How do you stay in touch with your clients and follow
Jon Clayton:up with potential customers?
Jon Clayton:If you are tired of people not answering your calls?
Jon Clayton:Slow email replies, or worse being ghosted altogether.
Jon Clayton:Why not consider using WhatsApp as part of your business communications?
Jon Clayton:I'm joined by Helen Nurse to explain how you can use WhatsApp to engage with
Jon Clayton:your customers more effectively In this episode of Architecture Business Club.
Jon Clayton:The weekly podcast for small firm founders who want to build their
Jon Clayton:dream business in architecture and enjoy more freedom, flexibility,
Jon Clayton:and fulfillment in what they do.
Jon Clayton:I'm John Clayton, your host.
Jon Clayton:I know that building an architecture business can feel hard, especially
Jon Clayton:if you are a sole practitioner.
Jon Clayton:The good news is that you don't have to do it alone.
Jon Clayton:In 2024, we launched our membership community to a small group of
Jon Clayton:founding members, including architects, architectural
Jon Clayton:technologists, and interior designers.
Jon Clayton:We meet online each week and occasionally in person to support
Jon Clayton:each other in building our businesses and to have some fun along the way.
Jon Clayton:In 2025, we open the doors to a limited number of new members.
Jon Clayton:If you'd like to join this supportive group of like-minded
Jon Clayton:professionals, now's your chance.
Jon Clayton:Just go to architecture business club.com/waitlist, or click the link
Jon Clayton:in the show notes and enter your details so we can let you know how
Jon Clayton:you can join this incredible group.
Jon Clayton:And if you have any questions, just email John.
Jon Clayton:That's JO n@architecturebusinessclub.com.
Jon Clayton:Now let's learn more about WhatsApp.
Jon Clayton:Helen Nurse is the co-founder of Digital Agency Capture One Specialists in
Jon Clayton:creating digital content, video filming post-production, and presentations.
Jon Clayton:For the last five years, she has specialized in chat-based
Jon Clayton:communications, helping businesses and organizations to use.
Jon Clayton:WhatsApp automations and interactive strategies so you can make
Jon Clayton:communication with your customers more efficient, personal, and effective.
Jon Clayton:To learn more, head to capture one.co uk and download Helen's
Jon Clayton:free mini guide, 10 Powerful Ways to Use WhatsApp in your business.
Jon Clayton:Helen, welcome to Architecture Business Club.
Helen Nurse:Hi, John.
Helen Nurse:Thanks having me.
Helen Nurse:This is Fab.
Jon Clayton:Oh, it's a pleasure to have you here.
Jon Clayton:Helen we've met a few times in person, haven't we, at conferences and things,
Jon Clayton:but I'm, I'm interested to know when you are not working on chat bots
Jon Clayton:and WhatsApp automations, what, what do you like to do outside of work?
Helen Nurse:Uh, well, I've got three kids, so they, um,
Helen Nurse:keep me the busiest, busy.
Helen Nurse:Uh, they're quite an age spread as well as my youngest is eight and my oldest is
Helen Nurse:18 and I've got 15-year-old in the middle.
Helen Nurse:So they do all of the sports and the drama and the.
Helen Nurse:Of the dance and all that kind of stuff.
Helen Nurse:So yeah, generally it's driving them around and standing on
Helen Nurse:football and hockey fields.
Helen Nurse:Um, and in addition to that, we love to travel, so we, we do do a lot
Helen Nurse:of traveling to different places in the UK and around the world.
Helen Nurse:So, yeah.
Jon Clayton:Fantastic.
Jon Clayton:Didn't you do a day trip to the RICS a little while ago?
Helen Nurse:Oh, no, that wasn't me actually.
Helen Nurse:Uh, that was, that was Jeanette.
Helen Nurse:Um, I know
Jon Clayton:was Jeanette
Helen Nurse:Yeah, actually I spoke to her about that because, um, it
Helen Nurse:was amazing her and her husband.
Helen Nurse:Do a business partner.
Helen Nurse:She also works with her husband, as do I. And she said they literally had like
Helen Nurse:a day's business development in Yeah.
Helen Nurse:In a Visa.
Helen Nurse:And I said, oh my goodness, we're gonna so do that.
Helen Nurse:Um, there's a Facebook group called Extreme Day Trips where, um, I'm
Helen Nurse:literally obsessed with that.
Helen Nurse:You can Yeah.
Helen Nurse:Do all these bonkers things in a day, so,
Jon Clayton:That's crazy.
Jon Clayton:Yeah.
Jon Clayton:What my, um, my dad and I, many years ago, I think I was probably
Jon Clayton:teenager, we did a day trip to Iceland.
Helen Nurse:Oh wow.
Jon Clayton:not, not the supermarket.
Jon Clayton:There are, you know, the actual country of Iceland.
Jon Clayton:and I guess it was one of these like.
Jon Clayton:Organized tour things where you, you set off really, really early in the
Jon Clayton:morning and then you flew out there and then we, we were picked up by
Jon Clayton:a coach and then we, we had like so many hours in Vic and, and visited,
Jon Clayton:I dunno, like a geezer or something.
Jon Clayton:And, and ended up at the, um, the Blue Lagoon.
Jon Clayton:So the famous sort of.
Jon Clayton:Thermal pools there.
Jon Clayton:Really cool.
Jon Clayton:I mean, this is probably absolutely terrible for, um,
Jon Clayton:carbon footprint and things.
Jon Clayton:I guess the plane was flying anyway, so I'm, I'm trying not
Jon Clayton:to feel too guilty about it, but
Helen Nurse:up numbers.
Jon Clayton:yeah.
Jon Clayton:Yeah, that's it.
Jon Clayton:Yeah.
Jon Clayton:Yeah.
Jon Clayton:Philip some empty seats.
Jon Clayton:So, um, Helen, we, we are gonna talk about WhatsApp and how, how people can
Jon Clayton:make better use of it in their business.
