"Membuat chat bot wa" means making a WhatsApp chat bot, and this guide covers exactly that for an established firm: connecting your business number, putting an AI agent on it and keeping inside WhatsApp's messaging rules. Done properly, a WhatsApp bot answers enquiries within seconds on the app your clients already use, books calls and saves every conversation to the CRM. Done badly, it gets your number restricted.
Why WhatsApp needs its own approach
WhatsApp is not a website chat with a green logo. It has rules that web chat does not. Businesses can reply freely for 24 hours after a customer's last message. Outside that window, you can only send pre-approved message templates. Messages that look like spam, or that go to people who never opted in, lead to quality warnings and eventually limits on your number.
The upside is attention. People open WhatsApp messages far more readily than email, and they reply in short, natural language that an AI agent handles well. For mortgage brokers and real estate firms in particular, many clients already prefer it to phone calls.
Before you start
- A phone number for WhatsApp Business that is not already in use on the WhatsApp app.
- Access to your business's Meta account for verification.
- A working AI agent with a knowledge base, or the time to build one.
- Your opt-in wording for forms and the website, stating that you will contact people on WhatsApp.
- Two or three message templates drafted: a booking confirmation, a reminder and a follow-up.
How to set it up
- Go to Settings > WhatsApp.
- Click Create a new WhatsApp business account.
- Click Continue with Facebook and log in to your business account.
- Click Continue to begin setup.
- Enter a new business phone number or select an existing one.
- Enter the one-time password sent to the number, then click Next.
- Select or create your Meta business portfolio and WhatsApp Business Account.
- Go to AI Agents > Conversation AI, then open Agents List.
- Select the bot, then click Deploy.
- Turn on the WhatsApp channel.
With the channel connected, add an instruction to the agent's prompt that keeps WhatsApp replies to two or three lines, and enable Appointment Booking in Bot Goals so it can offer times inside the chat. Submit your message templates for approval before launch, since a booking confirmation or reminder sent outside an open conversation needs an approved template. Add a WhatsApp opt-in checkbox with matching wording to your web forms, and have a workflow send an approved template when someone ticks it. Finally, message the number from a personal phone and run a full enquiry through to a booking.
The 24-hour window in practice
Most problems with a WhatsApp bot come from the 24-hour rule. Inside the window the AI agent can hold a normal conversation. Once it closes, the agent cannot send a free-form message, and any follow-up must use an approved template that invites a reply.
Design your follow-up around this. A template such as "Hi, it's the team at your firm. Do you still want to book that valuation? Reply yes and I'll send times" reopens the window when the person answers. The agent then takes over again.
Suppose the brokerage receives around 300 web enquiries a month and calls each one, with about a third answering the first call. It adds a WhatsApp opt-in to its forms and sends a template within a minute of submission. If around 170 people replied on WhatsApp, the agent gathered income, deposit and timescale, and 60 booked a call, advisers would spend their time on prepared calls instead of chasing. Set that against the roughly 100 people a first phone call reaches.
What it replaces and the weekly effort
A WhatsApp bot replaces the first chasing call, the "did you get my email" follow-up and a lot of voicemail. It does not replace the adviser's conversation. Allow twenty minutes a week to read transcripts and check template performance, plus time to submit new templates when your offers change.
Messaging a list of old contacts on WhatsApp because you have their numbers is the fastest way to lose the channel. Without opt-in, people block or report you, and your number's quality rating falls. Send only to people who agreed to WhatsApp contact.
When not to use a WhatsApp bot
If your clients are mainly large organisations whose staff do not use WhatsApp for work, it adds little. Email and web chat will serve them better. Avoid it too for anything requiring formal records of advice unless your compliance process covers WhatsApp messages.
Troubleshooting
Templates are rejected. They read as promotional or contain vague placeholders. Make each template specific, transactional and clear about who is sending it.
The agent stops replying after a day. The 24-hour window closed. Send a template that invites a reply, and the agent resumes once the person answers.
Messages show as undelivered. The number may not be on WhatsApp, or the person blocked you. Fall back to SMS through a workflow branch.
Verification fails. The number is still registered on a personal or business WhatsApp app. Remove it from the app first, then retry.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use my existing mobile number?
You can, but it must be removed from the WhatsApp app first, and you will no longer use it there. Many firms use a new number for the business account to avoid that disruption.
Does the same AI agent work on WhatsApp and web chat?
Yes. One agent can answer both, with an instruction to keep WhatsApp replies shorter. See the chat bot for website guide for the web side and AI text messaging for SMS.
Who pays for WhatsApp messages?
Messaging usage is billed as used, separately from the licence. Meta charges per conversation in some categories, so check current rates before a large campaign.
What should the bot do after a booking?
Send a confirmation template and a reminder before the call. The AI follow up article covers reminder timing and conversational chatbot examples shows short replies that suit messaging apps.