Last Updated: November 2024
WhatsApp is used by more than 2 billion people in 180+ countries. It is free, simple, and easy to use. Therefore, many companies started using WhatsApp to reach out to their customers.
However, it could be challenging to maintain a support team to be responsive consistently. Sometimes, your team can be too busy to reply to every customer, and other times there might be fewer agents for instance during a festive season.
Whatever the reason, to respond to your users without any delay you can set up auto reply message for WhatsApp.
But first, let’s understand its benefits.
Benefits of Configuring Automatic Reply in WhatsApp
1) Improved User Experience
When you enable auto reply WhatsApp, it sends responses to your users instantly. Since there is no waiting time, your response time will decrease.
Also, you can reassure your customers that your agents will be available in a moment to resolve the issue. So, your clients know that you got the message.
2) Reduces The Cost
To provide customer support 24/7, you need to employ more agents so you can have a team ready to reply when all of your employees won’t be available for instance, on holidays and weekends. This would cost a lot of money.
But, with automated replies on WhatsApp, whenever your support center is not active, you can send “away messages” and notify them of your working days and hours.
3) Streamline Your Marketing
Since auto-reply in WhatsApp allows you to send files and images, you can forward marketing messages such as an abandoned cart, restock, and sale notifications.
Furthermore, send newsletters, discount coupons, and product recommendations to your buyers and engage with them to create a positive experience.
Also, read – How to Setup Automated Replies to Instagram Comments?
Easy Steps For How to Set Auto Reply in WhatsApp
For all merchants, WhatsApp introduced a Business application in January 2018. So, create a business profile for your store and utilize the auto-reply feature of the WhatsApp Business app.
1) Steps to Set an Away Message
Here, you can select to whom you want to send the away message and when that message must be sent.
- Open the WhatsApp Business app.
- Click on the More Optionsicon and select Business tools.
- Under Messaging tools, click on the Away Message option.
- Turn on the Send away message option.
- In the Away message, click on the edit symbol.
- Next, type in your message and click on the Ok button.
- Now, click on the Schedule and choose one of the following options.
- Always send – replies all the time.
- Custom schedule – replies only during the specified time.
- Outside of business hours – replies only after the specified time.
Note: This option is only available if you set your business hours in the profile.
- Click on Recipients to set who receives your away message by selecting one of the following options.
- Everyone – Send to everyone who messages you while the Away message feature is turned on.
- Everyone not in address book – Send to customers who are not listed in your address book.
- Everyone except… – Send to all customers except for selected contacts.
- Only send to… – Send to all the selected contacts.
- Click on SAVE.
Note: You need to have an internet connection to send both away and greeting messages.
Let’s see how to configure greeting messages in WhatsApp.
2) Steps to Configure Greeting Message
The Greeting message is sent to customers who message you for the first time and to the users who message you after being inactive for 14 days in the chat.
- Open your WhatsApp Business app.
- Click on the More Optionsicon and select Business tools.
- Under Messaging tools, select Greeting message.
- Enable Send greeting message.
- Now, in the Greeting message, click on the edit symbol.
- Type in your welcome message and click on the Ok button.
- After that, click on Recipients and choose any one of the below options to set who will receive your message.
- Everyone
- Everyone not in address book
- Everyone except…
- Only send to…
- Finally, click on SAVE.
3) Steps to Set Up Quick Replies
In Quick Replies, you can set a shortcut for messages you frequently use.
- Open the WhatsApp Business app and click on the More Optionsicon.
- Select Business tools. Then under Messaging tools, click on the Quick replies option.
- Click on the Add ()icon at the bottom of the screen.
- Type in your reply in the Message textbox.
- Next, in Shortcut, type in your keyboard shortcut for a quick reply.
- In Keywords (optional), enter up to 3 keywords that you think will help you find the shortcuts later.
- Finally, click on SAVE.
Note: The maximum number of quick replies you are allowed to store is 50.
Steps To View Default Replies
Based on your business profile information, WhatsApp Business creates quick replies. You can send quick replies with your address, working hours, or even profile itself.
To see these default replies, follow these steps:
- First, open a chat.
- Click on Message and type “/” or click on Attach > Quick Replies.
Steps To Use Quick Replies
There are two ways to use Quick Replies in the chat. One is through Attachment and another is by typing the “/” in the text input field.
As an Attachment
- Open the chat, and click on Attach > Quick Replies.
- Select your desired reply so the message will appear in your text field.
- If you want to change it, then edit the reply.
- Finally, click on Send () icon.
From the Text Input Field
- Open the chat and click on Message and type “/”. This displays all the quick replies including default ones.
- Now, select your desired reply so the message is displayed in your text field
- Edit the message, if you want to make any changes.
- At last, click on Send () icon.
WhatsApp Auto Reply Message Samples
Here are some examples of WhatsApp Business auto-reply messages that you can use for your customers.
Greeting Message:
[Business_name]
Hi there! How can I help you today?
Hi! Welcome to our store. Please ask us anything. We’re here to help you.
Hi! My name is [agent_name] and I am very happy to assist you today. What do you need help with?
Away Message:
Hi there! Thank you for writing to us. Please expect some delay as our agents are occupied at the moment. But don’t worry, we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.
Hi! We are closed for the festive season until [date]. We’ll get back to you as soon as we are open. You could also reach out to us through [email_id] or [phone_number].
Happy [festival_name]!
Hello there! Thank you for contacting us. But we’re currently closed. You can reach out to us from [opening_time] to [closing_time].
Chat with you soon.
Thank you for reaching out to us.
Our servers are facing an [issue] and are expected to be down till [time]. If you wish to contact us, you can write to us at [email_id]. Our team will respond within 24 hours.
Quick reply:
Thank you for doing business with us. We look forward to your next order.
Can you please wait a minute so I can fetch your order details?
We are happy to resolve the issue you were having. Please tell us how you feel about our services.
Also, you can use the WhatsApp Business auto-reply feature to send fast replies to your friends when you are busy. Here is the WhatsApp auto reply message sample for friends –
Sample:
Hi, I am busy right now. Can I talk to you after [time]?
Also, read – How to Auto-Reply to a Story on Instagram?
Meet Saufter, The Best Customer Support Software!
Saufter is a software that lets you handle your customer requests/ tickets while improving your business performance with all the following features.
- Automated workflows ranging from order tracking to managing returns/ exchanges.
- 24/7 order monitoring informs you whenever an order gets delayed so your team can proactively resolve it.
- You can even hire, test, and train your employees in the support team.
- Also, supports eCommerce, Social Media, Collaboration, and Messaging platform Integrations seamlessly. For instance, you can integrate with WhatsApp, Facebook & Messenger, Instagram, Shopify, WooCommerce, etc.
- Plus, get real-time performance reports such as ticket volume, response time, customer feedback, etc.
- Further, it provides all the basic customer support services – email, SMS, live chat, and phone including a knowledge base, and chatbot.
Final Words
The auto reply Whatsapp Business feature helps you with saving time and energy while providing customer service.
You can welcome your users with a greeting message. And with an away message, you may indicate that your team is busy or away from the system. Using quick replies, you can send other user service-related messages.
In case you want to offer a proper customer support service through omnichannel communication and via various platforms such as email, phone, and SMS, then try Saufter. It even offers a self-service portal, AI chatbots, and integration with social media, eCommerce, collaboration, and messaging (like, WhatsApp) applications.