Best Respond.io alternative for businesses in Malaysia and Singapore
Social messaging apps are now granting businesses the power to remain competitive. Without chats, businesses are bound to lose an enormous amount of exposure. Other than cultivating customer loyalty in the long run, chatting with customers help businesses build real connections and drive sales by transforming conversations into conversions.
Many use chats on a daily basis; in fact, 3.09 billion smartphone owners access messaging apps for communication. As people grow fond of chatting online, they use it not just with families and friends but also with businesses. This is proven when 51% of mobile messaging app users claimed that they prefer contacting brands via mobile messages, as shown in a study by Kenshoo.
All this explains the rising popularity of messaging platforms such as Respond.io, where businesses unify customer communications to ease work operations. Nevertheless, to maximise revenue and minimise expenses, business owners must always explore better 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 a significant number of similarities in terms of 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
On Respond.io, contacts can be assigned to only one agent. On the other hand, SleekFlow users can have up to 5 collaborators in addition to the agent owning the chat. This ensures that each customer receives necessary assistance and accurate information as soon as possible, as relevant departments or employees can attend to enquiries whenever needed. SleekFlow users can also send internal notes that are only available to their teammates into the chatbox to avoid missing out on important details.
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 opened doors to assist businesses by allowing 5,000 and 20,000 customer contacts for pro and premium users. As for Respond.io, they supply 1,000 and 3,000 contact slots 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 optimising 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 catalogue 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 catalogue for them to browse through the latest collection of products or services.
Once prospective customers finish enquiring and decide 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 organised 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.
WhatsApp is the most commonly used messaging app in the UK, with 76% of adults using it. - Ofcom
SleekFlow has foreseen the need to scale businesses and push sales through WhatsApp, providing clear step-by-step guides, documentation, a help centre, 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 plan and the Business plan is 5 and 20 workflows, respectively. As opposed to that, automated rules accessible on SleekFlow are 10 for pro plans and unlimited for premium plans.
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 to set up WhatsApp lead generation campaigns with Flow Builder for your business.
Bonus: free comment auto reply feature on Facebook and Instagram
Brands no longer have to worry about decreasing consumers' patience when waiting for brands' replies with SleekFlow's auto reply for comments and messages on Facebook and Instagram. 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 start automating your comment replies and messages on Facebook and Instagram now.
Detailed, comprehensive analytics for sales and conversions
On SleekFlow, the analytics dashboard is super organised 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 efficiency of current workflows
boosting the productivity of each salesperson
On Respond.io, the analytics are separated into different reports. Users can only review their agents' activities, message performance, and other metrics. Conversations are managed like tickets.
SleekFlow analytics contains all of 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 further improve them with better retargeting each time.
The payment link feature now allows customers to pay right in the chat. Businesses can track each deal closed on SleekFlow. This dedicated analytics dashboard also makes brands easy to 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:
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 personalised 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.
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 enquiries or messages according to different priority levels as labelled.
Jump to this section: the powerful Salesforce integration on SleekFlow
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.
Learn more: How to integrate WhatsApp with Google Sheets, Zoho CRM and more using Webhooks
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 as they promote its products and services to the general public.
Pricing: quality over price is always the sustainable choice
At first glance, you'll be able to see that the premium plan on Respond.io is slightly cheaper. However, if you dive deeper into the evaluation of features and try exploring our services, you will realise that SleekFlow actually 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 customised for your needs
Moreover, SleekFlow has many add-ons for you to choose from according to your business needs. This means that you do not have to upgrade the entire plan but instead get the specific functions you need to better manage your budget planning.
Think about it. For businesses and enterprises to thrive, it is always better to get a long-lasting solution that is worth every cent to present consistently satisfying services to customers. 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 certified by ISO/IEC 27001 certification - the world’s best-known standard for information security management systems (ISMS).
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 in Malaysia or Singapore
Enterprises such as Natural Signature and PSB Academy have incorporated SleekFlow for their sales-boosting strategies. From retail and e-commerce to beauty salons and more, you can customise your marketing and sales strategy with SleekFlow. Out of the library of advanced features, here are a few main functions that might be useful for businesses in Malaysia or Singapore.
A centralised platform to facilitate communication
Hundreds of thousands of customer enquiries can be settled with fewer team members on SleekFlow’s AI-driven omnichannel 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.
Meet SleekFlow AI, your new best friend at work! Learn how to train AI to become your brand experts for enhanced customer service.
See SleekFlow AI in action
Discover how you can adopt Generative AI for your business messaging with just a small amount of data and setup time.
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 prioritised, 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 customise 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, personalised broadcast messages
With more than 2 billion users worldwide, almost everyone has WhatsApp on their phones. Businesses can fully utilise the WhatsApp Business API to send out personalised 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.
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 customise 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.
Furthermore, CRM integrations allow businesses to properly categorise 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
WhatsApp Pay feature is currently only available in certain countries, including India, Brazil, and Singapore.
No news of WhatsApp Pay arriving in countries where you owned a business? 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 enquiries, 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.
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 are very likely to give up altogether or make purchases from your competitors instead. Automated conversation flows are surely useful to reduce the loss of leads and drive conversion as customers are provided with the answers at once. 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 categorise 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 much more impressive results.
Read the success story of PSB Academy, one of Singapore's leading private education institutions.
Switch to SleekFlow without losing your WhatsApp Business API number
Many customers have tried other platforms similar to SleekFlow without getting the desired results. They have then transferred 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, maximise revenue, and increase sales and conversion, whether for online or brick-to-mortar stores.
Success begins with trusting the right people. Embark on your journey with SleekFlow today.
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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