Jon Clayton:And I'm, I'm really excited about this because I think probably I. Everyone's
Jon Clayton:familiar with WhatsApp and have, I dare say, most people have got it
Jon Clayton:installed on their phone, but they might not realize the potential, the
Jon Clayton:different ways that they can use it.
Jon Clayton:So, firstly, why, why WhatsApp?
Jon Clayton:For business owners in particular over other ways to stay in touch?
Jon Clayton:What's so compelling about using WhatsApp?
Helen Nurse:Well, I mean, as you've already said, John,
Helen Nurse:it, people are using it.
Helen Nurse:They're already using it as an app.
Helen Nurse:They know it, they, they trust it.
Helen Nurse:Um, they're using it for the majority of their communications.
Helen Nurse:I read a, a study recently that said, I think about 74% of, um, UK
Helen Nurse:adults use it daily and rely on it.
Helen Nurse:Um, so we all are using it.
Helen Nurse:And it's an instant way of, of communicating.
Helen Nurse:Um, so in respect of businesses starting to use it, it's a really, really effective
Helen Nurse:way to communicate with your customers and who the people who want to hear from you.
Helen Nurse:Um, and I think that's the key thing I always say to, to businesses
Helen Nurse:and organizations who start using WhatsApp want to start using it, it's.
Helen Nurse:Not about just trying to get out to all and everyone on WhatsApp.
Helen Nurse:It's about engaging with people who are already in your audience and making
Helen Nurse:that engagement much more effective.
Helen Nurse:Um, and if, if you use it in, in that way, then the, the results are incredible.
Helen Nurse:I mean, if you compare to sort of email open rates like nine 98%, open
Helen Nurse:rates in WhatsApp are pretty standard.
Helen Nurse:Um, and obviously we'll all know email open rates.
Helen Nurse:Uh, you know, you, you're doing well if you get over 30%.
Helen Nurse:And the the thing is as well, because it's instant.
Helen Nurse:People get a notification, they see it, they can engage in a moment.
Helen Nurse:It's, it's so much more interactive than email.
Helen Nurse:You can do so much more with it.
Helen Nurse:With, with email, we'll all know, you know, we have massive crowded inboxes.
Helen Nurse:You'll glancing down your emails to see what's relevant.
Helen Nurse:What do I need to read right now?
Helen Nurse:And, and most of the others just get ignored or forgotten and even.
Helen Nurse:For the emails you need.
Helen Nurse:So for example, if you're going to an event and you get sent, um,
Helen Nurse:information on, on email, you have to then, particularly if you're out and
Helen Nurse:about, go on your phone, go into your email, search for the right email.
Helen Nurse:You can't find it.
Helen Nurse:It, it's a real pain.
Helen Nurse:And then even when you get onto the email, you have to click
Helen Nurse:on links to get information.
Helen Nurse:It could be quite time consuming, whereas what you can do now with WhatsApp is
Helen Nurse:make that communication much easier, much more instant, much more interactive.
Helen Nurse:So it's, it's good for both the business and for the user.
Helen Nurse:So it's win-win.
Jon Clayton:That sounds fantastic.
Jon Clayton:And what would you say is the biggest myth or misconception
Jon Clayton:when it comes to WhatsApp?
Helen Nurse:Um, for businesses.
Helen Nurse:I interestingly, I did a, a poll on LinkedIn about this recently actually,
Helen Nurse:so I can tell you exactly what it was.
Helen Nurse:The biggest thing that came up was that people thought it was gonna be
Helen Nurse:spammy or they would be, they would be, uh, perceived as sending spam.
Helen Nurse:Um, and as I said before, it's actually the opposite.
Helen Nurse:And this is what people, when they understand this and they go, oh, okay.
Helen Nurse:Brilliant.
Helen Nurse:And it's really, really powerful because the great thing about WhatsApp
Helen Nurse:is it's got really strong anti-spam, um, regulations because it's owned by
Helen Nurse:meta, meta are really hot on it being a platform that people use for their
Helen Nurse:primary communication that they use with people who they know and they trust.
Helen Nurse:Therefore, they will restrict your account as a business if
Helen Nurse:you are doing anything spammy.
Helen Nurse:So that means that.
Helen Nurse:When we are use, when we are working with our clients to, to use it, we are
Helen Nurse:making sure that they're using it in a way that is relevant and is wanted by
Helen Nurse:their, their clients or their audience.
Helen Nurse:So we are never just sending out blanket messages in WhatsApp to people who
Helen Nurse:aren't expecting them, because that's gonna get your account restricted
Helen Nurse:and that's not the way to use it.
Helen Nurse:We're using it in a way where people have.
Helen Nurse:Opted in, they, they need the communications or they want the
Helen Nurse:communications, or they want that nurturing piece with you or they
Helen Nurse:want the, um, the relevant messaging that you're going to send to them
Helen Nurse:and it's actually helpful to them.
Helen Nurse:And if you use it like that, then it's incredibly powerful.
Jon Clayton:Yeah, so we're not just talking about blanket spamming everybody
Jon Clayton:in our contact list with messages about our business, buy from us, buy our stuff.
Jon Clayton:This is not how we're condoning using WhatsApp at all.
Helen Nurse:Not at all.
Helen Nurse:'cause not only will no one buy from you, you'll Yeah.
Helen Nurse:And you'll lose complete face and reputation and everything.
Helen Nurse:You'll get your account restricted.
Helen Nurse:So, I mean, why would you do that?
Helen Nurse:I mean, you shouldn't do that in any, any marketing anyway.
Helen Nurse:But yeah, definitely not with WhatsApp.
Helen Nurse:No.
Jon Clayton:Okay.
Jon Clayton:Helen, could you please give us a quick rundown of some
Jon Clayton:different use cases for WhatsApp?
Helen Nurse:Yeah, absolutely.
