An in-depth conversation with founder Nick Blom on the future of messaging, performance marketing, and the overlooked potential of WhatsApp commerce.
Interview by an independent contributor
When most people think of WhatsApp, they think of messaging friends and family. But in the hands of Nick Blom, founder and CEO of Conversation24, it’s a high-performance sales and lead conversion engine. Over the past few years, his company has grown into one of Europe’s most specialized providers of conversational commerce services — with a focus on speed, personalization, and results.
I sat down with Nick to understand how Conversation24 approaches lead automation, reactivation, and validation — and why they’ve bet their entire business model on outcomes, not hours.
Let’s start at the beginning. What exactly is Conversation24?
Nick:
We’re a performance-based conversational commerce company. That means we help businesses convert leads into real commercial outcomes — like booked appointments, validated prospects, and direct sales — using WhatsApp as our primary channel.
Unlike traditional marketing or SaaS models, we don’t charge for software, licenses, or setup. Clients only pay when we actually deliver results.
We serve enterprise and large mid-market clients across several verticals — automotive, financial services, healthcare, insurance, HR and recruitment, energy, and increasingly, consumer products. These are all industries with complex customer journeys, high-value leads, and a lot of volume — which is where our model performs best.
What inspired you to create the company in the first place?
Nick:
We started out doing live web chat — those chat windows you see on websites. One of our early clients was Under Armour. We were doing customer support for their European operations in five languages: English, German, French, Dutch, and Spanish.
What struck me was that so many of the conversations weren’t about returns or tracking orders. They were about purchasing decisions.
People would say:
“I’m running a marathon in two months — which shoe should I choose?”
“I’m just getting into yoga, which outfit do I need?”
“Can I wear this jacket in winter temperatures?”
And at the end of these conversations, our agents would say: ‘Great, good luck ordering!’
I remember thinking — why are we not closing that sale inside the chat? If this was a retail store, the salesperson would walk you straight to the register. But in chat, we were just handing people off to a webshop and hoping for the best.
That’s when the idea for Conversation24 started to evolve — from support to sales.
So how did WhatsApp become central to the strategy?
Nick:
After experimenting with payments inside live chat, we realized there were limitations. Website chat is ephemeral — when you close the browser, the chat disappears. It’s also not asynchronous, so if someone gets distracted or leaves, that conversation is lost.
WhatsApp solved that.
It’s always available. It’s where people already are. It has massive open rates. And it’s personal. When someone sees a WhatsApp message, they’re much more likely to respond than to an email or a phone call.
So we started testing conversions inside WhatsApp. And the results were immediate. Faster response times, better engagement, higher conversion. Over time, it became clear: WhatsApp wasn’t just a tool — it was the foundation of our entire model.
You mentioned that your model is performance-based. Can you explain how that works?
Nick:
Sure. It’s very simple: we only get paid when we deliver measurable results. That might be an appointment booking, a validated lead, a completed sale, or a reactivated customer. Whatever the KPI is — that’s what we focus on.
We don’t charge for software. We don’t bill for hours. We don’t require long-term contracts. We carry the risk, and the client pays only when there’s a commercial outcome.
For clients, that’s extremely attractive — especially if they’ve had bad experiences with traditional software vendors or agencies who promise ROI but can’t prove it.
But for us, it means we have to be extremely good at what we do. We need to deeply understand each client’s business model, customer journey, and buying psychology. Otherwise, we don’t get paid.
What does a typical implementation look like? Where do you start?
Nick:
We always start with speed and intent. That means: how fast are you responding to leads? And how aligned is that response with what the lead is trying to achieve?
In most organizations, lead follow-up is broken. A customer fills in a form, and the response comes 3 hours later — or worse, 3 days later — via email or a phone call they didn’t ask for.
We replace that with WhatsApp-based automation and live agents. Every lead gets a message within 60 seconds. The message is personalized, relevant, and designed to move the person to the next step.
Once that’s working, we start expanding. We look at:
- Lead validation: are these leads real, reachable, and relevant?
- Lead reactivation: what’s sitting dormant in your CRM that could be reignited?
- Upsell and cross-sell: what offers can we present based on previous behavior?
- Feedback and retention: how can we learn and improve every stage?
Over time, we build full commercial flows — all inside WhatsApp — that touch the lead or customer at every key point in their journey.
Do you use AI in that process?
Nick:
Absolutely — but always with a purpose.
We start every new client manually, with our own Revenue Agents. These are trained human chat operators who test scripts, learn from conversations, and help us figure out what works.
Only after we’ve found the winning flows do we implement automation and AI. That might be:
- AI-based lead scoring
- Language detection and automatic routing
- Pre-trained NLP bots that can answer questions or book appointments
- Auto-reply during off-hours
But it’s important to say: AI without strategy is noise. The technology is powerful, but only if you know how to apply it to real human behavior.
Can you give some real-world examples of this model in action?
Nick:
Sure. One example I love is from the hearing aid industry. A global brand came to us and said: “We want to get more people into stores for hearing tests.”
