Build a WhatsApp chatbot that qualifies leads and supports customers

A chatbot is only useful if it does the boring half of the conversation well and gets out of the way for the rest. Repli answers the repeat questions, captures and qualifies leads, books appointments, and hands the thread to a person the moment it matters.

Why teams choose Repli

What you get

AI replies trained on your business

Give the agent your FAQs, policies and tone. It answers in the customer's language and falls back to a safe reply when it is unsure instead of inventing an answer. AI replies run on AI credits.

Keyword and menu flows

For predictable journeys, use keyword triggers and button menus — pricing, catalogue, track order, talk to a human — so customers reach the right place without typing paragraphs.

Lead qualification

Ask the two or three questions that decide whether an enquiry is worth a call, and store the answers on the contact record so sales opens a qualified thread, not a blank one.

Appointment booking

The agent offers slots that are genuinely free, confirms in the chat and sends reminders — the single biggest lever on no-shows for clinics, salons and consultants.

Human handover

A teammate takes over the conversation and the bot stops replying to that customer until it is handed back. Nothing about the transition is visible to the customer.

Order and store answers

Connect Shopify or WooCommerce and order status, delivery and payment questions are answered from live store data rather than a canned line.

Use cases

Ecommerce

Order tracking, returns, size and stock questions, plus cart recovery to customers who opted in.

Education and admissions

Course details, fees, eligibility and counsellor booking, with enquiries captured as leads.

Real estate

Budget, locality and possession timeline captured before a site visit is scheduled.

Salons and clinics

Service list, prices, slot booking and automatic reminders the day before.

What a WhatsApp chatbot should and should not do

The chatbots that work handle three jobs: reply instantly to questions with known answers, collect the information a human would have to ask for anyway, and route the conversation to the right person. The ones that fail try to close the sale themselves and trap customers in a menu with no way out.

Repli is built for the first pattern. Every automated conversation has a visible way to reach a person, and the agent is instructed to hand over rather than guess when a question falls outside what it knows.

That also matters for cost. Automated replies keep conversations short and inside the 24-hour service window, which is the cheapest place on Meta's rate card for a conversation to live.

Official API, not an unofficial workaround

Repli connects through the official WhatsApp Business Platform. Tools that automate WhatsApp by driving a logged-in phone or web session put your number at risk of being blocked, and they cannot use approved templates to reach customers outside the service window.

Running on the official platform means approved message templates, a verified business profile, and the full delivery reporting Meta exposes. It also means opt-in and 24-hour window rules apply — which Repli enforces rather than letting you break them by accident.

How to set one up

Connect your WhatsApp Business number, then write the answers to the ten questions your team types most often — that list is your first knowledge base and takes about twenty minutes to produce.

Add the keyword flows next: a menu for pricing, catalogue and order tracking, plus a "talk to a human" path that assigns the thread to a teammate.

Turn on lead capture for enquiries, connect a calendar if you take bookings, and switch the AI agent on for the long tail of questions your keywords do not cover. Watch the first week of transcripts and keep feeding the misses back into the knowledge base.

Frequently asked questions

Can I build a WhatsApp chatbot for my business in India?

Yes. Connect a WhatsApp Business number to Repli, add your FAQs and keyword flows, and the agent starts replying. It runs on the official WhatsApp Business Platform.

Do I need the WhatsApp Business API for a chatbot?

Yes. The free WhatsApp Business app does not allow real automation or multiple agents. The API does, and Repli handles the platform side of it.

Will the chatbot reply in Hindi?

The AI agent replies in the language you configure and can respond in the customer's language, including Hindi.

Can a human take over the chat?

Yes. A teammate takes over from the shared inbox and the agent stops replying to that customer until it is handed back.

What does it cost?

Repli plans are flat monthly fees in INR — WhatsApp is included from Pro at ₹499 / US$6 per month, and Pro+ at ₹1,499 / US$18 per month unlocks the customer support agent. Meta bills its own conversation charges separately.

Does the AI use credits?

Yes. AI replies run on AI credits. Pro+ includes a starting AI credit balance; other plans top up when they need it.

Can it book appointments?

Yes. It offers slots that are still free, confirms in the chat and sends reminders automatically.

Can it answer order questions?

Yes, when your Shopify or WooCommerce store is connected — order status and delivery answers come from live store data.

Is chatbot automation allowed by WhatsApp?

Yes, on the official Business Platform with opt-in and the 24-hour window respected. Unofficial automation on a personal or Business-app number is what gets numbers banned.

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