Respond.io alternative for businesses
Social messaging apps are now granting businesses the power to remain competitive. Other than cultivating customer loyalty in the long run, chatting with customers helps businesses build real connections and drive sales by transforming conversations into conversions.
3.09 billion smartphone owners access messaging apps for communication. 90% of consumers prefer to be contacted via messages. As people grow fond of chatting online, they use it not just with families and friends but also with businesses.
All this explains the rising popularity of messaging platforms such as Respond.io, where businesses unify customer communications to ease work operations. Nevertheless, to maximize revenue and minimize expenses, business owners must always explore better WhatsApp Business API options available on the market.
If you still don’t know where to start, here’s a Respond.io alternative as your starting point!
Respond.io vs SleekFlow: what we offer as the best WhatsApp Business Solution Provider (BSP)
Respond.io and SleekFlow have significant similarities regarding the services and features provided. Although Respond.io looks cheaper at first glance, the features are actually limited.
As opposed to Respond.io, SleekFlow offers an omnichannel platform with comprehensive features, a sufficient number of contacts, flexible add-ons, and more to accelerate sales, boost conversions, and reinforce customer support with seamless workflows.
So, which should you really choose? Read on to find out.
Assigning conversations to multiple users instead of one
Contacts can be assigned to only one agent on Respond.io. On the other hand, SleekFlow users can have up to 5 collaborators aside from the agent owning the chat, ensuring that each customer receives necessary assistance and accurate information as soon as possible as relevant departments or employees can attend to inquiries whenever needed.
Besides that, SleekFlow has incorporated handy little details such as displaying agent names in chats for the ease of customers, scheduling messages right in the reply section, setting your online status to ‘active’, and more.
Extra customer contacts: the more, the better
Having the number of customer contacts restricted to 100 is common for the free plans, but SleekFlow has pushed open doors to assist businesses by allowing 2,000 and 10,000 customer contacts for Pro and Premium Plan users. As for Respond.io, they supply 1,000 and 3,000 Monthly Active Contacts (MAU) for the equivalent tiers.
*MAU refers to contacts that have sent or received texts from your business, excluding broadcast messages, in a single month. You have to pay Respondio a rather pricey amount for each 100 MAU over the limit.
Depending on the size of your business, choosing the appropriate plan is critical to optimizing the budget for a higher ROI. If your company has a larger client base, you should definitely go for a premium solution with extra contacts for highly efficient operations.
Although Respondio labelled their total contacts excluding MAU as unlimited, the storage of contacts is actually limited to 20x of your MAU limit. For example, if you're on their Team Plan with 1,000, you can only have 20,000 total contacts. It is not unlimited.
In-chat catalog and payment link
If you're struggling to get commerce features to support your sales teams on Respondio, you can find them on SleekFlow. As leads come in from various messaging channels, your team can attach the in-chat catalog for them to browse through the latest collection of products or services.
Once the prospective customers finish inquiring and decides to make a purchase, your salesperson can instantly generate and send a payment link for them to complete orders right in the chat.
Find out more about the Stripe integration for omnichannel in-chat payment on SleekFlow.
Broadcast messages with simpler steps
On Respondio, you will need to add contacts to Segments for broadcast campaigns. These segments are groups of contacts you gather with labels you create. In the case where someone in your team accidentally deletes the label, your contact will be automatically removed from the segment. As a result, there might be contacts that are missed out when you send messages in bulk.
On SleekFlow, you can easily add contacts to lists for broadcast campaigns. Even if a label is not added, the contacts can be consolidated into organized lists.
Free onboarding support for the official WhatsApp Business API
There are over 100 billion messages exchanged on WhatsApp daily. The undying popularity of WhatsApp messages sent to businesses continues to grow daily.
One in every four US adults uses WhatsApp. - Oberlo
SleekFlow has foreseen the need to scale businesses and push sales through WhatsApp, providing clear step-by-step guides, documentation, a help center, videos, and even consultation for the entire application process.
For customers of SleekFlow, special pricing along with free onboarding support are also offered for yearly plans. This means that SleekFlow will guide you through the tedious application process of the WhatsApp Business API, one of the Business Solution Providers (BSP) officially assigned by WhatsApp.
Find out why businesses should integrate WhatsApp Business API here.
Get FREE onboarding support with WhatsApp API application by signing up for the yearly plan on SleekFlow.
Want to apply for it on your own instead? No problem. Check out our guide for applying WhatsApp Business API.
More valuable, flexible automation and workflows
As shown on Respond.io’s website, the number of automated rules for their Team and Business Plan is 5 and 20 workflows, respectively. As opposed to that, automated rules accessible on SleekFlow are 10 for Pro Plan and unlimited for Premium Plan.
Even a free-forever startup plan on SleekFlow has 5 automation rules.
