# Selling on WhatsApp

> Set up WhatsApp Business, bring customers to the chat, answer them well and stay within WhatsApp's rules. A complete guide for small businesses.

Customers like to ask before they buy, and a chat is where they ask. This guide covers everything around your links: the right WhatsApp app, a profile that answers the first questions, messages that reply while you're busy, habits that turn chats into sales and the rules that keep your number working.

## Is WhatsApp right for you

WhatsApp works for a business when customers have questions before they buy: what's in stock, how much delivery costs, when there's a free slot. A chat answers them in minutes, in an app they already use every day, and you can follow up with everyone who asked.

It works less well in two cases:

- **Nobody can answer.** A chat that waits a day for a reply usually loses the customer. Decide who answers, and when, before you share your link.
- **Your products aren't allowed.** WhatsApp doesn't let businesses sell some products, such as weapons, alcohol, tobacco, drugs, adult products, real money gambling and some medical and financial products. Check the full list in the [WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy](https://whatsappbusiness.com/policy/) before you start.

## WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business

WhatsApp Business is a separate app, free to download, made for selling. It looks and works like WhatsApp, and customers see that they're chatting with a business.

|                   | WhatsApp                                 | WhatsApp Business                             | WhatsApp Business Platform       |
| ----------------- | ---------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------- |
| Made for          | Personal chats                           | Businesses that answer by hand                | Software that sends messages     |
| Cost              | Free                                     | Free, with optional paid extras               | Paid, through Meta or a provider |
| Business profile  | No                                       | Hours, address, website and a catalog         | Yes                              |
| Automatic replies | No                                       | Greeting, away message, quick replies         | Whatever your software sends     |
| Where you answer  | Your phone and up to four linked devices | The same, or up to ten devices on a paid plan | Your own tools                   |

The paid extras are optional: Meta Verified adds a verified badge, protection against impersonation and more linked devices, and in some countries paid business broadcasts send promotions to customers who agreed to receive them. [Why Walink](https://walink.com/docs/why-walink) compares the Business Platform with Walink.

A phone number can be on WhatsApp or on WhatsApp Business, not on both at once. Both apps can be on one phone if each has its own number. Walink works with both apps: a wa.link opens a chat with any WhatsApp number or username.

## Move to WhatsApp Business

If you sell from your personal WhatsApp today, you can move the same number to WhatsApp Business and keep your chats:

1. In WhatsApp, back up your chats in **Settings** > **Chats** > **Chat backup**.
2. Save the contacts you keep only inside WhatsApp to your phone's contacts. They don't move to WhatsApp Business yet.
3. Install WhatsApp Business from Google Play or the App Store. It finds the number you use on WhatsApp.
4. Allow it to use your chat history and media, then enter the 6-digit code WhatsApp sends you by SMS.
5. Fill in your business profile.

Good to know:

- Never share the 6-digit code with anyone, not even someone who says they're from WhatsApp or Walink. Whoever has it can take over your account. Add a second lock in **Settings** > **Account** > **Two-step verification**.
- Make the move when chats are quiet, such as a weekend evening.
- WhatsApp Business can't transfer chats between an Android phone and an iPhone. If you're changing phones too, stay with the same kind of phone to keep your history.
- You can move back to WhatsApp later. Your catalog stays behind.

## Set up your profile

Your profile answers the first questions before anyone types. In WhatsApp Business, open your business profile and fill in:

- **Photo**: your logo, the same one customers see everywhere else.
- **Description**: what you sell, in one or two lines.
- **Hours, address and category**, so customers know when you reply and where to find you.
- **Website**: your site, or your [Multilink](https://walink.com/docs/multilink) page with all your links.
- **Email**, and your Instagram account or Facebook page.

Add your products in **Tools** > **Catalog**: a photo and a title for each one, plus optional details such as a price, a description and a link. Customers browse it and send you the items they want in the chat. A [Premium Link](https://walink.com/docs/premium-links) of type Catalog opens it straight from an ad, a post or a QR code.

Two settings build trust. Keep **Last seen and online** and **Read receipts** on in **Settings** > **Privacy**, so customers know you're there and that you read them. Turning read receipts off also hides theirs from you. Then turn on a daily backup in **Settings** > **Chats** > **Chat backup**, so a lost phone doesn't lose your customers.

## Automatic messages and quick replies

Three tools in the **Tools** tab keep you quick when you're busy:

| Tool                 | When it's sent                                                      | Use it for                         |
| -------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------- |
| **Greeting message** | A customer's first message, or their first after 14 days of silence | A welcome that says when you reply |
| **Away message**     | Always, on a schedule or outside your business hours                | Saying when you're back            |
| **Quick replies**    | When you type `/` and a shortcut in a chat                          | Answers you write many times a day |

Send the greeting to **Everyone not in address book**, so regular customers don't get it again. Say who you are, when you reply and what to send: `Hi, thanks for writing to Tienda Luna. We reply Monday to Saturday, 9 am to 6 pm. What are you looking for today?`

You can save up to 50 quick replies. A starter set:

| Shortcut    | Message                                                                |
| ----------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `/hi`       | `Hi, I'm Ana from Tienda Luna. How can I help you today?`              |
| `/prices`   | `Here's our price list with every size and color.`                     |
| `/delivery` | `We deliver in 2 to 3 working days. Send me your address for a quote.` |
| `/hours`    | `We're open Monday to Saturday, 9 am to 6 pm.`                         |
| `/wait`     | `Let me check that for you. I'll be back in a few minutes.`            |
| `/thanks`   | `Thank you for your order. Write to us anytime.`                       |

To keep track of orders, group chats by stage, such as new customer, waiting for payment, paid and delivered. WhatsApp Business calls these lists, or labels on phones that don't have lists yet, and you can make up to 20.

