Telegram CRM: Messaging Customers with a Telegram Integration [Jan 2024]

You’re probably on this blog because you’re looking for a Telegram CRM or a CRM that supports Telegram integration. This blog post will help you make an informed decision when choosing the right Telegram CRM integration.

In this first-hand guide, we'll explain everything you need to know about Telegram CRM integration and why an AI-powered customer conversation management software like respond.io is essential. Then, we’ll show you how respond.io can benefit your Telegram marketing, sales and support.

What is Telegram CRM?

Telegram CRM is the integration between Telegram and a CRM. Businesses look for a Telegram CRM integration to receive and respond to Telegram messages within their CRM.

Because CRMs were originally built with email communication in mind, very few support native Telegram integration, and most rely on third-party integrations. Before integrating Telegram into your CRM, here are a few things you should know.

Getting a Telegram CRM: What You Should Know

To get a Telegram CRM integration, you need to understand how to use Telegram for business and the Telegram integrations that CRMs provide.

Telegram for Business

Businesses have two Telegram options to choose from: Telegram app or Telegram bot, also known as Telegram Business API. Unlike WhatsApp, which has a business app, Telegram does not have a dedicated app for businesses.

However, with the Telegram app, businesses can use one account on multiple devices while having the chats sync seamlessly. They can schedule messages, create groups and Channels and more for free.

Businesses can also subscribe to Telegram Premium if they want additional features like huge file uploads, faster downloads, exclusive stickers and more.

crm telegram bot: Businesses have two Telegram options to choose from, the Telegram app or Telegram Bot, also known as Telegram Business API. With the Telegram app, businesses can use one account on multiple devices while having the chats sync seamlessly. They can schedule messages, create groups and Channels and more for free. If you want to integrate Telegram with a CRM, you’ll need a Telegram bot. The Telegram bot is designed for businesses that receive high volumes of messages and need advanced automation to manage their conversations. However, a Telegram Bot does not have a messaging interface. To send and receive messages, it must be connected to software like respond.io business messaging inbox or a CRM. — Telegram App vs Telegram Bot

If you want to integrate Telegram with a CRM, you’ll need a Telegram bot. The Telegram bot is designed for businesses that receive high volumes of messages and need advanced automation to manage their conversations.

However, a Telegram bot does not have a messaging interface. To send and receive messages, it must be connected to a CRM or an AI-powered customer conversation management software like respond.io.

Because Telegram simply provides the API, CRM and business messaging inbox providers are free to design the inbox for end users. Therefore, what you can do with a Telegram bot integration will differ depending on the software you choose.

Now, let's look at the types of Telegram integration supported by CRMs.

Integrating Telegram with a CRM

With Telegram overtaking Facebook Messenger as the second most popular messaging app in certain countries, it is surprising that popular CRMs like Salesforce, HubSpot and Zendesk do not provide native Telegram integration. Instead, they all rely on third-party integrations.

While there are many types of third-party integrations available, many of them limit the API to one CRM. This affects businesses that want to connect multiple CRMs with Telegram to exchange data between the platforms.

If you want to connect Telegram with multiple CRMs and use its features to their maximum potential, then you’ll need a respond.io business messaging inbox built specifically for messaging.

Looking for a Telegram CRM? Use Telegram on respond.io business messaging inbox instead. With respond.io Telegram Integration, you can connect multiple CRMs to Telegram and other messaging channels as well as traditional channels like email and webchat. In short, you can streamline all business communication in one feature-rich platform. Plus, you can use advanced tools to send Telegram broadcasts, automate conversations, route and assign conversations and more. Above all, you can carry out all your tasks anywhere with the respond.io mobile app. — How it works: Integrate Telegram with multiple CRMs

You can connect various messaging apps like Telegram as well as traditional channels like email and webchat to respond.io. In short, you can streamline all business communication in one feature-rich platform.

Plus, you can use advanced tools to send Telegram broadcasts, automate conversations, route and assign conversations and more. We’ll explain more of the features later.

Now, let’s look at how to integrate any CRM with respond.io to use Telegram.

Integrating Telegram with a CRM on respond.io

First, you need to set up your Telegram Business Account and connect it to respond.io. Then, create a new Workflow and add the HTTP Request Step to connect any CRM with Telegram on respond.io.