SleekFlow also has a visual Flow Builder for automated workflows, chats, and operations. Similarly, Respondio has Workflows, but their webhook trigger is only available on the Business Plan. On SleekFlow, you can use webhook triggers on Flow Builder on both the Pro and Premium Plan.
Find out how you can create a rule-based WhatsApp chatbot on your own.
Bonus: free comment auto reply feature on Facebook and Instagram
With SleekFlow's auto reply for comments and messages on Facebook and Instagram, brands no longer have to worry about that. Each customer will feel acknowledged, and the posts will gain a higher reach as the activity helps with the social media algorithm.
Sign up for free on SleekFlow to automate your comment replies and messages on Facebook and Instagram.
Detailed, comprehensive analytics for sales and conversions
On SleekFlow, the analytics dashboard is super organized and demonstrative as it displays the overall sales performance over time. This is a plus point as it is highly constructive for:
assessing marketing strategies
improving the efficacy of current workflows
boosting the productivity of each salesperson
On Respond.io, the analytics are separated into different reports. Their users can only review the activities of their agents, message performance, and other metrics. Conversations are managed like tickets.
SleekFlow analytics contains all those elements, accompanied by other additional metrics such as delivery rate, bounce rate, read rate, and reply rate for the campaigns created. You can even compare two segments at a time!
Monitor the results of your marketing campaigns to improve them with better retargeting further each time.
Since the new payment link feature (via Stripe integration) allows customers to pay right in the chat, businesses can track each deal closed on SleekFlow. This dedicated analytics dashboard can also easily assess each team's performance.
More outstanding integrations to accelerate sales
Available social media channels on Respond.io and SleekFlow include the official WhatsApp Business API, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, WeChat, Telegram, LINE, and Viber.
Other integrations offered by Respond.io include Dialogflow, Zapier, and Google Sheets. They also provide the installation of a live chat widget for websites created on WordPress, Shopify, Wix, and Squarespace, which is also conveniently accessible for free on SleekFlow.
The SleekFlow Live Chat even has additional functions such as:
real-time tracking to see what page your customers are browsing on your website
customizable form for lead generation
On top of that, SleekFlow offers extra native integrations:
Shopify
Draft Shopify orders in chat, apply multiple discounts, and close deals right in the chat with SleekFlow's native Shopify integration. With the mobile app on your phone, you can sell no matter where you are.
As e-commerce store owners, you can also view a wide variety of customer information in their profile right next to the chat, including order history, last ordered item, payment status, and more, apart from the existing personal data such as name, email, phone number, birthday, and so forth. After integrating your Shopify store, sending out personalized abandoned cart reminders will also be as easy as just a few clicks.
Facebook Lead Ads
Integrate your Facebook Lead Ads for free and take control of your highly qualified leads and customer data for effective targeting campaigns.
Salesforce
Contacts, leads, and opportunities from Salesforce can be synced on SleekFlow so that the customer journey is also clearly displayed right next to the chat box. With the customers' purchase intent available on each of their profiles, the team can manage their inquiries or messages according to different priority levels as labeled.
Jump to this section: the powerful Salesforce integration on SleekFlow
HubSpot
Similar to the Salesforce integration, SleekFlow users can now sync HubSpot contacts to unify customer data. In the near future, SleekFlow will also roll out more HubSpot features, such as chat history backup and automated WhatsApp messages for HubSpot workflows.
SleekFlow also offers major integrations, including Zapier (which includes Google Sheets), Twilio, and more.
Data security: don't let employees run away with your customers!
Enterprises that have integrated SleekFlow now own the privilege of having contact information masking. In this case, they don’t have to worry about salespersons leaving the company along with the customer contact and bringing them to their competitors. It also guarantees more privacy and safety for its customers by promoting its products and services to the general public.
Pricing: quality over price is always the sustainable choice
At first glance, you'll see that the premium plan on Respond.io is slightly cheaper. However, if you dive deeper into the evaluation of features and explore our services, you will realize that SleekFlow offers additional detailed functions and stronger customer support. Companies that opt for SleekFlow can even choose to add on user logins as the size of the business grows over time.
Flexible add-on features customized for your needs
Moreover, SleekFlow has many add-ons for you to choose from according to your business needs. This means you do not have to upgrade the entire plan but instead get the specific functions you need to manage your budget better.
Think about it. For businesses and enterprises to thrive, getting a long-lasting solution worth every cent to present consistently satisfying services to customers is always better. Make success-worthy decisions. Don't get carried away by what seems to be cheap. Your business deserves the premium option with better quality.
Why SleekFlow?
As shown clearly in the comparison above, SleekFlow offers an extensive range of comprehensive features that are practical and highly beneficial for accelerating sales, especially for enterprises.
There are also solutions catered to various industries, including retail O2O, e-commerce, beauty & wellness, education businesses, and more.
