WhatsApp for business selling

Set up the basics

• Use a separate business number, not the owner's personal phone, so staff can handle it and the history stays with the business.
• Use the WhatsApp Business app at minimum: business profile with address and hours, labels for chats (new order, payment pending, delivered), quick replies for common answers, and an away message.
• Decide who answers which chats, and by when. A dealer waiting three hours for a rate will call someone else.

What to send on WhatsApp

For B2B buyers, a browsable link is better than 40 forwarded photos. See catalogue sharing for B2B sales.

Taking orders without losing them

The biggest risk is orders that sit in a chat and never reach billing. A few rules help:

1. Every order in a chat is confirmed back in a standard format: "Confirming order: 20 × FAN-1200-WH, 10 × SW-6A. Dispatch Thursday."
2. The order is entered into your system the same hour, with the chat's date.
3. Label the chat "order entered" so nobody enters it twice.
4. Voice notes are confirmed back in text before entry.

See moving from paper to digital orders for a fuller order process.

Message etiquette

• Message customers who have given you their number and agreed to hear from you. Respect "please stop".
• Broadcast lists only reach people who have saved your number; do not spam groups.
• Send in working hours, except for replies the customer is waiting for.
• Keep messages short, specific and signed with a name.
• For payment reminders, use a polite, fixed sequence; see payment reminder templates.

Sample message: new stock

English: Namaste Gupta ji, the new range of 6A modular switches has arrived. Photos and dealer rates attached. Stock is limited in white; let me know quantities by Friday to reserve. – Neha, Arora Electricals

Hinglish: Namaste Gupta ji, 6A modular switches ki nayi range aa gayi hai. Photos aur dealer rate bhej rahi hoon. White mein stock kam hai, Friday tak quantity bata dein to reserve kar dete hain. – Neha

Keeping records straight

• WhatsApp is a channel, not a record. The order, invoice and receipt must be in your books.
• Save important confirmations (rates agreed, schemes promised) where they can be found later.
• Back up business chats, and remove former staff's access to the business number.

Agree internally that a rate, scheme or delivery date promised on WhatsApp is binding only once it is confirmed by the person authorised to give it. This protects both you and the customer from misunderstandings in quick chat messages.

Setting up groups and broadcasts sensibly

Dealer groups are popular, but they have drawbacks: every dealer sees every other dealer's questions and sometimes their rates, and important messages get lost in forwards. A tidier set-up:

• Use a broadcast list for announcements (new stock, price changes, holidays); replies come back privately.
• Keep groups for small, specific purposes, such as your own sales team or one project with a contractor.
• Never discuss a dealer's rate, scheme or outstanding in a group.
• Assign one person to post announcements so the tone and timing stay consistent.

Segment your broadcast lists by dealer type or area, so a price change for A dealers does not reach C dealers, and a festival offer in one city does not confuse another.

WhatsApp and Cashflow OS

Cashflow OS shares on WhatsApp what you already keep in TallyPrime: party statements (Tally-style PDF or a Hindi हिसाब page), quotations, proforma invoices, purchase orders and delivery challans with your logo and UPI details, wishlists, and an online catalogue link where customer enquiries arrive on WhatsApp. Orders taken by staff can be posted to Tally as sales orders. See online catalogue.