Introduction 

WhatsApp bots are automated virtual assistants that keep your customers engaged on WhatsApp. They simulate human conversations and can handle customers’ queries, provide service updates, or offer actionable insights into business processes 24X7. Incidentally, these bots can ramp up lead generation by 500%.

You can enhance customer satisfaction with these bots which can leverage NLP (Natural Language Processing) or are rule-based. If you wish to incorporate bots into your WhatsApp channel, you may not have decided between creating your bot or using a service. This post attempts to ease your decision-making process.

Important Things to Consider During Building WhatsApp Bots

You must appreciate that WhatsApp users are accustomed to bots and expect them to be fast, secure, equipped with privacy protection mode, and armed with rich features. The specific features of your AI-powered bot will be influenced by your business’s unique needs and characteristics.
Your bot should offer an engaging and seamless experience to targeted users. Otherwise, they will get frustrated and leave negative feedback about your customer orientation. This can impact your brand’s prestige and future prospects.

Chatbot Building Cost

Chatbot development involves costs primarily related to hosting, API infrastructure, coder remuneration, and maintenance. Good infrastructure is vital for safely storing chat histories, making VoIP calls, facilitating timely technological upgrades, encrypting customer data, etc.
You have to bear hosting expenses related to cloud servers, sophisticated host sites, message protocols, VoIP framework, database, encrypting technologies, UI/UX, etc.

Opportunity Costs

If your brand is unable to afford a full-scale bot development team, you have to relieve developers and resources from your regular software-related activities. This can deprive you of valuable expertise from external, more advanced teams and adversely impact other in-house jobs.

Time Component

The bot building time will involve time dedicated to bot designing and development as well as the time needed for troubleshooting, updating, and maintaining the bot post-launching.
Your decision to integrate advanced features using sophisticated programming languages will also increase the time to market.

Should You Build a WhatsApp Chatbot?

The previous section offered a glimpse of the factors involved in developing a functional chatbot. You can go for building a chatbot in-house if you have adequate resources, technological knowledge, and sufficient time.
If you wish to incorporate additional cutting-edge features for faster lead conversion, building the bot in-house with limited expertise can prove to be economically non-viable and time-consuming. Limited technological prowess can result in an inefficient chatbot with scope for frequent downtime or technical glitches.
You may also consider building the chatbot if:

• You can allocate time and resources for maintaining and upgrading the chatbot and technology
• You have developed an out-of-the-box technological framework that is proprietary in nature and can be innovated further
• Your WhatsApp chatbot is an integral part of your organizational app and not an additional feature
• Your customer base is limited and there is no chance of significant growth shortly
• You are confident that the chatbot can safeguard the privacy and integrity of customers’ confidential data in real-time and in archived mode

When Should You Buy a WhatsApp Chatbot?

You can purchase an SDK (Software Development kit) and WhatsApp chat API (Application Programming Interface) to serve as a bridge between the server and your messenger. The advantage is that you can steer clear of the complexity, stress, and time needed to plan and develop your own chatbot.
The chatbot can be deployed quickly as the API facilitates seamless integration with the WhatsApp business channel. Once you decide to buy the bot. you only have to

• Communicate with the vendor about the features you need
• Convey the details of the mobile OS or platform on which the bot has to be deployed and the tech stack used by you
• Detail about the extent of customization and advanced features you require
• Share the number of visitors you currently experience on your WhatsApp channel and the future expectations about the surge in organic traffic
  Inform the level of encryption, security, and privacy you seek for your customers’ data

You must buy a bot if you run a start-up, or you need a one-time solution. If you do not have an experienced in-house tech team, buying a ready-to-integrate bot is a good proposition. This is because your initial app-building costs can negatively impact your business revenues for the aforementioned conditions.

Conclusion

You must consciously choose between building or buying your WhatsApp chatbot by weighing all the pros and cons. Your business prospects and competitive edge are contingent on this. Full-featured WhatsApp bots make customer engagement and interaction a breeze.

Delta by Shipyaari justifies your decision to buy a fully customized WhatsApp bot by offering the services of its state-of-the-art Delta framework. You can get unlimited integrations and a slew of cutting-edge features that are regularly updated to keep pace with the ever-changing technological landscape.

So why wait? Sign up today to launch your WhatsApp chatbot with zero hassles.