In previous posts, we’ve spoken about WhatsApp Chatbots; specific to why and how to build them. In this WhatsApp auto reply blog post, we’ll discuss how to set up an auto-reply feature for WhatsApp.

If you are looking for how to set auto-reply in WhatsApp business and WhatsApp auto-reply message sample, you are at the right place. In this post, we’ll help you understand the nitty-gritty of WhatsApp Chatbots. To start off with, let’s talk about how auto-response for WhatsApp works.

There are two ways to set up auto-replies for your business – 

1. Using WhatsApp Business: The WhatsApp Business App allows you to connect with your customers, deliver important notifications, and collect timely feedback from them. It works like a live chat tool, that allows you to set up away messages to communicate to your customers that you’re away and will reach out to them shortly.
2. Using WhatsApp’s Business APIs: WhatsApp Business APIs allow you to automate your conversations and send timely messages. With a WhatsApp Chatbot, you can automate the responses to your FAQs and stay connected with your customers 24/7, round the clock.

Suggested Reading: WhatsApp Business Vs WhatsApp Business API

WhatsApp auto-reply feature through WhatsApp Business

WhatsApp Business is a platform for small- and medium-sized businesses. It allows you to set up “away messages” for when you’re not available or online.

In this article, we’ll talk about the process of deploying automatic reply away messages for your WhatsApp Business. WhatsApp auto-reply feature comes in handy for business owners who want to actively engage with their audience.

Most businesses work 8-12 hours a day. So while you may only be available from nine to five, your customers will interact with businesses based on their convenience.

Thus, these customers are lost revenue-generating opportunities. A business that only interacts with its customers eight hours a day loses more than 2/3rds of its potential revenue.

Suggested Reading: SMS Vs WhatsApp – The Final Frontier

A WhatsApp away message allows you to tell your customers that you’re away and encourages them to move within the sales funnel with more ease.

Using WhatsApp Business, you can set automated WhatsApp replies and schedule them as per your desired timings.

The first step to doing this is to decide who gets what away message. You can decide if a single away message is sent to all your customers or if it’s just being sent to specific customers.

The second step is to schedule the auto-reply away message to a specific function at a specific time. The recommended trigger time is during the hours that your business is closed.

If a customer reaches out to you during these “away” hours, auto-reply messages will be sent out based on your preferences.

Suggested Reading: Are you looking to build a WhatsApp Chatbot for your e-commerce business? We’re ranked #1 by Google for that very question.

Steps To Set-up Auto-reply for WhatsApp:

1. Tap on the three vertical dots on the top right of your WhatsApp application. From there, click on Settings, followed by Business Settings, and lastly on Away message.
2. Now, turn on the “Send away message” toggle button.
3. Next, enter the “away” message or tap on it to edit the message which will be sent to your customers accordingly.
4. After you edit your message, select the type of schedule for understanding when to program your messages to be deployed.
5. Next, select the recipients to whom you want to send the message.

Scheduling of Away Messages :

1. Always schedule: Select this when you’re away from work and can’t talk to your customers for days.
2. Custom schedule: Select this when you want to send the automated away messages only during a particular time frame. If a customer texts you within this timeframe, they’ll immediately get the automated message. 
3. Outside of business hours: This feature works on the basis of your business hours mentioned on your profile. Depending on that, automatic away messages will be triggered and sent if any reply is received post business hours.

Suggested Reading: Ultimate Guide: WhatsApp Click-to-Chat link. Now get more customers to talk to you on WhatsApp.

How to Select the Recipients:

1. Everyone: The automated message will be sent to anyone who messages after business hours.
2. People not in the address book: The message will be sent to the numbers that aren’t in your address book. 
3. Everyone except a few: The automated numbers will be sent to all numbers except the ones selected.
4. All selected: The auto-reply message will only be sent to the ones who are selected from the list. 

It’s important to note two things:

1. Make sure to save all of your changes.
2. Keep in mind that your auto-response away messages will only be sent when you have an active Internet connection.

Suggested Reading: Empower your Conversations with WhatsApp Pay

There are certain disadvantages of auto-reply for WhatsApp Business. Here are a few of them: 

1. WhatsApp Business is meant for small businesses.
2. It cannot help you generate leads or provide support.
3. WhatsApp Business can’t use different templates.
4. It always needs an active Internet connection.
5. WhatsApp Business is not customisable.
6. WhatsApp Business doesn’t give you a Verified Business tag.
7. Only works during predefined off-hours.

What are some of the UI challenges to consider when setting up auto-reply for WhatsApp?

WhatsApp auto-reply samples

Now let’s look at some examples of WhatsApp auto-reply that businesses can use. 

General: 

Sample 1

Hi! 

Thanks for reaching out to [Business Name]. Our support agents will check your message and respond to you within 24/48 hours. 

If your issue requires urgent assistance, please reach out to us via our live chat on the website [enter website address] or call us on [enter phone number]. 

Best Regards,

[Your Business Name]

Sample 2

Hello! Sorry to keep you waiting but we are very busy at the moment. We’ll get back to you in the next few hours. If you are in a hurry, please call us on [enter phone number].

Chat with you soon,

[Your Name]

Sample 3

Hi there! Thanks for writing to us. Please expect some delay in response as we are a little occupied at the moment. But have no worry, we’ll get back to you as soon as possible. 

Thanks for your patience, 

[Your Name]

Out of office/ holiday template

Sample 4

Hello! We are closed for this festive season until the [date]. We’ll get back to you once we open again. You could also reach out to our team by emailing us at [enter support email ID] or call us on [enter phone number]. 