Known for excellent customer support, SleekFlow users will never have to worry about not having their questions or issues solved. Multi-language speaking representatives are trained to assist you through the simple learning process and complete the tedious steps of the WhatsApp Business API application.
SleekFlow is fantastic. The service is both effective and efficient. They always respond promptly to my messages.
Sher Mei
User Success Manager at Mudah.my
How to use SleekFlow for your business
Enterprises such as Eau Thermale Avène and OTO Wellness have incorporated SleekFlow for their sales-boosting strategies. From retail O2O to beauty & wellness and more, you can customize your marketing and sales strategy with SleekFlow.
A centralized platform to facilitate communication
Hundreds of thousands of customer inquiries can be settled with fewer team members on SleekFlow’s all-in-one platform. In the present world, social media users often chat on multiple social media apps at the same time. On SleekFlow, businesses can keep up with the trend and attend to messages coming in from WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, and more, all at the same time, with multiple logins for different users.
Salesforce integration to shorten the sales cycle with large clients
As mentioned earlier in this article, SleekFlow provides powerful Salesforce integration for customers to consolidate all customer data and track the buyers' journey across online and offline channels while shortening the sales cycle with efficient customer segmentation.
Hot leads and larger clients can be prioritized, and the various purchasing stages can be shown right next to the customer chat box for quick, accurate support.
Also, as you complete the 2-way sync of Salesforce contacts, leads, and opportunities on SleekFlow, you can customize the settings by editing the specific fields when mapping the contacts between SleekFlow and Salesforce.
Explore how the Salesforce integration on SleekFlow works.
Today, my entire sales force, all my agents, are using the same platform where I am able to monitor the results in general.
Keith
CRO of iBilik
Automated, personalized broadcast messages
With more than 2 billion users worldwide, almost everyone has WhatsApp on their phones. Businesses can fully utilize the WhatsApp Business API to send out personalized broadcast messages to connect deeply with customers. Through these meaningful interactions, customers are more likely to trust your brand and contribute higher spending in their purchases. It’s like how we’re more likely to buy products from friends!
See how Eau Thermale Avène managed more than 60,000 new members with a social commerce portal on WhatsApp.
Uncover inspiring customer stories. Read now!
Don't take our word for it! See what our satisfied customers have said about us.
Unified CRM to convert prospects with accelerated speed to lead
Consumers are now expecting an almost immediate response when they contact a business. If the response time is slow, they will likely give up altogether or make purchases from your competitors instead.
Automated responses are useful to reduce the loss of leads and drive conversion as customers are provided with the answers at once. You can also customize automated workflows on Flow Builder to guide customers smoothly down the marketing and sales funnel.
And as we all know, happy customers share their experiences with others. That’s free marketing!
Using SleekFlow has reduced our “drop-offs”, improved the response time, and solved niggling issues with CRM integration.
Jovan Lin
AVP Marketing & Corporate Communications at PSB Academy
Furthermore, CRM integrations allow businesses to properly categorize customers into different categories and automatically assign them to the most appropriate person in charge. With a structured and detailed customer database, even retargeting marketing campaigns can generate more impressive results.
Get paid instantly in the chat
No news of WhatsApp Pay arriving in your country? Do it first on SleekFlow.
By integrating with Stripe, a top-notch payment provider with solid security, SleekFlow bridges business owners to the world of social commerce. Upon solving the customer inquiries, your team can generate a payment link directly to get paid in the chat instantly. With SleekFlow, the complete, frictionless shopping experience can be achieved in the chat on any messaging channel your customers prefer.
Switch to SleekFlow without losing your WhatsApp Business API number
Many customers have tried platforms similar to SleekFlow without getting the desired results. They have then migrated their WhatsApp API account to SleekFlow with the assistance of our professional team.
Be rest assured, as you will not have to lose the existing WhatsApp Business API number. Chat history and customer contacts can be imported as well.
Visit SleekFlow’s YouTube channel or blog posts for more detailed guides.
Get started with SleekFlow today to generate more sales
We understand that businesses need to weigh the pros and cons of every decision made. It is only reasonable to have doubts before starting something new.
Unlike Respondio, which only has a 7-day free trial, SleekFlow has a free trial version with no expiration for businesses to explore what’s right for them.
*Note: SleekFlow's free-forever trial doesn't include WhatsApp. Talk to our sales team to learn more about exploring WhatsApp Business API.
From the campaign analytics included, marketers can also see the results generated by using SleekFlow. Experience the convenience and find the best solution for your business.
SleekFlow guarantees a stronger commitment to customers. Premium quality features will bring forth highly promising results, maximize revenue, and increase sales and conversion, whether for online or brick-to-mortar stores.
Want to outcompete your peers with SleekFlow's help?
Book your personalized demo with SleekFlow today and unlock the potential of seamless communication
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