By doing so, you can exchange information with your existing CRM while messaging customers on respond.io.

Integrate your CRM with respond.io via HTTP Request Step

Businesses can qualify sales leads, retrieve updated contact profiles or create deals and tickets in external CRMs from the platform without having to go back and forth between their CRM and the respond.io inbox to reply to Telegram messages.

Now, let's look at how you can use respond.io to market, sell and support over Telegram.

How to Use respond.io for Marketing, Sales and Support

Unlike WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, Telegram does not have a messaging window. So, businesses can message customers freely, provided the content is legal. They must also keep their messages relevant in order to prevent customers from blocking them.

That said, let's look at how you can use Telegram for marketing, sales and support on respond.io.

Telegram Integration for Marketing

To reduce spam and protect users’ privacy, Telegram does not pass on Telegram users’ phone numbers or IDs to businesses. Therefore, businesses cannot import Telegram users’ contact information and must wait for them to start a conversation.

Thankfully, businesses can encourage inbound conversations with chat links, in-app search, QR Codes and Telegram widgets.

Once a lead opens a conversation with you, you can collect basic information to identify whether the lead is new or an existing Contact that has previously messaged you on another channel.

If they are an existing Contact, you can merge their contact information to get a comprehensive view of their interactions with your business. You can also exchange and retrieve their contact information on your CRM.

If a lead is new, you will automatically capture their details and add them as a Contact. You can segment them into different audiences, which will help when sending targeted broadcast messages.

Unlike Telegram Channels which are designed as a one-way broadcast tool, Telegram broadcasts via respond.io permit two-way interactions, allowing Contacts to respond to promotional messages that interest them.

Now that you know how to use respond.io for Telegram marketing, let's look at how to use it for sales.

Telegram Integration for Sales

By integrating a sales CRM with Telegram on respond.io, businesses can exchange data between both platforms while carrying out sales-related tasks like qualifying leads and creating deals with a click of a button.

Respond.io's highly customizable Workflows enable businesses to automate sales tasks like qualifying leads and routing them to the right sales team based on the funnel they fall into. Additionally, businesses can utilize an AI Agent to serve as the first responder to handle routine lead inquiries.

Managers can implement routing logic like routing leads by priority access, deal size, region or more. Plus, they can ensure equal lead distribution among the sales team and assign customers to available agents.

Additionally, as agents will be communicating with customers from different backgrounds, they can leverage AI Prompts to refine messages for clarity, translate them to overcome language barriers and more so their message is communicated effectively.

Next, we’ll go over how you can use respond.io for Telegram customer support.

Telegram Integration for Customer Support

Instead of assigning and answering every single inquiry manually, businesses can automate FAQs and send multiple-choice questions to help customers communicate what they want clearly.

The automation will route and assign customers automatically based on their needs, saving agents from repetitive manual tasks. Similar to the AI Agent’s capabilities mentioned in the sales use case above, businesses can use AI to handle routine inquiries and escalate complex or sensitive issues to human agents.

This helps agents focus their time on critical issues rather than performing repetitive tasks. To ease their workload further, tools like AI Assist provide agents with quick access to relevant information from knowledge bases or existing resources.

This allows agents to respond quickly and accurately to customer inquiries, enhancing response times and contributing to a more satisfying customer experience.

Instead of assigning and answering every single inquiry manually, businesses can automate FAQs and send multiple-choice questions to help customers communicate what they want clearly. The automation will route and assign customers automatically based on what they want, saving agents from repetitive manual tasks. If an agent cannot resolve an issue, they can request a manager's help through internal comments or escalate the case to external CRM platforms in one click while chatting with customers. Besides that, businesses can measure the success and quality of a company’s customer support by sending a CSAT survey or by tracking individual or team performance via the advanced Reports and Analytics Module. — Benefits of Telegram integration for customer support

If an agent cannot resolve an issue, they can request a manager's help through internal comments or escalate the case to external CRM platforms in one click while chatting with customers.

Besides that, businesses can measure the success and quality of a company’s customer support by sending a CSAT survey or by tracking individual or team performance via the advanced Reports and Analytics Module.

We hope you found our first-hand guide to Telegram CRM integration insightful. Above all, you can carry out all your tasks anywhere with the respond.io mobile app. Sounds interesting? Get started with our free trial and elevate your business communications today!