Nyah Eliud
Meet customers where they already are
You can argue about whether a business needs to be on every social platform. You can’t really argue about WhatsApp. Here, it’s where enquiries arrive, where prices get negotiated, and often where the sale closes.
The problem isn’t that businesses haven’t adopted it. It’s how they run it. Most use a personal account, with no catalogue, no automatic replies and no labels. And nobody else can help when the owner is busy.
Business account, not your personal number
The WhatsApp Business app is free and takes about twenty minutes to set up. You get a business profile with your address, hours, website and category. That alone makes you look far more established.
It also keeps work away from your private messages. That matters more than people expect, the first time a customer messages at eleven on a Sunday.
Do this firstUse a number you can keep. Moving a WhatsApp Business number later means losing your chat history and telling every existing customer, which is exactly the hassle you’re trying to remove.
The catalogue almost nobody uses
WhatsApp Business has a built-in catalogue: products or services with photos, descriptions and prices, which you can share as a link inside a chat.
Most businesses ignore it and retype the same prices several times a day instead. Put your ten most-asked-about items in it. Then the answer to “how much is it?” is one tap, and it looks professional.
Quick replies and away messages
Quick replies let you save an answer and drop it in with a shortcut. Set up the five questions you answer every day: price, location, hours, delivery, how to order.
An away message covers the hours you’re closed. Make it useful rather than apologetic. Say when you’ll reply. Point people to the catalogue or website so they can keep going without you. A greeting message does the same job for first-time contacts.
Labels are the closest thing to a free CRM you’ll find. New enquiry, quoted, paid, delivered. Five labels and you stop losing people between conversations.
Connect it to the website and the ads
A click-to-WhatsApp button on your website beats a contact form for a lot of visitors here. It costs them nothing and they already know how it works.
The link format is simple: wa.me followed by your number in international format, with no plus sign and no spaces. You can also fill in the first message for them. That’s worth doing, because it tells you which page they came from.
Meta ads can send people straight into a WhatsApp chat instead of to a landing page. If you close deals by talking rather than by checkout, that’s often the cheapest lead you can buy.
Setting it up, step by step
- Install WhatsApp Business and register it on a number used only for the business
- Complete the profile: name, category, description, address, hours, website
- Add a catalogue: every product or service with a photo, price and short description
- Write a greeting message and an away message
- Save quick replies for prices, location, delivery and payment
- Create labels: new enquiry, waiting payment, to deliver, done
- Put the WhatsApp link on your website, Google Business Profile and social pages
| Personal WhatsApp | WhatsApp Business app | |
|---|---|---|
| Business profile and catalogue | No | Yes |
| Greeting and away messages | No | Yes |
| Quick replies and labels | No | Yes |
| Cost | Free | Free |
What not to do
- Do not add customers to broadcast lists they never asked to join
- Do not post on Status as an advertising channel several times a day
- Do not let the away message be the only reply somebody gets for two days
- Do not run it from one person’s phone with no backup when they are away
- Do not promise a price in chat that differs from your published one
Setting up the automatic side of this properly is what our automation service does, and the thinking behind it’s in five automations to set up first.
Go further: the social media guide, our social media service, or handling public complaints.
Questions people ask
Yes, the WhatsApp Business app is free. The WhatsApp Business Platform, used for higher volumes and full automation, is paid and set up through a provider.
It is better to give the business its own number, so it can be handed to staff and does not mix with personal chats.
Only to people who agreed to hear from you. WhatsApp's business messaging policy requires opt-in, and unwanted messages get your number reported and restricted.
The app can be linked to a few devices, so a colleague can help answer. For a larger team handling many chats, the Business Platform with a shared inbox is the better fit.
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