Emeka manages 3 of his Oga‘s shops in a busy market. His Oga is not always around, traveling for business deals here and there and being the oldest boy-boy and sort of sales manager, he was saddled with the daily enquiries and contacts from potential customers, while the other boys made the sales and attended to the customers.
Emeka, was drowning in calls and scattered text messages. His breakthrough came when he fully adopted the WhatsApp Business App. He set up Quick Replies for 90% of the common customer questions he gets, instantly saving hours spent typing out product specifications and pricing. Next, he used the Labels feature to organize his chats into; “Leads”, “Urgent Quotes”, “Expecting Payments” and “My Main Customers.” Now, instead of endlessly scrolling, he taps the “Urgent Quotes” filter, works through the list efficiently, and clears his inbox every day.
By treating WhatsApp not just as a chat app, but as a mini-CRM tool for his Boss’s sales pipeline, Emeka transformed a communication issue into his most potent efficiency enhancer. This allowed him to double his weekly customer engagement and reduce response times by 60%.
Whether for professional or business efficiency, your WhatsApp application can come in handy. It has so many new features and tools you are yet to discover. I always tell anyone willing to listen that WhatsApp has gone beyond just a communication tool to a moneymaking and even productivity tool, especially WhatsApp Business.
Here are some ideas you can use to improve your efficiency and productivity today.
1. Create a “Digital Notepad” for Self-Tasking and Notes:
Turn one of your chats into a personal, always-accessible notepad and to-do list. This is the ultimate business/life hack tool since the app is always open.
Self-Chat for To-Dos; Create a group with yourself (or with a trusted contact and then remove them). Rename the group to “To-Do List” and pin it to the top of your chat list. You can jot down ideas, reminders, or links instantly without opening a separate note-taking app. You are more likely to capture a thought if the tool is immediately available.
2. Star Important Messages: When someone sends you a WhatsApp message containing a critical task, deadline, or a piece of information, star the message immediately. You can later access the “Starred Messages” section of your WhatsApp to see all your actionable items in one place, effectively turning your productivity on and your focus too.
3. Implement “Automated Replies” and “Quick Replies” (WhatsApp Business App): If you are using
WhatsApp for client or customer communication, this is a feature you need turned on. It’s essential for saving time on repetitive typing.
How to Do It; Go to Settings > Business Tools > Quick Replies. Create a shortcut (e.g., /thanks) that expands into a full, frequently used message (e.g., “Thank you for reaching out! We’ll process your request shortly.” ). This way you instantly answer frequently asked questions or send standard acknowledgments with just a few keystrokes, drastically cutting down on repetitive administrative work.
4. Use Labels to Sort and Prioritize Chats (WhatsApp Business App):
I use labels a lot (see diagram attached for some of my labels.) Instead of just having a long, undifferentiated list of chats, use the label feature to create an organized workflow, similar to an email inbox. Why does it boosts efficiency? Well. It allows you to prioritize high-value tasks, maintain “inbox zero,” and ensure nothing important falls through the cracks.
Do it now, go to a chat, tap the menu (three dots), and select “Label Chat”. Create custom labels like: “Urgent Follow-up,” “Pending Payment,” or “New Lead.” You can filter your entire chat list by a label (e.g., only view “Urgent Follow-up”).
5. Use the 5-Minute Trick: If you have so many messages left unread right now due to a busy schedule, you can use this my 5-minute trick. Here’s how I do it; I block a specific time, then scroll through all my messages and groups. If there’s a message, task or issue that won’t take me 5mins to resolve or reply. I go at it immediately and move on to the next.
If that particular message, task or issue requires more than 5mins to resolve. I mark it as unread and move on till I have the time to get to it and deal with it fully. By the time I do this for the block of time set, I would have replied to or resolved several issues.
Not replying to messages on time especially when you can doesn’t make you feel important. It’s self-deceit. Most of the time, we allow little issues (or messages) that can be attended to quickly to pile up, and then they become big monsters we can’t handle. We keep procrastinating on it till it damages our reputation, results in losses, and causes other issues. (Check out this: How can I Eliminate procrastination – 5 Simple Tips if you having issues with procrastination.)
I hope these tips will help you use WhatsApp (or any other instant messaging platform) out there successfully and efficiently. You can Use WhatsApp to do much more; You can use WhatsApp to Create an e-commerce Site, build a commnity, etc. By the way, here’s a Whatsapp community of self-motivated individuals that want to acheive specific goals you can join.
Please leave your comments. If you use these and they work and if you have other strategies that have worked for you. Do let me know below in the comments.