Helen Nurse:I mean, there's so many ways that it, it can be one, people realize, oh.
Helen Nurse:You know, I can use it for this, I can use it for that because it's so interactive.
Helen Nurse:You can have, it's not just for chat.
Helen Nurse:So it is, there's a back and forth chat, um, obviously is the main way you use it.
Helen Nurse:But you can have videos in there, you can have, you can create quizzes, you can
Helen Nurse:have PDFs, resources, all kinds of things.
Helen Nurse:And the really clever thing is that you can, you do so much with the data of the.
Helen Nurse:The conversation or flow that someone goes through in your,
Helen Nurse:in your WhatsApp conversation.
Helen Nurse:So, um, you can pull details of what people have said, what information
Helen Nurse:people have given you, results of surveys, things like that.
Helen Nurse:You can pull that into a spreadsheet.
Helen Nurse:So it could be really powerful.
Helen Nurse:Um, so for example, if a, if a, a client, um, of s was at a trade show, for example,
Helen Nurse:like an exhibition, um, and obviously.
Helen Nurse:Probably a lot of your listeners have done these kind of trade shows or events,
Helen Nurse:and most people collect information by email or, you know, they'll do,
Helen Nurse:might do giveaways or people try and do some mad creative stuff, don't they?
Helen Nurse:But usually people do the BOG standard email stuff to capture details.
Helen Nurse:Um, so instead of doing it that way, um, if you actually get people to opt
Helen Nurse:into a QR code, um, or to a link or do a survey via WhatsApp at your stand, then.
Helen Nurse:Um, you can do so much with that following them because I mean, one
Helen Nurse:really cool thing you can do is immediately as they leave your stand,
Helen Nurse:you could send them a little video.
Helen Nurse:And this is all done with automation, so it could be triggered.
Helen Nurse:So, um, after they've done the little survey on your stand or entered the
Helen Nurse:competition via WhatsApp, a minute later they could get a video sent.
Helen Nurse:Thanks so much for visiting our stand.
Helen Nurse:Uh, it was really great to meet you and then could take them into a further
Helen Nurse:little conversational stream, could send them some information, could send
Helen Nurse:'em a voucher code, that kind of thing.
Helen Nurse:So that's one example.
Helen Nurse:You can also pull that data from all the people at the trade show.
Helen Nurse:So this is what we did for our client, um, into a spreadsheet.
Helen Nurse:So as the follow up, you, your sales team or.
Helen Nurse:Whoever is following those people up can actually see at a glance, okay, these are
Helen Nurse:the people that are based in this part of the country, or these are the people that
Helen Nurse:we've got this type of information from.
Helen Nurse:So they've got all that information really easily to at hand for when
Helen Nurse:they, um, do those follow up calls or follow all follow up in WhatsApp,
Helen Nurse:which is just so much more powerful.
Helen Nurse:'cause you can imagine when you go to an exhibition, you get.
Helen Nurse:Billions of emails afterwards who don't get very many WhatsApp messages.
Helen Nurse:Um, and the same, we, we've also done a similar, um, thing for people who
Helen Nurse:are speaking at these type of events.
Helen Nurse:So for example, if, um.
Helen Nurse:Uh, a client of ours was speaking at a conference built environment conference
Helen Nurse:and wanted to be able to connect better with the attendees afterwards.
Helen Nurse:Um, so if PE people can actually scan a QR code or go to a link or, um, use
Helen Nurse:an incentive to get, uh, the resource, the resources or the, the slideshow or.
Helen Nurse:The information after the event.
Helen Nurse:But if they, after the talk, if they get it in WhatsApp, it's a much more
Helen Nurse:personalized way that he was able to actually send that to them and, um, have
Helen Nurse:that much more personalized follow up.
Helen Nurse:Like say it can integrate little videos and the follow ups can be
Helen Nurse:more tailored to their interest.
Helen Nurse:Um, so that's, that's kind of one example, couple of
Jon Clayton:That, that would've been really useful for me.
Jon Clayton:Um, I spoke at London Builds last year.
Helen Nurse:Oh, okay.
Helen Nurse:Yeah.
Jon Clayton:And that would've been a really good way to quickly
Jon Clayton:be able to follow up and interact with people in that audience.
Jon Clayton:So yeah, I'm, I'm really excited about the potential for that, for any kind of
Jon Clayton:events that I might speak at in the future that, that sounds like a really good way
Jon Clayton:to be able to just follow up with people and, and continue the conversation.
Helen Nurse:And also what you can do, which is really cool, is as part
Helen Nurse:of that follow up, you can ask them a couple of questions which then gauge.
Helen Nurse:What further information you send them.
Helen Nurse:So like the type of inquiry they might be, or, I mean, quizzes is
Helen Nurse:another brilliant thing that you can do as a good lead magnet.
Helen Nurse:So I'm sure you'll talk to your audience about lead magnets and
Helen Nurse:qualification tools and things like that.
Helen Nurse:Um, so if you do that in, in WhatsApp, it's a really quick and easy way
Helen Nurse:for someone, and particularly in.
Helen Nurse:A consumer sector.
Helen Nurse:So for example, um, if you, if you are a, a landscape design company, might
Helen Nurse:do like five things to consider before redesigning your outdoor space as a quiz
Helen Nurse:and someone goes into WhatsApp to do it.
Helen Nurse:So they don't have to download anything to do it, they don't
Helen Nurse:have to access links or anything.
Helen Nurse:The, the, it can be, it can be fun as well.
Helen Nurse:Have images and stuff like that in there.
Helen Nurse:You can access it from offline.
Helen Nurse:Um, so, uh, flyers, posters, things like that, as well as online, um,
Helen Nurse:links and through the website.
Helen Nurse:But what you can then do as a result of that quiz is you can
Helen Nurse:capture the, the user's preferences.
