WhatsApp automation
Answer every WhatsApp enquiry in seconds, hand the hard ones to a person.
We move your number onto the WhatsApp Business Platform, build the intake, the answers and the handover, and keep the whole conversation inside WhatsApp because many of your customers cannot open a link.
The Zimbabwean situation
What usually goes wrong
The number lives on one phone. Messages after 17:00 wait until morning; the POTRAZ report shows WhatsApp is 20.69% of all mobile data in the country, so that is where the customers are. Broadcasts go out from the app to lists capped at 256, and a few reports from annoyed recipients can get the number restricted.
Then there is the bundle problem. Econet sells weekly WhatsApp-only bundles from USD 0.50. A customer on one of those taps your "see our catalogue" link and gets nothing. Any flow that leaves WhatsApp loses part of the audience.
And the compliance layer is real: SI 155 of 2024 makes commercial processing of personal data a licensed activity, and your bot is a data processor from its first "Hi, what's your name?".
What we build
What gets built
- Platform setup. Meta business verification, number migration, a shared inbox so several staff answer from one number.
- Intake that never leaves WhatsApp. A greeting with consent line, numbered menus plus free-text understanding, answers drawn from your price list or stock sheet, quote requests captured with the fields you need.
- Handover rules. Credit terms, bulk pricing, complaints and anything the flow is unsure about go to a named person, with the transcript.
- Follow-ups. Utility templates inside the 24-hour window (free), opt-in marketing templates outside it, and a STOP keyword that works.
- Records. Every conversation logged to your sheet or CRM with a normalised +263 number; retention set to what your licence application says.
How it works
The flow, end to end
What it needs from you
- Company registration documents for Meta business verification.
- A number to dedicate to the business (existing app number can be migrated).
- Your price list or stock source, and the twenty questions you answer most.
- Who answers what: names, hours, and what must never be auto-answered.
- Your data-controller licence status and DPO name, or the intent to apply.
Timeline shape
| Phase | Typical span | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Scoping | 1–2 weeks | Map the ten most common enquiries, decide what is automated and what is handed over, agree the opt-in and opt-out wording. |
| Meta verification | 1–3 weeks (in parallel) | Business verification on Meta with your registration documents; number migration off the app. |
| Build | 2–4 weeks | Flows, answers from your price list, handover inbox, templates submitted for approval, test with staff phones. |
| Pilot | 2 weeks | Live on real traffic with a person watching every handover; tune the answers weekly. |
| Run | ongoing | Monthly review of unanswered questions, template quality rating, new intents added as they appear. |
Spans are typical shapes, not quotes. The process page explains what moves them.
What it costs
What drives the price
Typical first builds are one number, one answer source and one handover inbox. The bill rises with the number of enquiry types, the difficulty of reaching your answers, and how much routing sits behind the handover.
We do not publish package prices because the drivers below move the number by multiples. The pricing page lists every driver with sourced platform costs.
| Driver | Effect on cost |
|---|---|
| Number of enquiry types automated | Linear: each intent is a small build plus its answers and its exceptions. |
| Where the answers live | A price list in a sheet is cheap; a live stock system with an API is more; a system with no API is the most. |
| Template volume | Meta charges per marketing template delivered; service replies and in-window utility messages are free. |
| Handover tooling | A shared inbox for two staff is simple; routing across branches with SLAs is a bigger build. |
| Languages | English-first is standard; adding structured Shona/Ndebele menus adds testing time. |
Questions we get asked
WhatsApp Business app or the WhatsApp Business Platform (API)?
The free app is one phone, one person, manual replies and broadcast lists capped at 256 contacts. The Platform (Cloud API) is what automation runs on: many staff on one number, template messages, webhooks into your systems. If more than one person answers or you want anything automatic, it is the Platform. Note that a number can be on the app or the API, not both at once; we migrate it.
What does Meta charge per message in Zimbabwe?
Since 1 July 2025 Meta charges per delivered template message, not per 24-hour conversation. Replies to a customer inside the 24-hour service window are free, and utility templates (order updates, reminders) sent inside that window are also free. Marketing templates are always charged, at the Rest of Africa rate on Meta's rate card. Our guide walks through a worked month.
Can we keep our existing number?
Usually yes. The number is migrated from the app to the Platform; message history on the phone does not migrate, so we export what you need first. If the number is also your personal number, we recommend a new SIM for the business.
Will it understand Shona or Ndebele?
Short, practical phrases, yes; long free-text conversations in Shona or Ndebele are less reliable than English with current models. We design menus and structured questions so language matters less, and anything the flow is unsure about goes to a person.
Do we need a POTRAZ data-controller licence to run this?
If you are processing customer personal data for commercial purposes you fall under the Cyber and Data Protection Act and SI 155 of 2024, which requires a licence and a data protection officer. We are not lawyers; we build consent, opt-out and retention into the flow and point you to the requirements. See the data-controller licence guide.
Can we send bulk promotions?
Only as marketing templates to people who have opted in, and Meta rates your number's quality on how recipients react. Blocks and reports reduce your sending limit. We build the opt-in and the opt-out keyword first, then promotions.
Next step
Scope it before you book it
Fill in the scoping worksheet (five minutes, no sign-up). It produces a summary you can paste into WhatsApp or email, so the first call starts with the actual work.