How to answer every WhatsApp enquiry, even after hours

A customer who messages you at 9 pm wants an answer at 9 pm. If they don't get one, they may message the next business on their list, and by the time you reply in the morning, they may have ordered somewhere else.

You don't need new software to fix most of this. This playbook is the order we'd do it in, starting with what you can set up tonight on the free WhatsApp Business app. At the end, we show how a system can take over the repetitive parts.

Why enquiries go cold

Most enquiries are lost in small, ordinary ways:

• they arrive on a personal phone that nobody else can see;
• nobody is sure whose job it is to reply;
• the reply needs a price, and the price list is in someone's head;
• the first reply goes out, then nobody follows up.

None of these needs a big fix. Each needs one clear rule.

Step 1: Put every enquiry in one place

Use one WhatsApp Business number for the business, and put it on your website, your shop board, your bills and your ads. If enquiries also come in by phone, the website form and Instagram, write down every place they arrive. You can't answer what you can't see.

If the number lives on one person's phone, link it to a computer with WhatsApp Web so more than one person can read and reply.

Step 2: Write your five most common answers

Look back at your last month of chats. Most businesses see the same few questions again and again:

1. What does it cost?
2. Do you deliver to my area?
3. What are your timings?
4. How do I order?
5. Can you do a custom order?

Write a short, friendly answer to each and save it as a quick reply in the WhatsApp Business app. Now anyone on the team can answer in seconds, and the answer is the same every time.

Step 3: Set an away message that does real work

"We are closed" is a missed chance. A good away message does three things: it says when you'll reply, it answers the most common question, and it asks for the details you'll need.

Thanks for your message. We're closed now and will reply by 10 am. Our price list is here: (your link). If you'd like to order, send us what you need, how many, and the date, and we'll have it ready for you in the morning.

Set it to run outside your working hours. Keep the link to the price list up to date.

Step 4: Ask for the details once

Back-and-forth is where enquiries die. Decide what you always need to quote, and ask for all of it in your first reply. For a food business that might be the item, the quantity, the date and the area. For a service business it might be the address, the job and a photo.

Step 5: Decide who replies first

Give one person the job each day, by name. Their first task when they start is to answer every chat that came in overnight, oldest first. If two people share the number, use labels so nobody answers the same chat twice.

Step 6: Follow up once, then close it

Plenty of people mean to order and simply forget. One polite follow-up a day or two after your quote is enough. Add a label such as "Quoted" so you can find these chats, and "Ordered" or "Closed" once they're done.

Step 7: Keep a simple record

A sheet with five columns is enough: date, name, what they asked, what you quoted, and what happened. Look at it once a week. You'll see which questions come up most, which quotes turn into orders, and which hours are busiest.

How a system can do this for you

The steps above work, but they depend on someone remembering to do them every day. A system takes the repeated parts off your team's hands, and your team stays in charge of what goes out.

Comes in

• WhatsApp
• Website form
• Ads

Your system

One inbox, with AI drafts from your own answers

Goes out

• Replies your team approves
• Quotes
• Follow-ups

You decide what it may send on its own. For example, it could answer timings and delivery areas at any hour, and hold anything with a price for your team to approve in the morning. A system like this connects through WhatsApp's own service for businesses, which needs a number set up for it. We set that up on your accounts if you choose, and the code is yours at handover.

Start this week

1. Use one business number, and list every place enquiries arrive.
2. Save quick replies for your five most common questions.
3. Turn on an away message that asks for the details you need.
4. Name who answers overnight chats each morning.
5. Follow up once on every quote, and keep a simple record.

If you'd like to see the system version working, watch the enquiry desk example.