Have a great holiday, 

[Your Name]

Sample 5

Happy [holiday name]! Thanks for reaching out. We are a bit busy this time of year but don’t worry. We’ll get back to you within [estimated time frame]. 

Have a great [holiday name]

[Your Business Name]

Sample 6

Wishing you a very happy holiday season. We’ve got your message. Someone from the team will reach out to you soon. If you want quicker assistance, please contact us on phone [enter phone number].

[Your Name]

Out of business hours

Sample 7

Thanks for contacting [Your Business Name]!

We’d love to help, but we’re currently closed. Our team will get back to you when we reopen at [enter opening hour time]. 🕦 

In the meantime, did you know we have a Help Center at [enter website faq page link]? I’m quite confident you’ll find your answer without the help of our agents.

Cheers,

[Your Business Name]

Sample 8

Hello there! 

We’re currently closed from [enter closing time and opening time], but we’ll get back to you at [time]. Meanwhile, hope you can find answers to your questions here [enter website faq page link]. 

Chat with you soon, 

[Your Name]

Sample 9

Hi! Thanks for reaching out to [enter business name]. 

This is our off business hours. We will get back to you as soon as we reopen at [enter opening hour]. Alternately, please check out the website for more information [enter website address]. 

Best,

[Your name]

Event-specific

Sample 10

Hi there, thank you for getting in touch with [enter business name]. 

We are facing some issues with our supply chain and hence, you could face some issues with your order delivery. Our team is working on it to sort this out as soon as possible. We will let you know as soon as it’s resolved. 

If you’ve reached out for any other issues, please let us know. We’ll get back to you in some time. 

Thank you for your understanding,

[Your business name]

Sample 11

Thank you for contacting [business name]. 

Our servers are facing some issues and will be down till [enter time]. Because of this, you will not be able to access the website. We’ll keep you updated on the progress. 

If you have any other questions, please feel free to write to us. Our representative will respond to you within 12 hours. 

Kind regards,

[Your name]

Sample 12

Hey there, how can I help you? 

We are facing issues related to [enter issue name]. For more information, please head to our website [enter website address].

If you are looking for a more powerful auto-responder WhatsApp solution, you can use WhatsApp’s Business APIs.

This is a WhatsApp Chatbot. WhatsApp’s Business APIs power WhatsApp Chatbots.

Suggested Reading: WhatsApp Chatbots – Use-Cases, Applications, and Templates

Auto-reply for WhatsApp Chatbot

A chatbot is an automated conversation platform. They replicate human interaction but use software instead of teeth and bones. They can help you support and sell to your customers, in real-time, around the clock.

Customers can visit your website, app, or Facebook and Instagram page at any time and talk to your chatbot, which can replicate your best salesperson.

WhatsApp Business can only tell an inquisitive customer that you’re not available at the moment. But using WhatsApp Business APIs you can answer that customer’s question.

For example, a customer texts you on WhatsApp telling you he’d like to buy a shirt but has questions about size. Using WhatsApp’s Business’ auto-reply, you can text him that your store is closed, but she can drop you a message in the morning.

But with a WhatsApp Chatbot powered by WhatsApp’s Business APIs, your customer can have a full conversation with a customer; answering queries and completing sales.

The Chatbot can handle a variety of low-level FAQs. In the event where you are available and the bot can’t handle a question, the chat can be transferred to a human agent.

Thus, a WhatsApp Chatbot allows customers in any corner of the world to communicate with your company, regardless of time zone or availability. It is the ultimate auto-reply for WhatsApp.

Suggested reading: How to migrate your phone number to a different WhatsApp Business account?

How to automate your messages in WhatsApp Chatbots

Say, “Hello!”

The first step to building a WhatsApp bot is to reach out to a company that can help you. To say hello to Verloop.io, simply hit the chat icon at the bottom right of the screen. 🙂

Suggested Reading: 10 Reasons Your Company Needs a WhatsApp Business Chatbot Today!

Tell me about yourself

A big determinant of the ease of acquiring WhatsApp’s APIs is whether your business has a WhatsApp Business License. Lots of providers only service companies that have an existing license.

Verloop.io is a one-stop solutions platform. We have partners that will get your Business Account rolling in no time.

Businesses are asked several questions to determine API qualification during the application process. Applications for certain sectors are restricted – like porn, government entities, and healthcare. 

Industry-wide – the questions are largely standard.

Name
Company Name
Company URL
Country Location
Email ID
Use Case*

Suggested Reading: WhatsApp Business Policy Change: All You Need to Know

We’ll do the heavy lifting

After this, simply sit back and let us do all the difficult work. Once your application has been processed, the real work begins. Businesses using WhatsApp’s APIs follow strict guidelines. These cover everything from the content used by the bot to the use-case in question.

Failure to comply leads to a ban from the platform.

Verloop.io guides you through possible use-cases, assists you with compliance, and provides, proofreads and develops acceptable templates for your business. This way, we ensure that you not only have WhatsApp APIs but also that you continue to keep them.

Suggested Reading: Migrate Your Phone Number to a Different WABA in 10 Steps

Congratulations – You have a Chatbot for WhatsApp!

Now that you’ve built the skeleton for your WhatsApp bot, it’s time to add the muscle and brains.

The features that you receive while building your Chatbot for WhatsApp depend on your provider. Verloop.io is an all-in-one chatbot platform for WhatsApp solutions stack. From integrating your CRM to including WhatsApp queries, encrypting and decrypting messages, and providing a single dashboard for all your customer touchpoints.