Why? Because 90% of people who fail the test become a customer on the spot. Makes sense — they realize they need help.
Their current flow was: leads go into a CRM → into a dialer → and get called up to five times. The conversion rate was low, and the cost per acquisition was high.
Also — and this is the part I still find insane — they were calling people with hearing problems. So we said: Let’s switch this entire process to WhatsApp.
We integrated directly with their CRM. Now, every lead gets a WhatsApp message within 60 seconds. Friendly, helpful, direct. The result? 74% conversion from lead to in-store appointment.
From there, we expanded. We now manage:
- Subscription sales for hearing aid maintenance
- Automated reminders for follow-ups
- Reviews and feedback collection
- Cross-sells for batteries and accessories
It’s now 11 touchpoints, all within WhatsApp.
That’s an impressive conversion rate. Are there other industries where you’ve seen similar results?
Nick:
Absolutely. Another great example is recruitment, which is an industry with a lot of inefficiency.
We work with one of the largest staffing companies in the world. Their old system was typical: a candidate fills out a form, the recruiter gets an email or CRM alert, and they have to call the candidate — often multiple times — to validate interest and schedule an interview.
This creates two problems:
- Recruiters are wasting time chasing leads that don’t convert.
- Candidates aren’t answering phone calls anymore — especially from unknown numbers.
We replaced that entire workflow with WhatsApp.
Now, candidates are instantly validated:
- Are they still looking?
- Are they available?
- Can they work in the right region?
If they qualify, we schedule them directly with a recruiter — all inside the chat.
The result is not just better efficiency — it changes the nature of the recruiter’s job. Instead of acting like a call center agent, they can actually focus on what they’re good at: interviewing and matching.
How about B2C industries like travel, retail, or events?
Nick:
Definitely. We’re currently working with a major theme park that had a very specific goal: increase revenue per visitor.
We analyzed their customer journey and saw something interesting:
Most visitors buy their tickets 2–3 weeks in advance. During that time, they’re offered Fast Lane passes — but most don’t purchase them upfront because they’re expensive, and people aren’t sure if they’ll need them.
So what happens? They skip it.
But here’s what we know:
We know the exact day they’re coming. And we know the weather forecast.
So the day before their visit, we send them a WhatsApp message:
“Hi Lisa! Tomorrow’s going to be 30°C and very busy at the park. Want to skip the lines? Here’s how to get your Fast Lane pass.”
The conversion rate on that upsell is phenomenal — and it doesn’t require extra media spend or discounts. It’s pure timing, relevance, and convenience.
How do clients usually react to your performance-based model?
Nick:
Most are surprised — and then relieved.
They’re used to paying agencies retainers, software fees, consulting hours — and then waiting months to see if anything actually improves. With us, there are no retainers, no startup fees, no integration costs. We start small, prove value quickly, and then scale.
The model does a few important things:
- It creates instant alignment.
- It eliminates risk.
- It forces us to focus on ROI from day one.
And it also teaches clients to think differently about their own operations. Suddenly, they realize that if their CRM is slow, or their data is incomplete, or their customer journey is fragmented — they’re losing money. It creates internal urgency for change.
What are the most common mistakes companies make when trying to use WhatsApp?
Nick:
There are a few.
- Treating WhatsApp like email
Many companies still think in terms of campaigns. They batch a message, send it to a thousand people, and hope something sticks. But WhatsApp is a conversational channel. It works best when it’s timely, relevant, and two-way. - Poor response times
If someone fills out a lead form and hears nothing for 30 minutes, your chances of conversion plummet. People are distracted. They move on. That’s why we always push for sub-1-minute response times. - No clear owner
Sometimes WhatsApp is owned by customer service. Other times by marketing. Or sales. But nobody’s accountable for outcomes. That leads to fragmentation. In our view, WhatsApp should be owned by revenue — period. - Lack of infrastructure
If you don’t have proper CRM integration, live agent routing, or automation in place, you can’t scale. You’ll drown in manual follow-up and inconsistencies.
What’s your view on the future of WhatsApp commerce?
Nick:
I think we’re just getting started.
We’re at the point where WhatsApp is no longer just a messaging app — it’s becoming an infrastructure layer for digital commerce. In markets like Brazil and India, we already see payments, catalogs, and full customer service happening inside WhatsApp.
In Europe, we’re still waiting for full native payment integration — and that’s the next big unlock. Once we can handle checkout, address info, and customer data natively inside WhatsApp, it will become one of the most powerful sales channels out there.
But it won’t happen automatically. Companies will need to rethink their journeys. They’ll need to break out of siloed thinking. And they’ll need partners who understand not just the tech — but the strategy.
You mentioned payments — what else needs to improve to unlock the full potential of WhatsApp?
Nick:
Seamless checkout flows are a big one. Right now, too many interactions break because the payment happens in a browser or an external flow that doesn’t feel natural. We need in-chat, frictionless payment options with customer data pre-filled.
