Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) will work with WhatsApp to educate and train small-medium business owners (SMEs) and entrepreneurs on how the WhatsApp Business app can help them connect with their customers and grow their businesses.
WhatsApp and CII will work to enhance business communication for Indian SMEs through CII’s SME Technology Facilitation Centre. This was set up in November 2016, with the objective of creating awareness amongst SMEs in India on technological solutions that can be optimally adopted to enhance their overall competitiveness. There will be on-ground training around the country to explain the features and best practices on the App. In addition to this, business owners located in the hinterland will have the opportunity to attend training webinars to help them grow and expand their businesses. The training material will be available on the CII SME website.
According to a survey demonstrating the economic impact of WhatsApp in India, 70 per cent of SMEs on WhatsApp in India say that they built their business on the platform. 78 per cent of these SMEs say they have increased sales because of WhatsApp. Until the launch of the WhatsApp Business app earlier this year, small businesses didn’t have a formalised way to use WhatsApp to connect with their customers.
Launched in January 2018, the WhatsApp Business app was developed to improve SMEs’ communications with their customers, by creating an official presence for those companies in the app and enhancing their customer care, with specific tools to make communicating with customers easier and more efficient. More than three million people are already using the WhatsApp Business app worldwide.
Together, WhatsApp and CII will develop informative content to be distributed among entrepreneurs both in physical and digital formats, addressing the advantages of the professional use of WhatsApp Business and promoting the creation of networks for knowledge sharing. WhatsApp will also give workshops to CII team members across the state, to expand content dissemination and offer local support for cities across India. The partnership starts on 29th October with a training in Pune and is expected to reach small and medium businesses along with start-ups and members of CII.
