary missions:
- To overcome and beat business challenges in their projects.
- To help businesses expand their market.
Adapting to new realities
However, to survive the Covid-19 lockdown, Victor had to put his consulting company on hold. Instead, he decided to launch a more demanding business — helping organizations with hygiene and health challenges.
Victor says, “As you can imagine, with the pandemic, there is a bigger demand for other products and the demand will obviously be for the sanitizers.” He highlights, “That’s the bigger priority rather than international expansion or project management.”
“As you can imagine, with the pandemic, there is a bigger demand for other products and the demand will obviously be for the sanitizers.”
Due to COVID, we’ve introduced very strong antiviral hand sanitizers and antibacterial liquid and spray cleaners,” says Victor, adding, “They kill viruses like COVID, the old SARS and so on.
“Due to COVID, we’ve introduced very strong antiviral hand sanitizers and antibacterial liquid and spray cleaners.”
In search of a CRM for WhatsApp
Many companies have pivoted online to survive and Victor’s business wasn’t an exception. Since customers love the convenience and high speed of communication, it comes as no surprise that messaging has become the fastest-growing communication channel. Victor didn’t miss out on this trend and hopped on the bandwagon immediately to meet his customers where they’re at. Hence, finding a CRM for WhatsApp was critical for Victor to continue his work under new circumstances. “The messenger [WhatsApp] was very very important. That was number one,” he says, continuing, “Integrating WhatsApp with a CRM enables me to better understand where I am, where I’m going, and what the roadblocks are.”
“The messenger [WhatsApp] is the most important tool for how I communicate at the moment.”
Indeed, Kommo not only can be considered as a WhatsApp CRM, but in general as as messaging powered CRM, meaning it connects with the most popular chat apps, including:
“Integrating WhatsApp with a CRM enables me to better understand where I am, where I’m going and what the roadblocks are.”
Another reason why Victor selected Kommo is that it enables him to chat with his clients via WhatsApp right in the CRM. With all chat history stored in Kommo, it is simple to review prior conversations or send replies to new inquiries. He adds, “I found a reliable CRM where I can just know any interactions with the prospect and be able to have a clearer view of how close I am to a sale.” According to Victor, it’s not only about the features. He says, “Kommo’s cost makes it a clear winner when compared to other CRMs.”
“Kommo’s cost makes it a clear winner when compared to other CRMs.”
In addition to the Kommo’s integration with messaging apps and its cost, Kommo also wins out over other CRMs by design. Victor explains, “Besides the messenger integration, I would say the design really caught my attention. Having a CRM that is nicely designed makes it easier to use.”
“Besides the messenger integration, I would say the design really caught my attention. Having a CRM that is nicely designed makes it easier to use.”
The approach
WhatsApp via Twilio integration in Kommo
To keep moving in the direction of convenience while at the same time adapting to the new market conditions, adding the WhatsApp integration to Kommo allowed customers to reach Victor via chat. Most importantly, just like with any other integration designed for Kommo, no coding skills were required to install the WhatsApp integration. Indeed, Victor says, “The integration with WhatsApp wasn’t difficult; I just followed the instructions.”
“The integration with WhatsApp wasn’t difficult; I just followed the instructions.”
Victor shares some best practices in communicating with customers. “I will introduce myself or follow up to their response and obviously have an interaction. Some clients may want to chat via WhatsApp, some might prefer emails,” Victor says. The best thing about WhatsApp integration is the fact that you can connect with customers ultra-fast. “WhatsApp does make a big difference because people tend to respond more via the cell phone now than, say, email. You know, everybody’s on their phones,” explains Steven.
“WhatsApp does make a big difference because people tend to respond more via the cell phone now than, say, email. You know, everybody’s on their phones.”
Unified inbox: Gmail & Messaging Apps
In the case where a client prefers to communicate via email, Victor of course offers the convenience to make contact on their terms. For this reason, he connected his Gmail to Kommo’s unified inbox. Email communication is also centralized just like WhatsApp conversations. “Obviously, I will send them emails and these conversations will also be recorded in my Kommo account,” he says. Victor adds, “Both integrations [WhatsApp and Gmail] are very good because they are the primary ways I interact with clients.”
“Both integrations [WhatsApp and Gmail] are very good because they are the primary ways I interact with clients.”
The results
After implementing Kommo — a WhatsApp based CRM, Victor says, “With the WhatsApp integration in Kommo, I was able to have a clear view of where the pipeline is. Prior to amo, because I had many conversations with customers, I used to get lost in terms of who I spoke to.”
“With the WhatsApp integration in Kommo, I was able to have a clear view of where the pipeline is.”
In addition to having a clear view and better understanding of where the current sale is, Victor says, “Kommo helped with sales cycles; they became much shorter and faster. And conversion increased.”
“Kommo helped with sales cycles; they became much shorter and faster. And conversion increased.”
Ready to connect WhatsApp CRM?
Set up isn’t hard, but if you’re feeling intimidated, reach out to one of Kommo's partners — they’re ready and willing to get your team using CRM for WhatsApp today.