Helen Nurse:So are they residential, commercial, what's their budget
Helen Nurse:range or that kind of thing.
Helen Nurse:And you can then segment them.
Helen Nurse:For, to be able to, so you could do something like that at the end of
Helen Nurse:a, so for like you mentioned your talk, you could have, you know, if
Helen Nurse:you want to do my quiz, take the quiz here in WhatsApp and that will enable
Helen Nurse:you to do that kind of follow up.
Helen Nurse:That's, um, really quite relevant Then.
Jon Clayton:That's so cool.
Jon Clayton:So we can actually use WhatsApp as a lead generation tool as well
Jon Clayton:to be able to help with that.
Helen Nurse:Definitely yes.
Helen Nurse:And because you can make it so, um, like I say, so tailored and
Helen Nurse:really segment the audience for that lead generation campaign.
Helen Nurse:So, um, you can ask some key questions, um, throughout that process, and
Helen Nurse:then it makes the, the further follow up, much more relevant.
Helen Nurse:And so you're converting it, uh, much higher level ultimately.
Jon Clayton:And it's a lot of that stuff that we can automate, we can develop
Jon Clayton:like a flow to whether somebody answers yes or no, or what option they choose.
Jon Clayton:So this isn't us having to manually
Helen Nurse:No, this is
Jon Clayton:to every individual thing.
Helen Nurse:and this is the beauty of it.
Helen Nurse:It's all automated.
Helen Nurse:So you set up these flows and these really clever sequences.
Helen Nurse:So based, and it, it's a bit like, I often say it's a bit like one, those
Helen Nurse:choose your own adventure stories, you know, when you were a kid and you'd have,
Helen Nurse:you know, go to page eight for whatever.
Helen Nurse:Um, I dunno if they do them so much anymore, but I used to love them.
Helen Nurse:Um, but it's kind of like that.
Helen Nurse:So depending on what, what people choose, they will then.
Helen Nurse:Go into, uh, potentially a different sequence or different conversation
Helen Nurse:depending on their, um, their choice of, um, the information they've given, all
Helen Nurse:the button they've chosen or whatever.
Helen Nurse:And we also set up nudges and reminders so that people might be in a flow or, um,
Helen Nurse:they might be accessing some information, but we, we all get distracted.
Helen Nurse:You know, the kids might come in, the dog might need letting out or whatever,
Helen Nurse:and they stop doing what they're doing.
Helen Nurse:Um, the nudge and the reminder might just say.
Helen Nurse:Are you, do you still want to continue or, um, whatever that reminder is, maybe
Helen Nurse:an hour later brings a lot of people back in, because like I said, if people
Helen Nurse:are on email, they get distracted and they don't necessarily go back to it.
Helen Nurse:And we're all busy people.
Helen Nurse:We forget what we're doing.
Helen Nurse:So all of this can be set up with automation.
Helen Nurse:Um, there is also the live chat element, which does mean that there is a personal,
Helen Nurse:so, um, if people ask questions or go, as we say, outside the flow, I. Uh, that
Helen Nurse:stuff can be picked up with AI as well.
Helen Nurse:So there's an AI element that's really cool to pick up.
Helen Nurse:So companies who have a lot of frequently asked questions, or they can have this
Helen Nurse:run in from their website to pick up a responses to a lot of the main questions.
Helen Nurse:But then if someone asks something that needs a more personalized response,
Helen Nurse:it goes into live chat and your team would be, um, sent a notification
Helen Nurse:saying, oh, John's in live chat.
Helen Nurse:He's got a question and you can go in quickly answer it.
Helen Nurse:It goes straight back to them in WhatsApp.
Helen Nurse:Um, so that is a, that's a cool part of it as well.
Jon Clayton:That is so clever.
Jon Clayton:And in terms of the account that people would need for this, is this from
Jon Clayton:a, like a personal WhatsApp account?
Jon Clayton:Do we have to set up WhatsApp for business?
Jon Clayton:I.
Helen Nurse:So it's actually, there's, there's kind of three types of WhatsApp
Helen Nurse:if you like, which is a bit odd 'cause the user only only gets the, the
Helen Nurse:message through their personal WhatsApp.
Helen Nurse:But, so you've got WhatsApp personal, which is what you and
Helen Nurse:I use every day with friends and family groups and things like that.
Helen Nurse:You've then got WhatsApp business, um, which is, it does
Helen Nurse:allow you to do some, some.
Helen Nurse:Stuff.
Helen Nurse:But you are using it predominantly within a WhatsApp app on your phone still.
Helen Nurse:Uh, you can have multiple users, multiple people within your business.
Helen Nurse:I think up to five can have it on their phone.
Helen Nurse:There's a little bit of, um, clever stuff you can do with a bit of
Helen Nurse:automation and things, but you can't do the really advanced stuff
Helen Nurse:that comes through using WhatsApp.
Helen Nurse:API.
Helen Nurse:Which is what I'm talking about.
Helen Nurse:That's, that's how we use it.
Helen Nurse:So the way that works is it's connected through the Meta Business Suite.
Helen Nurse:Um, so obviously it's, it's part of meta.
Helen Nurse:Um, so you connect the number through Meta Business Suite backend there, and
Helen Nurse:then you work with an external piece of software that plugs in to that,
Helen Nurse:which is what you use to build your flows, build the automation, run the
Helen Nurse:live chat, all that kind of thing.
Helen Nurse:Um, there's a few different pieces of software that.
Helen Nurse:That you can use that are available.
Helen Nurse:Um, they, they vary in terms of how, what you can do, the functionality
Helen Nurse:and the, the sort of advanced features and how easy they are as well.
Helen Nurse:Um, where agency uses, so the piece of software we use is called ManyChat.
Helen Nurse:It's really robust, um, software that was created and still.
Helen Nurse:Still runs Facebook and Instagram automations, but now also runs WhatsApp.
Helen Nurse:Um, so we are specialist users of that.