Another area is analytics. Companies need more insight into the actual performance of their WhatsApp interactions. That means:
- Funnel metrics
- Conversion attribution
- Lead quality scores
- Message-level engagement data
The better the visibility, the faster you can optimize.
And lastly, language flexibility. In Europe, you deal with dozens of languages and cultural differences. Our operators speak five languages natively, and our AI handles over 100 — but few companies are equipped to localize messaging properly across markets. That’s another barrier to scale that needs solving.
What kind of team does it take to do what you do?
Nick:
We’re a hybrid team — part software company, part operations center, part strategy partner.
On the tech side, we have 18 in-house developers working on automation, integrations, flows, dashboards, and tooling. That allows us to move fast and adapt to each client.
On the operational side, we have native-speaking chat operators — we call them Revenue Agents — available 7 days a week, 7am–11pm, in English, Dutch, French, German, and Spanish. Adding Portuguese and Arabic this year
And on the strategy side, we work closely with marketing and sales teams at our clients to co-create campaigns, test hypotheses, and refine the customer journey.
This isn’t just chat support. It’s commercial infrastructure.
You clearly operate with a very integrated approach. How do you maintain quality at scale?
Nick:
Quality control is non-negotiable. Because we’re paid per result, we can’t afford to let the quality drop — it directly affects our revenue.
We track everything:
- Response time
- First reply quality
- Drop-off points
- Conversion per operator
- A/B test performance
- Time to appointment or sale
We run real-time dashboards, internal QA loops, and have human reviewers checking samples daily. We also use AI to flag conversations that deviate from successful patterns.
Beyond that, we also coach clients. Sometimes, performance is limited not by the agent or the flow — but by something upstream. Bad forms. Poor data. Confusing product offerings. Long wait times.
When we see that, we tell them. Because again — we only get paid when things work.
What’s been the most surprising thing you’ve learned building this business?
Nick:
How little most companies understand about their own customer journey.
You’d be surprised how many enterprise teams don’t know:
- How fast they follow up with leads
- What their actual conversion rates are
- Where leads drop off
- Why someone doesn’t complete a booking
They have data, but no insights. They have CRMs, but no speed. They have service teams, but no urgency.
And the truth is, many companies are burning their marketing budget because their conversion infrastructure is broken. We’ve seen clients spending €500,000 a month on ads — but taking hours to follow up with a lead.
That’s the gap we fill.
What’s your long-term vision for Conversation24?
Nick:
We want to be the global leader in performance-driven WhatsApp commerce. Not just in terms of technology, but in outcomes.
The future of sales is conversational. The future of marketing is immediate. The future of service is transactional. And we sit at the center of all three.
We’re building the infrastructure, the playbooks, and the partnerships to help clients turn WhatsApp into a predictable revenue engine.
It’s not about being a tool or a vendor. It’s about being a partner in results.
What kind of clients are a good fit for you?
Nick:
Companies that:
- Have high-value transactions
- Generate at least a few thousand leads per month
- Want to stop wasting budget on leads that don’t convert
- Are open to change
- Value performance over process
We work well with CMOs, Heads of Growth, Performance Marketers, and even Sales Directors — people who are measured on results and want to move fast.
We don’t work well with companies who want 6-month strategy decks before taking action. We believe in test, measure, learn — and win.
What would you say to a company still unsure about using WhatsApp for commerce?
Nick:
I’d ask them: “Are your leads converting as well as they could be?”
If the answer is no — or if they don’t know — that’s already a red flag.
Then I’d show them side-by-side data:
- Email vs WhatsApp open rates
- Call answer rates vs WhatsApp reply times
- Drop-off rates in forms vs conversion inside chat
The difference is night and day.
WhatsApp is not the future. It’s the present — and most companies are already behind. The sooner you treat it as a core revenue channel, the sooner you’ll outperform your competitors.
What’s your personal philosophy as a founder?
Nick:
Simplicity and accountability.
I believe if you can’t explain your model in one sentence, it’s too complicated. Ours is simple: “We get paid when we deliver results.” That’s all clients need to know.
And second — own the outcome. Whether it’s a failed test, a drop in conversions, or a big win — take responsibility. Our whole team operates that way.
It’s why clients trust us. They know we’re not there to sell them something. We’re there to make them money.
Final question. If we check back with you in 2 years, what will Conversation24 look like?
Nick:
We’ll have 1,000 partners worldwide. We’ll be running commerce flows for some of the biggest brands in Europe, Latin America, and Asia. And we’ll have helped shape what WhatsApp commerce really means — not just in theory, but in practice.
We’ll also be pushing hard into partner enablement — giving agencies, affiliates, and platforms the tools to plug into our infrastructure and deliver results to their own clients, powered by WhatsApp.
But above all — we’ll still be performance-based. Still fast. Still accountable. That won’t change.
Want to learn more about how Conversation24 helps companies turn WhatsApp into a revenue-generating channel?
Visit conversation24.com and discover what performance really looks like — powered by data, speed, and strategy.
