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WhatsApp chatbots for business, and how they work

A WhatsApp chatbot for business answers the messages that reach your WhatsApp number, books the appointment and sends the reminder while you are with a customer. Below is how it differs from the free WhatsApp Business app, what it does step by step, and when the free app is all you need.

Most small businesses in Serbia already take bookings on WhatsApp. The customer writes at nine in the evening, the owner sees it at eight the next morning, and by then the customer has asked two other places. Nothing about the service went wrong. The reply came too late.

The WhatsApp Business app and the WhatsApp Business API

The WhatsApp Business app is free and installs like ordinary WhatsApp. It gives you a business profile with your hours and address, a catalogue, labels for sorting chats, a greeting message, an away message and quick replies, which are saved answers you call up by typing a slash. It helps you answer faster. Every reply still needs a person to open the phone and send it.

The WhatsApp Business API, which Meta calls the WhatsApp Business Platform, has no app you open. Software connects to your number, reads each incoming message and replies to it. That is where a chatbot lives. Businesses reach it through Meta directly or through a provider such as Twilio, which we use.

One rule shapes how any WhatsApp chatbot behaves. For 24 hours after a customer’s last message, the business can reply freely, and Meta does not charge for those replies. A message the business starts after that window, such as a reminder the next day, has to use a template Meta approved in advance, and Meta charges for those.

What a WhatsApp chatbot does, step by step

Here is one booking going through a salon’s WhatsApp from the first message to the review.

MStudio MilaAnswered by the system
  1. 01Answer
  2. 02Book
  3. 03Remind
  4. 04Review
WhatsApp · 21:15Hi, can I book a balayage for Saturday? How much is it?Hi Jelena. Balayage is from 9,000 dinars and takes about three hours. Saturday at 10:00 is free with Milica. Shall I book it?Yes pleaseBooked: balayage, Saturday at 10:00 with Milica. We will remind you on Friday.Added to the salon calendarFriday · 18:00Reminder: your balayage is tomorrow at 10:00. Reply 1 to confirm or 2 to move it.1Saturday · 15:00Thank you for coming in today. If you have a minute, a Google review helps us a lot.
Studio Mila, Jelena and the price are made up. The four steps are the ones our systems run.
01AnswerThe message reaches your number through the API. The system replies within a minute, using only the prices, hours and answers you gave it, in your tone. A question it has no answer for goes to you, with the customer’s details already gathered.
02BookIt reads the calendar you already keep, offers slots that are actually free and writes the booking in. Nobody copies anything from a chat into a diary.
03RemindThe day before, it sends a reminder that asks for a confirmation. Because the business starts this message, it goes out as an approved template.
04ReviewAfter the visit it asks for a Google review, the same way every time, at the point the customer is happiest.

Where it connects

WhatsApp is usually the first channel. The same system can take the other places customers write, added one at a time, and it writes into the tools you already use.

Comes in from
  • WhatsApp
  • Instagram
  • Telegram
  • Phone calls
  • Website form
What it does
  • Answers
  • Sends a quote
  • Books
  • Reminds
  • Asks for a review
Where it lands
  • Your calendar
  • Your customer list
  • Google reviews
  • A message to you

We wrote more on the difference between a chatbot that only replies and one that finishes the job in what an AI chatbot actually does for a business.

When free quick replies are enough

A chatbot on the API is the wrong purchase in three cases.

  • You get a few enquiries a week. The free WhatsApp Business app with quick replies, an away message and a complete Google Business Profile will do the job.
  • You already answer within the hour. If nobody is waiting overnight, there is little to recover.
  • Every price is bespoke. If each quote needs a visit or your own judgement, the chatbot can collect the photos and the address, and a person still has to close it.
Two numbers decide itHow many WhatsApp messages went unanswered for hours last week, and what one booking is worth to you. Multiply them, and you know what the gap costs each week.

What it takes to set up

It starts with a thirty-minute meeting about where customers slip today. If a system will not pay for itself, we say so in that meeting. Before anything is built we write down every path a message can take and what has to reach a person. Then we build it on your prices, hours, diary and tone, and run WhatsApp on real messages before adding another channel. The first channel is usually live in about two weeks.

Our AI systems start from 2,000 euros for one system on your own information, one channel and the booking connection. The price rises with the number of tools it talks to, how strict the rules are, and whether it answers voice calls. You leave the first meeting with a scope, a price and a start date.

Questions owners ask

What happens when the chatbot does not know the answer?

It passes the conversation to you or your team with the details already collected, so nobody asks the customer twice.

Can I read what it writes to customers?

Yes. Every conversation is there for you to read.

Do I have to change my booking system?

No. It writes into the calendar or booking tool you already use.

Does it only work on WhatsApp?

No. The same system can answer on Instagram, Telegram, email, a website form and phone calls. We add channels one at a time.

Can I switch it off?

Yes. It can be switched off in a day, and your tools stay as they were.

Find out if a WhatsApp chatbot would pay for itselfThirty minutes on a call. Tell us where messages wait today, and we will tell you whether a system is worth it or the free app is enough.Book 30 minutesSee Rhomn Systems

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