Helen Nurse:And my team are, um, educators in that, um, software.
Helen Nurse:They're sort of what, what, what we don't know about ManyChat.
Helen Nurse:No one knows really.
Helen Nurse:Um, so, so yes, it's a piece of, so we're quite transparent with our clients in
Helen Nurse:terms of, they will also be admins on it.
Helen Nurse:They can.
Helen Nurse:Um, they, they can use the live chat part of it, but we basically help
Helen Nurse:them to, to get the flows and the structures and the conversations, right?
Helen Nurse:Because that's what's really important when you start to
Helen Nurse:use WhatsApp in this way.
Helen Nurse:It's what's your objective and what's the conversation flow going to be
Helen Nurse:and what, and how are you delivering that in a way that's going to, um,
Helen Nurse:engage best with, with your audience?
Jon Clayton:Presumably that once these workflows are built out, that
Jon Clayton:yeah, I imagine that there's a bit of work, quite a bit of work to do up
Jon Clayton:front to set everything up, but then once that's done, that this could,
Helen Nurse:Exactly.
Helen Nurse:I.
Jon Clayton:of, some, I don't wanna say set and forget, but
Helen Nurse:No, no, absolutely.
Helen Nurse:No, you're right John.
Helen Nurse:Absolutely.
Helen Nurse:And that's what's brilliant about it.
Helen Nurse:So once they're there, then they are just running the, they can be
Helen Nurse:running campaigns, they can be, I mean, we have one client who uses
Helen Nurse:various funnels through their website.
Helen Nurse:So depending on which part of page of the website, someone can click on and
Helen Nurse:go through one WhatsApp funnels and they get so many leads, um, a day through
Helen Nurse:their WhatsApp funnels, through their website, and they're not having to.
Helen Nurse:Do anything to, to manage that, obviously.
Helen Nurse:And you've also got the.
Helen Nurse:Like I say, the live chat AI side.
Helen Nurse:So for clients who have a lot of people coming in asking, um, regular,
Helen Nurse:the same type of inquiries, the same type of questions that can take
Helen Nurse:away all of that manual headache.
Helen Nurse:And in addition to that.
Helen Nurse:Have a higher chance of converting them.
Helen Nurse:'cause it's not a lot of the time with just a normal web chat box, it might deal
Helen Nurse:with a question, but then it's not giving you any follow through as the customer.
Helen Nurse:Whereas what we would do with WhatsApp and the the flows we create is if someone
Helen Nurse:comes through the website and our, and.
Helen Nurse:Has a question which the AI responds to, we then send a follow
Helen Nurse:up that might be related to what the question was to give them.
Helen Nurse:Maybe, you know, it might be giving them a voucher or further information or that
Helen Nurse:kind of thing to be really super helpful and have more chance of converting them.
Jon Clayton:I love this.
Jon Clayton:I think a couple of the things that I really like in particular is one that,
Jon Clayton:particularly for small businesses.
Jon Clayton:Resources can be scarce, you know, in terms of like having, um, somebody to
Jon Clayton:respond in a timely way and to answer questions when somebody gets in touch.
Jon Clayton:That, to be able to put some systems in place that helps to automate that
Jon Clayton:and to save an awful lot of time, that, that, for one, is a huge win.
Jon Clayton:And just on the theme of time, that if you are able to use something like WhatsApp
Jon Clayton:and this automation to do that, that you are able to respond much quicker.
Jon Clayton:So rather than say, getting the website form filled in, or maybe there's a, a
Jon Clayton:phone message or an email that comes in and, and maybe you check in later that
Jon Clayton:day, several hours after they've made that first contact, and it's like, oh.
Jon Clayton:Somebody's filled in the website contact form.
Jon Clayton:Right.
Jon Clayton:Okay.
Jon Clayton:So now I'll then try and email them and then maybe they don't check
Jon Clayton:their email till the following day.
Jon Clayton:And whereas with this like this could all happen really quite rapidly.
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Jon Clayton:Now, back to the show.
Jon Clayton:There could be several touch points that all happen literally.
Jon Clayton:Like within, well potentially it could even be minutes, couldn't it?
Helen Nurse:That's efficien of not only the, the, so the business, it's great
Helen Nurse:because it's, um, like you say, you're saving time and resource and everything.
Helen Nurse:And stuff's happening 24 7 for your business.
Helen Nurse:That's brilliant.
Helen Nurse:But it's also great for the user or the customer 'cause
Helen Nurse:it's a better user experience.
Helen Nurse:'cause we know we're all.
Helen Nurse:In the immediate world now, aren't we?
Helen Nurse:We want stuff now.
Helen Nurse:We want, you know, we want responses straight away.
Helen Nurse:We want information when we want it, and if we are looking at something and
Helen Nurse:we can capture that person's attention and convert them within a timely
Helen Nurse:manner, or even if it's sending them more information, we're just doing that
Helen Nurse:nurture piece right from the start, and we're creating that professional.
Helen Nurse:Um, relationship from, you know, right from the start, like you say, rather,
Helen Nurse:I mean, interestingly yesterday, I, um.
Helen Nurse:I was buying a, well, I didn't actually buy it in the end, which I'll tell
Helen Nurse:you why, but I went on to, so my husband sent me a link to a wooden
Helen Nurse:door that he wanted to buy for some work he's doing in the, in the garden.
Helen Nurse:Um, it was a bespoke size wooden door and he'd found this particular
Helen Nurse:company and he was struggling to find this particular size of door.
Helen Nurse:So he'd found this company.
Helen Nurse:So I went on to their website.
Helen Nurse:He said, I need this one.
Helen Nurse:There were, uh, I dunno, a dozen of different doors on there.
Helen Nurse:Um.
Helen Nurse:But there was no way to order it online or contact them other than email.
Helen Nurse:So I did then email them and I said, you know, I'm interested
Helen Nurse:in ordering this particular door.
