Jon Clayton:

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.

Jon Clayton:

Remember, don't forget to join the wait list for our membership community,

Jon Clayton:

where you can meet other business owners who want the same thing as you.

Jon Clayton:

If a thriving business that gives you more freedom, flexibility, and fulfillment.

Jon Clayton:

just go to architecture, business club.com forward slash waitlist, or

Jon Clayton:

click the link in the show notes.

Jon Clayton:

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Jon Clayton:

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Jon Clayton:

your business and your life.

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And if you're enjoying the show, then please leave a five-star review or

Jon Clayton:

rating wherever you listen to podcasts.

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.

Jon Clayton:

Thanks so much for listening to this episode of architecture business club.

Jon Clayton:

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Jon Clayton:

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Jon Clayton:

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Jon Clayton:

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Jon Clayton:

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Jon Clayton:

The best place to connect with me online, though is on LinkedIn.

Jon Clayton:

You can find a link to my profile in the show notes.

Jon Clayton:

Remember.

Jon Clayton:

Running your architecture business.

Jon Clayton:

Doesn't have to be hard and you don't need to do it alone.

Jon Clayton:

This is architecture business club.