WhatsApp Business for customer management: from the app to the platform

Two different products: the app and the platform

"WhatsApp Business" is the name of two separate products, and you need to know the difference before deciding.

The WhatsApp Business app is the free app you install on your phone. It offers a business profile, a catalogue, quick replies, labels, and greeting and away messages. It works with one number; you can link a few devices so others on the team can reply too. For a small shop it is often enough.

The WhatsApp Business Platform (formerly called "the API") is the infrastructure that lets software connect to WhatsApp. There is no app on a phone; messages are sent and received inside a piece of software. You need it to work as a team, send automatic messages such as booking reminders, and link conversations to a customer record. Meta charges per message, and the rules are in Meta's documentation.

Understand the 24-hour rule

The most important rule on the platform is the customer service window: when a customer messages you, a 24-hour window opens. Within it you can reply with any text. After it closes, you can only message that customer with templates approved by Meta in advance.

In practice:

• Reply within 24 hours; it is good service and lets you write freely.
• Prepare templates for messages the business starts: booking reminders, "your order has shipped", payment reminders.
• Templates fall into categories (for example service notifications and marketing). Sending marketing templates also requires the customer's consent to marketing messages.

How to write a good template

A template should be short, single-purpose, with clear variables:

If you use marketing language such as "last chance" or "don't miss out", the template becomes a marketing template, or may be rejected.

Answering as a team

The biggest problem with WhatsApp on one phone is that nobody knows who is answering which customer. As the team grows, these rules help:

1. 01
   Every conversation has an owner. An incoming conversation is assigned to one person, who owns it until it is resolved.
2. 02
   Use statuses: open, snoozed, resolved. A resolved conversation leaves the list and reopens if the customer writes again.
3. 03
   Share saved replies: address, opening hours, price list, return policy. Everyone gives the same correct answer.
4. 04
   Keep internal notes separate: notes like "this customer returned an order last month" are for the team, not the customer.
5. 05
   Define out-of-hours: send an automatic reply to messages outside working hours and deal with them first thing in the morning.

Link conversations to the customer record

When a WhatsApp conversation isn't linked to a customer record, the same person looks like three different people on the phone, on Instagram and in the shop. When it is linked, whoever opens the conversation sees the customer's last order, appointment and open balance next to it. That is the only way to answer "where's my order?" without searching.

If you want every channel in one inbox, read our unified inbox guide.

Before you send a campaign

Bulk campaigns on WhatsApp are tempting. But in Turkey, commercial electronic messages need the recipient's prior consent, and those consents must be registered in the national İYS system; other countries have their own consent rules. Meta also requires customers to have agreed to receive marketing messages from you on WhatsApp.

Start easily with a link

To let customers message you with one tap from your website, Instagram profile or a QR code, use a wa.me link. You can build one with a ready-made greeting using our WhatsApp link generator, and turn it into a QR code with the QR code generator.

Common mistakes

1. 01
   Using a personal number as the business number. When an employee leaves, the customer conversations leave with them. The business number should belong to the business.
2. 02
   Bulk-messaging everyone at once. Messages without consent carry legal risk and can get the number blocked and reported by users.
3. 03
   Leaving out-of-hours messages unanswered. A short automatic reply ("Got your message, we'll be back at 9 am") manages expectations.
4. 04
   Doing business by voice note. Voice notes can't be searched or quickly read by a colleague. Give prices, addresses and dates in writing.
5. 05
   Not linking conversations to the customer record. The answer to "what did they order last month?" gets lost in the thread.

Example: a cosmetics shop's WhatsApp setup

Picture a cosmetics business with two shops and an online store, getting 60–80 WhatsApp messages a day: stock questions, prices, order status, returns and skincare appointments.

First, messages are split by topic: stock and product questions go to sales assistants, order and return questions to the online store manager, skincare bookings to the beautician. Saved replies are written for each topic: delivery times, return terms, shop addresses, treatment prices.

Second, notifications become templates: "your order has shipped", "your appointment is tomorrow", "we've received your return". These are no longer typed by hand; they go out when the order or booking changes status.

Third, the campaign list is separated: only customers who opted in receive marketing, with consent collected through a QR code in the shops and an unticked box online. A month later the five most-asked questions are added to the product pages, and the number of messages drops.

WhatsApp in Era

In Era, WhatsApp connects to the Inbox module as a channel. Once connected:

• Every conversation appears in one inbox, alongside Instagram, Messenger, Telegram and email.
• Conversations are assigned to people or teams, routed automatically by rules, resolved, snoozed and prioritised.
• Saved replies and private notes are available; messages can be translated.
• WhatsApp templates are synced into Era.
• The conversation is linked to that person's Customers record.

Reminders from Appointments and WhatsApp campaigns from Campaigns use the same channel; campaigns keep an unsubscribe list. With the Voice module, Era can also answer WhatsApp calls, and each call is filed in the inbox.

It works from chat too: ask "show me WhatsApp conversations unanswered since yesterday" or "send this customer their shipping details", and Era works in the inbox with your permissions. The beauty and retail industry pages show how WhatsApp fits into daily work.

Getting started checklist

1. 01
   App or platform? Decide based on team size and automation needs.
2. 02
   Fill in the business profile: address, hours, website, a short description.
3. 03
   Write five saved replies: address, hours, prices, returns, payment methods.
4. 04
   Set up your out-of-hours reply.
5. 05
   Write reminder and notification templates and submit them for approval.
6. 06
   Set up how you collect marketing consent, and register it where the law requires.
7. 07
   Put your wa.me link on your site, Instagram and Google Business Profile.