Without risks and side effects: WhatsApp for pharmacies

Data protection: Are there any risks and side effects?

The good news: If you follow all the requirements of the package leaflet (here the DGSVO), it is possible to use WhatsApp in a pharmacy completely free of side effects - i.e. in compliance with data protection regulations. But that wasn't always the case: Before the WhatsApp Business API Launched in 2018, using WhatsApp in a business context was problematic and not recommended. With the WhatsApp Business API, however, an interface specially made for companies was developed, via which WhatsApp completely compliant with data protection can be used. In concrete terms, this means for you: With a partner such as hellomateo and the WhatsApp Business API, you can easily use the messenger to communicate with customers in your pharmacy. All chats between your company and customers are end-to-end encrypted and can neither be viewed by anyone external nor by Meta itself (WhatsApp parent company).

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Reading tip: On the subject of WhatsApp and GDPR, we already have a detailed blog articles authored. It tells you everything you need to know about data protection on WhatsApp.

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Use cases of WhatsApp for local pharmacies:

The use cases of WhatsApp in all companies that have contact with end customers are diverse, but can be categorized into two sub-areas: applications for 1:1 communication via WhatsApp and use cases for WhatsApp marketing. In each of the two sub-areas, there are also applications for pharmacies that can be successfully implemented with hellomateo and WhatsApp.

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Example 1: Pre-ordering medications via WhatsApp

You probably know it from your everyday life: Customers come to the pharmacy and unfortunately have to leave it empty-handed because the medication they need is currently not in stock or simply not available. For the customer, this is of course not a nice shopping experience. And you too would rather have given him the information before his visit.

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The solution: pre-orders via WhatsApp

WhatsApp is a simple and uncomplicated contact channel through which customers can quickly and conveniently ask about the availability of a specific medication from home. Either take a photo of a prescription, send them a photo of the medication or simply tell them its name. A pharmacy employee then checks availability and orders the medication if necessary. But why not use the telephone for that, you might ask yourself: The asynchronous nature of WhatsApp is better in such cases than a phone call, which always requires both parties to be available at the same time. Employees are often busy right now and are therefore unable to answer the phone, have to call back later, but then they cannot reach the customer and so on. A WhatsApp message is simply answered when the employee has time. The customer also simply reads the reply message the next time they pick up the phone.

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Example 2: Availability newsletter via WhatsApp

Should the result of the above example be that a required medication is currently not available and needs to be ordered, it is of course necessary to inform the customer again of the availability of the medication at a later date. But it is often not just one customer who is waiting for the medicine. In some cases, an employee would now have to inform ten customers individually about the availability of the desired medication.

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How it works better: WhatsApp newsletter on drug availability

Intelligent customer segments in hellomateo make it possible to create newsletter segments based on values stored in customer contact. Pharmacies use this feature to store in the customer's contact which medication the respective customer is currently waiting for. When this medication is then available again, all waiting customers can be informed via a WhatsApp newsletter with just a few clicks.

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3. Information newsletter via WhatsApp

Traditional email newsletters only achieve very poor results. Opening rates of often less than 20% and hardly any customers who actually read the e-mail advertisement anymore. In addition, in many cases, e-mail newsletters no longer arrive at all, but end up in the spam folder beforehand.

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The modern alternative: WhatsApp marketing

WhatsApp is the medium that 60 million Germans use to communicate with friends or family every day. It has a personal character and is only used by a few companies. Opening rates of up to 98% are quite realistic for a WhatsApp newsletter. There is also no spam folder, so messages are guaranteed to arrive. With WhatsApp, you can, for example, send your pharmacy brochure or the best health prescriptions to loyal regular customers and thus establish a personal customer relationship.

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The e-recipe and WhatsApp

The e-prescription is intended to improve the patient experience in the healthcare system and stop the current flood of paper. But the idea has not been well received everywhere so far: According to a KBV survey (Federal Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians), the e-prescription is only received positively by around 45% of patients. The reason for this could be, among other things, that a separate app is required to use the prescription, which must be installed on the smartphone by the patient.
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WhatsApp could help here: The app is installed on almost all smartphones in Germany and is used daily by more than 60 million Germans. Pharmacies can also access the messenger service in compliance with data protection regulations via the WhatsApp Business API. In this way, patients can send the prescription code to the pharmacy of their choice and check whether the medicine is available even before the actual pharmacy visit. Sending via WhatsApp is completely easy for patients: If you did not receive the e-prescription from your doctor as a PDF file via WhatsApp, but via E-recipe app from gematik, a PDF version can be created in the app with just a few clicks or a screenshot can be taken and then sent to the pharmacy via WhatsApp.

By the way: Thanks to our integrations With hellomateo, it is even possible to answer customer inquiries fully automatically regarding the availability of a required medication.

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Conclusion: WhatsApp and pharmacies are a good fit!

WhatsApp is a good way to help every pharmacy's customer communication jump into 2023. With WhatsApp, you offer your customers a low-threshold, privacy-compliant and proven contact channel, especially in everyday life. You can receive pre-orders, advise customers or send informative newsletters to your regular customers. In addition, the medium can be seamlessly integrated into the online and offline world, e.g. via links to the website or WhatsApp QR codes in flyers. Even in the future, WhatsApp would be able to perfectly complement the e-prescription project and create a truly comprehensive patient or customer experience.

For the practical implementation of WhatsApp communication in your pharmacy, Hellomateo a suitable partner at your side. We would be happy to advise you in a free, non-binding Demo dateHow to best integrate WhatsApp into your existing corporate communications. In over 600 customer cases, we have gained the necessary experience to also take your customer communication with WhatsApp to the next level.

• ‍Central user interface: hellomateo combines WhatsApp Business Platform, email, Instagram, SMS and Facebook Messenger in one central inbox. The intuitive user interface includes various tools for efficient customer communication and saves you valuable working time.
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• integrations: With hellomateo, you can use WhatsApp in integrate over 6,000 software programs and fully automated Customer trips create with invitations, order confirmations, shipping information, invoices, and reminders.
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• Newsletter marketing: Send GDPR-compliant Newsletter via WhatsApp or SMS and benefit from opening rates of over 95%.‍
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• Assessment management: hellomateo can Automatically request online reviews from your customers, which boosts your Google ranking and trust in your company.
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• ‍Data protection: hellomateo meets all German and European Data protection requirements and offers end-to-end encryption for secure customer communication.
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• scalability: Our software is suitable for Businesses of all sizes and can be extended indefinitely depending on the package.‍
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• ‍Diverse AI features: Our AI agent can automatically answer customer inquiries in chat, answer calls, help with the formulation of messages and much more.

Interested? Book a free, non-binding demo appointment and learn more about hellomateo and WhatsApp communication. Book here.