Helen Nurse:Please, can you tell me how I do it?
Helen Nurse:They came back to me, I think it was seven hours later, saying,
Helen Nurse:uh, yes, absolutely, and just transfer the money to this account.
Helen Nurse:It was all very manual and, and I was.
Helen Nurse:Just made me think, well, I'm not that sure about you as a
Helen Nurse:company if that's your process.
Helen Nurse:It did made me quite so I didn't order from them.
Helen Nurse:We ordered from somewhere else.
Helen Nurse:Um, so it just shows in.
Helen Nurse:I mean, maybe that's, I shouldn't be quite so quick to judge, but I think
Helen Nurse:we all do judge the professionalism of a company based on how responsive
Helen Nurse:they can be and their systems.
Jon Clayton:I think that.
Jon Clayton:We live in an age of instant gratification.
Jon Clayton:So people, so society's used to being able to order a product on Amazon Prime and
Jon Clayton:have it delivered like the next day, or be able to just go, I want to watch this
Jon Clayton:Fillmore program and just go on Netflix and immediately be able to watch it.
Jon Clayton:And that's very different to how society used to be.
Jon Clayton:So if you think about that, your business, if the way that you.
Jon Clayton:Operating in your business is still like the way that everybody
Jon Clayton:did things 20 years ago.
Helen Nurse:Yep.
Jon Clayton:generally like people's expectations of, when they should get
Jon Clayton:a response or how quickly things might progress are potentially very different.
Jon Clayton:I
Helen Nurse:They are very different.
Helen Nurse:I agree.
Helen Nurse:And we can argue, you know, the wrongs and rights and the moral morality
Helen Nurse:of that, can't we all day long?
Helen Nurse:But as you say, that is the way of the world.
Helen Nurse:So businesses have to adapt and have to, you know, if you want to survive
Helen Nurse:as a business and or be thriving as a business, you have to be at the forefront.
Jon Clayton:Yeah.
Jon Clayton:to bring this back to architecture specifically and
Jon Clayton:architecture practices, um,
Helen Nurse:Hmm.
Jon Clayton:the projects that they work on typically can be very.
Jon Clayton:Can be very complex.
Jon Clayton:Uh, even small projects, even a house extension project
Jon Clayton:can be really complicated.
Jon Clayton:And often we do need to stay in touch with multiple stakeholders on a project.
Jon Clayton:You know, there could be the client, there could be other consultants involved.
Jon Clayton:If it's a larger project, there could be all sorts of different
Jon Clayton:people that need to, um, we need to communicate with on that project.
Helen Nurse:Mm.
Jon Clayton:How does WhatsApp fit into this?
Jon Clayton:How can you tell me a little bit about the use case of using WhatsApp
Jon Clayton:for, stakeholder engagement and sort of project communications?
Helen Nurse:Absolutely.
Helen Nurse:Yeah.
Helen Nurse:I mean, it's a really powerful way that you could use WhatsApp because
Helen Nurse:if you think about, like you say, when you've got, particularly when you've
Helen Nurse:got mixed, um, use mixed stakeholders to use a platform that you pretty much
Helen Nurse:guaranteed everyone's going to be using regardless of age, demographic, what
Helen Nurse:they do for job, that kind of thing.
Helen Nurse:Nearly everyone has got WhatsApp, so you're not asking them to download
Helen Nurse:at different apps or whatever to engage in notifications and messaging.
Helen Nurse:Um, also if you're relying on email, again, email chains can
Helen Nurse:get long and all of all of that, it just is not very effective.
Helen Nurse:So a use case for, for, for what you're talking about, there would
Helen Nurse:be, for example, if you wanted to get, um, community engagement in
Helen Nurse:a project, you would very easily provide a QR code and a link.
Helen Nurse:Um.
Helen Nurse:If people were giving feedback or their opinions or doing a survey, they
Helen Nurse:could go into the WhatsApp channel.
Helen Nurse:They could, um.
Helen Nurse:Very easily interactively, answer the questions, give their responses,
Helen Nurse:engage in information, download plans, download information.
Helen Nurse:Um, what you can then do as the, as the project sort of on the ongoing basis is
Helen Nurse:you can keep in touch because people will have opted into this channel and people
Helen Nurse:will opt into it because it's an easy.
Helen Nurse:It's easy for them to opt into and they'll be getting information that way.
Helen Nurse:You can then send broadcast messages to the people, um, who
Helen Nurse:are involved, the stakeholders, and you can segment those as well.
Helen Nurse:So you might have within.
Helen Nurse:Within that audience of, of stakeholders you might have.
Helen Nurse:So for example, if it was a university project, you might have students
Helen Nurse:who are, um, who are part of the stakeholders, but then obviously you
Helen Nurse:might have people on the project side or what, but you can segment them.
Helen Nurse:Within your, um, within the account, you can tag them with, um, different
Helen Nurse:conditions and things like that.
Helen Nurse:So you can only send broadcasts out to the people who are
Helen Nurse:relevant to receive those updates.
Helen Nurse:Or you might, you might send updates out to everyone, but the fact is
Helen Nurse:you're sending it to them in a way that they'll see, most importantly,
Helen Nurse:'cause they'll get the notification, they'll realize what it is.
Helen Nurse:Immediately they'll be able to take the information on board.
Helen Nurse:They can potentially do something with it.
Helen Nurse:If you want 'em to respond to something, they can ask 'em to do that very easily.
Helen Nurse:And as I said, you can have segmented that and be just sending it to the people who
Helen Nurse:you want to receive that, um, information.
Helen Nurse:Does that make sense?
Jon Clayton:Yes.
Jon Clayton:Yeah, it does.
Jon Clayton:Yeah.
Jon Clayton:Yeah.
Jon Clayton:That sounds like it could be a really useful way to stay in
Jon Clayton:touch with people on projects.