## Bring customers to the chat

A customer starts the chat by tapping a link. There are three kinds:

- **A wa.me link**, WhatsApp's own. Your number is part of the link, and so is the message.
- **The WhatsApp Business short link**, in **Tools** > **Short link**. One per account, with an optional default message, for every place you share it. Resetting it stops the old one from working.
- **A wa.link.** A short address that hides your number, and with a [Premium Link](https://walink.com/docs/premium-links) one you choose, edit after sharing and measure. [Why Walink](https://walink.com/docs/why-walink) compares them.

WhatsApp is also rolling out usernames, so customers can write to a business without typing its number. A business's number still shows on its profile. A wa.link can open a chat with your username instead of your number.

The pre-filled message decides whether a tap becomes a chat. Write one people can send as it is:

- Name what they want: `Hi, I'd like to order the blue mug.` gets an answer faster than `Hi`.
- Keep it to one line. Emojis work.
- Give each offer its own link, or let one link change its message with [message variables](https://walink.com/docs/premium-links/message-variables).

The customer can still edit it before sending, and nothing is sent until they tap send.

Then put the link wherever customers look for you:

- In your [Instagram bio](https://walink.com/docs/guides/instagram) and in stories.
- On your [website](https://walink.com/docs/guides/website), as a chat button.
- In [ads](https://walink.com/docs/guides/ads) on any platform.
- On [flyers, packaging, TV and radio](https://walink.com/docs/guides/print), with a QR code or an address people remember.
- In the website field of your Google Business Profile, so people who search for you on Google can write straight away.
- In your email signature and on your invoices.

In Brazil, customers can also find businesses inside WhatsApp, in its business directory. When several people answer, one [Smart Link](https://walink.com/docs/smart-links) shares the chats out between them.

## Answer like a pro

How you answer sells as much as what you sell. The habits that matter most:

- **Answer in order.** The customer who wrote first gets the first reply.
- **Reply fast, or say when you will.** Your greeting message covers the first minutes. After that, `/wait` buys you time without leaving anyone on read.
- **Introduce yourself.** A name tells the customer a person is reading.
- **Answer the next question too.** Someone who asks the price usually asks about sizes and delivery next. Send all three at once.
- **Ask when something isn't clear**, instead of guessing.
- **Write, don't send voice notes.** Text can be searched, skimmed and checked later, and nobody has to find a quiet place to listen. When a customer sends one, reply in writing with what you understood and ask them to confirm.
- **Lead the chat to a next step.** Close each answer with a question or an action, and send the last message. You'll see at a glance which chats are done and which are waiting.
- **Keep your promises** on delivery dates, stock and discounts. A broken one costs more than the sale.
- **Never answer "I don't know".** Say "Let me check, I'll tell you in ten minutes", and do.
- **Stay calm.** When a customer says it's expensive, explain what makes it worth it instead of arguing.

At the end of the day, note how many chats you had, how many bought and what they spent. It shows which days, products and messages work.

## Stay within WhatsApp's rules

WhatsApp's [Business Messaging Policy](https://whatsappbusiness.com/policy/) applies to the WhatsApp Business app too. In short:

- Message people only after they gave you their number or username and agreed to hear from you. A link works the right way round: the customer writes first.
- Don't spam, mislead or surprise people with messages they didn't expect.
- Stop when someone asks you to, whether they ask on WhatsApp or anywhere else.
- Sell only what WhatsApp allows: the policy lists what's prohibited, and Meta's [Commerce Policy](https://www.facebook.com/policies_center/commerce) adds the details.

Broadcasts follow the same rules. A free broadcast list reaches up to 256 people, and only those who saved your number. Paid business broadcasts, available in some countries, are charged for each message delivered.

> [!WARNING]
> Customers can block and report a business. Many reports can limit how many messages you can send, and serious or repeated violations can ban your number from WhatsApp. If it happens, you can ask for a review from the app.

## Close the sale

When the customer is ready, make the last step easy:

- **Send the item.** Share products from your catalog in the chat, so the customer sees the photo and price.
- **Send a payment link.** Many payment providers let you make a link for an amount, which the customer pays from the chat.
- **Ask for details first.** A [form](https://walink.com/docs/forms) collects an order, a booking or a quote request before the chat opens, and the answers arrive in WhatsApp, ready to confirm.
- **Keep in touch the right way.** WhatsApp isn't for mass messages, so after a sale, offer to add the customer to your email list for news and offers.

Your link's [analytics](https://walink.com/docs/analytics) show which places bring the chats. Put them next to your notes on sales, and you'll know where to spend your time and your ad budget.

## Sources

- WhatsApp Help Center, [How to move your WhatsApp Messenger account to the WhatsApp Business app](https://faq.whatsapp.com/3059780464322392)
- WhatsApp Help Center, [About moving between WhatsApp Messenger and the WhatsApp Business app](https://faq.whatsapp.com/663543925287107)
- WhatsApp Help Center, [How to move chats from an Android device to an iPhone](https://faq.whatsapp.com/686469079565350)
- WhatsApp Help Center, [How to use greeting messages](https://faq.whatsapp.com/501866148528310)
- WhatsApp Help Center, [How to use away messages](https://faq.whatsapp.com/2565868990219715)
- WhatsApp Help Center, [How to use quick replies](https://faq.whatsapp.com/1791149784551042)
- WhatsApp Help Center, [How to create short links](https://faq.whatsapp.com/502291734918768)
- WhatsApp Help Center, [How to use broadcast lists on the WhatsApp Business app](https://faq.whatsapp.com/653415899610349)
- WhatsApp, [WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy](https://whatsappbusiness.com/policy/)
- Meta, [Commerce Policy](https://www.facebook.com/policies_center/commerce)