Helen Nurse:And also not just staying in touch, but then the capturing the data.
Helen Nurse:So you can imagine if you've done some kind of, um, user survey or
Helen Nurse:um, stakeholder survey and you get people to tell you via this channel
Helen Nurse:what they think for a particular plan or whatever, all of those comments
Helen Nurse:can be put sucked straight into a spreadsheet, a live spreadsheet document.
Helen Nurse:So then.
Helen Nurse:You can then use that spreadsheet and go, oh, okay, we've got 500 people who've come
Helen Nurse:in here, a hundred people have said this, or we've got these questions are coming.
Helen Nurse:All the, you know, the questions you can view, they can be, we have
Helen Nurse:one client who we do, um, it's, it's actually an NHS based project, but
Helen Nurse:they do regular q and as with families.
Helen Nurse:And so they will on a Tuesday, the broadcast message goes out to the families
Helen Nurse:if they, if they want to ask a question at the q and a session on the Wednesday.
Helen Nurse:And on the Wednesday, they then do the q and a session, and all the questions
Helen Nurse:have been submitted via WhatsApp.
Helen Nurse:They're on the spreadsheet, they're easy for them to refer to, and that q
Helen Nurse:and a session gets sent out as a link to all of the, the, um, subscribers.
Helen Nurse:So they can either watch it live or they can, um.
Helen Nurse:Watch it afterwards as a replay.
Helen Nurse:Um, but yeah, so that piece of actually pulling the data through and being able
Helen Nurse:to analyze it is really powerful, I think for what you're talking about there.
Jon Clayton:Mm. That's really cool.
Jon Clayton:Helen, have you got any tips for newbies that want to move beyond
Jon Clayton:just using WhatsApp for messaging?
Jon Clayton:Have you got any tips or suggestions for them?
Jon Clayton:Where to start?
Helen Nurse:Yeah, so I would say, um, the first thing is to kind of think of.
Helen Nurse:One, one way that it would be most useful for you to start using it.
Helen Nurse:Because I mean, we've talked about tons of ideas today and, um, and I can get a bit
Helen Nurse:carried away with ideas, be excited about, oh, you could do this, you could do that.
Helen Nurse:Um, but actually what, what you need to, to understand the power of what it can do
Helen Nurse:for you is one, one way to start using it, that's going to make a real difference.
Helen Nurse:Um, so thinking about what is a current objective that
Helen Nurse:you've got in your business?
Helen Nurse:Um.
Helen Nurse:What, what would be the most powerful?
Helen Nurse:Is it sort of new lead generation?
Helen Nurse:Is it, as we talked at the beginning, doing lots of trade shows, exhibitions,
Helen Nurse:is it you've got a particular project that you need better engagement on?
Helen Nurse:What, what is the kind of one objective that you could start using it with,
Helen Nurse:um, in that way and looking at how can you use it in that sort of interactive
Helen Nurse:piece to get the most people in?
Helen Nurse:So, um, we've talked about interactive lead magnets or
Helen Nurse:follow ups, that kind of thing.
Helen Nurse:I. But thinking about, okay, how do people, um, want to engage with, with
Helen Nurse:me in this way and what is it going to achieve for both them and me really?
Helen Nurse:Um, so that, so that would be sort of my, my first tip I suppose, if you like.
Helen Nurse:Um, I've got, uh, a couple of like webinars and things like that,
Helen Nurse:that people can always watch just to get a bit more of an insight.
Helen Nurse:And I'm always willing to give sort of free.
Helen Nurse:Sessions to people just to give them an idea of how they could start using it.
Helen Nurse:Um, I would also say, look at the, so as I said, the software we use
Helen Nurse:as ManyChat, it does help to have a specialist help you with it, but it's
Helen Nurse:available for anyone to look at and look at their community forum to actually
Helen Nurse:learn a little bit more about as well.
Helen Nurse:Um, so they actually know a bit more about.
Helen Nurse:Um, the, the backend and how it, you know, the opportunities for them.
Helen Nurse:So I would say to, you know, look at, look at the ManyChat
Helen Nurse:website to learn a bit more.
Jon Clayton:That's cool.
Jon Clayton:So pick one thing.
Jon Clayton:Don't try and integrate WhatsApp into every aspect of your business.
Jon Clayton:Pick one thing, the thing that's going to be the most impactful way
Jon Clayton:to further leverage using WhatsApp.
Jon Clayton:That's good advice.
Jon Clayton:What be the main thing that you'd like everyone to take away from this today?
Helen Nurse:Um, do you know, I think it would just be to think a bit differently
Helen Nurse:about what you're doing and how you're doing it and think interactively.
Helen Nurse:I. Um, about how you're communicating with your audience.
Helen Nurse:Um, there's that saying, isn't there?
Helen Nurse:Um, I dunno if I can remember.
Helen Nurse:It's if, if you always do what you've always done, you'll always
Helen Nurse:get what you've always got.
Helen Nurse:Yeah.
Helen Nurse:That's it, isn't it?
Helen Nurse:I dunno if I was, yeah.
Helen Nurse:If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you'll always got.
Helen Nurse:Um, it just came to me.
Helen Nurse:That's an age old saying.
Helen Nurse:I know, but it is true that if you just keep doing the same old thing that
Helen Nurse:everyone else is doing because you're worried that oh, but not everyone's
Helen Nurse:doing this, then you're not going to stand out If you actually start to think
Helen Nurse:differently and start to think about the importance of nurturing conversations
Helen Nurse:and the way your, um, the way, the way your people want to hear from you as
Helen Nurse:well on the platforms they're using.
Helen Nurse:If you start to think differently about that.
Helen Nurse:And take a few, uh, risks in, in, you know, trying something new.
Helen Nurse:Then the, I think the results will be immense.
Jon Clayton:That's, uh, that's really cool.
Jon Clayton:Was there anything else about WhatsApp that you wanted to add
Jon Clayton:that we haven't already covered?
Helen Nurse:No, I think, um, I think, I mean, like I said, I could
Helen Nurse:talk for England about ideas of how you could use it, but I don't
Helen Nurse:wanna overwhelm your listeners.
Helen Nurse:Um, I would just say, just, just have a look at it.
Helen Nurse:Um, see how, how you could use it for, 'cause I truly believe that
Helen Nurse:every single business can use it and can get real benefit from it.
Helen Nurse:Um, and when used in the right way.
Jon Clayton:Yeah.
Jon Clayton:I hope that if you're listening to this, that it just makes you
Jon Clayton:just stop and think that, oh.
Jon Clayton:Actually, there are other ways that we could use this.
Jon Clayton:Like I've, this thing that I've already got on my phone that everybody I know
Jon Clayton:has got on their phone that actually there's a, some really clever ways
Jon Clayton:that I could use this in my business.
Jon Clayton:So hopefully this is served to give some inspiration to everybody
Jon Clayton:to just, investigate this a bit further and, and, um, see how they
Jon Clayton:can apply it in their business.
Helen Nurse:hope.
Jon Clayton:yeah.
Jon Clayton:Yeah.
Jon Clayton:I hope so.
Jon Clayton:So, Helen, I like to ask this question to all of the guests on the show.
Jon Clayton:So I, I love to travel.
Jon Clayton:Previously was like a, a backpacker and travel junkie in
Jon Clayton:my twenties a long time ago now.
Jon Clayton:But, um, I love to discover new places.
Jon Clayton:I was wondering if you could tell me about one of your favorite
Jon Clayton:places and what you love about it.
Jon Clayton:And this can be somewhere near or far.
Jon Clayton:We've had everything from.
Jon Clayton:Like New Zealand to, uh, the Caribbean, to Rome, to literally the,
Jon Clayton:the coffee shop at the local park.
Jon Clayton:Um,
Helen Nurse:Do you know what, so, um, two spring.
Helen Nurse:Can I have a near and a far one
Jon Clayton:you can, if you like, yeah, we'll give you two.
Helen Nurse:Okay.
Helen Nurse:So, so the far one would be, um, Sri Lanka.
Helen Nurse:'cause my sister lives there and I've been, been twice, and I'm going again
Helen Nurse:actually at the end of the month.
Helen Nurse:I can't wait.
Helen Nurse:We're going to do a, yeah, I'm going to, I'm on my own this time without the kids,
Helen Nurse:so we're going to do a yoga retreat.
Helen Nurse:Um, but we've had an, we took the kids there and just had the most amazing time.
Helen Nurse:The people.
Helen Nurse:Food.
Helen Nurse:It's such a safe, friendly, lovely, gorgeous, gorgeous place.
Helen Nurse:I would just, and they really need tourism as well, so I always say,
Helen Nurse:you know, to people go to Sri Lanka.
Helen Nurse:Um, you just, yeah, you would have the best time.
Helen Nurse:Um, so, so that's my far place.
Helen Nurse:My close UK place is, um.
Helen Nurse:Howeth in Yorkshire.
Helen Nurse:So, um, so obviously the birthplace of the Bronte's.
Helen Nurse:Um, so it's got, you know, all of that kind of history and stuff,
Helen Nurse:but we go there every single.
Helen Nurse:So, um, myself and my husband when we first got together,
Helen Nurse:we, um, went there in December.
Helen Nurse:They'd do a lovely Christmas, Christmas in how, um, every, so we went there
Helen Nurse:for our first date and we have been every single December since four.
Helen Nurse:28 years I think.
Helen Nurse:So it is literally a thing that we do every single December.
Helen Nurse:We go and have a weekend in Haus as the kids now know, as you know,
Helen Nurse:they do a steam train as well.
Helen Nurse:So when the kids were younger, we took them on that.
Helen Nurse:But, uh, yeah, I would say in the summer as well.
Helen Nurse:It's gorgeous.
Helen Nurse:So, uh, so yeah, you haven't been to Haworth Again, it's
Helen Nurse:a gorgeous quaint village.
Helen Nurse:Got loads of independent shops that really, you know, benefit from
Helen Nurse:people going and spending money there because I, I'm big into buying local.
Jon Clayton:I'm, I, I'm gonna have to check.
Jon Clayton:I'm not sure if I've been there or not.
Jon Clayton:So I, I think I would've remembered it.
Jon Clayton:So I'm gonna have to add that one to my, my bucket list of, um, places to visit.
Helen Nurse:Definitely it's got Quaint Street, runs up the middle,
Helen Nurse:cobbled street just with all little, um, you know, shops and all.
Helen Nurse:It's, and then the Bronte Museum is at the top of the hill, um,
Helen Nurse:which is worth a visit as well.
Helen Nurse:And there's some gorgeous walks around there, so,
Jon Clayton:sounds good.
Jon Clayton:Cool.
Jon Clayton:Well, Helen, this has been ab absolute pleasure.
Jon Clayton:Thanks so much for coming on the show and sharing your expertise.
Jon Clayton:Where's the best place for people to connect with you online?
Helen Nurse:Oh, thanks John.
Helen Nurse:Um, yeah, uh, LinkedIn.
Helen Nurse:So I'm on LinkedIn.
Helen Nurse:Helen nurse, uh, connect with me there.
Helen Nurse:I'd love to.
Helen Nurse:Um, and that's where I'm sort of hanging out the most of the time, social media.
Helen Nurse:Um, just DM me as well if you want any advice or anything like that.
Helen Nurse:And then our website, capture one.co uk would be great.
Jon Clayton:Brilliant.
Jon Clayton:Thanks again, Helen.
Helen Nurse:Thanks, John.
Jon Clayton:Next time I talk about podcasting and how it could
Jon Clayton:benefit you and your business.
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Jon Clayton:Running your architecture business.
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