Answer a lead in Conversations

Conversations is the first tab of Inbox, and it holds every WhatsApp thread on the numbers you work with. The list of people sits on the left, the open thread on the right. Your reply leaves from the business number the thread’s already on, never from your own WhatsApp.

The page names the tab you’re on rather than itself, so the heading over the list reads Conversations. Inbox is the word in the rail.

Answer a lead

To reply to someone:

1. Open Inbox and stay on Conversations.
2. Pick a name in the list on the left.
3. Type in the box at the bottom of the thread.
4. Press Send, or press Enter.

Your words appear as a green bubble straight away, marked sending until WhatsApp takes them, and not sent if it refuses. The small line under the box reads Goes out from and names the number. Shift and Enter together start a new line instead of sending.

On a phone the send button is the paper plane on its own, without the word.

Find the right conversation

The box above the list searches a name or a number. Under it, three buttons narrow what you see: All, Unread and Waiting on you, each carrying its own count. A thread is waiting on you when the lead wrote last and nobody has answered.

Where you work more than one number, a picker sits above those buttons and reads All numbers until you choose one. Beside it, one more picker covers both pipeline stages and the saved views from your Contacts book. It reads Any stage or view until you pick something, or Every stage where you’ve saved no views.

The list loads 400 conversations and reaches further back as you scroll, with Load older conversations at the foot. It stops at the newest 4,000, and search finds anyone older than that.

Use a saved reply

Type / in the message box to open your saved replies, or press the lightning button beside it. Quick replies belong to the WhatsApp number rather than to you, so everybody answering that number has the same set. Picking one puts the words in the box, and nothing goes anywhere until you press Send.

Note that while that menu is open, Enter picks a reply rather than sending.

Ask your assistant for a draft

The sparkles button beside the box asks your assistant what it would say to this conversation, then fills the box with the answer. It never sends, and it never writes over words you’ve already typed. Tick Suggest a reply when they write under the box and the draft is waiting for you each time a lead writes back.

Attach a picture or a PDF

Press the paperclip, or paste a picture straight into the message box. WhatsApp takes JPG, PNG, WebP, GIF and PDF from here, and each file has to be under 15MB. Pictures go out after your words, unless the message is a single block, in which case the first picture carries your words as its caption.

Read and change the lead’s details

Press Details in the thread header, and Hide to close it again. Where they are is the stage in the inbox, Assistant decides whether it answers this one, In your pipeline moves the card on your Contacts board, and Private note is yours alone. The lead never sees the note.

In your pipeline writes to the same book as Add a contact and move it through stages.

On a phone

The list fills the screen, and tapping a name opens the thread over it. The back arrow in the thread header returns you to the list.

Note

Anything typed and not sent is kept for that one conversation, so switching threads or reloading the page won’t lose it. A message that fails keeps its words and offers Try again and Put it back in the box.

FAQ

Does the lead see my personal number?

No. Every reply leaves from the business number named under the message box, which is what lets a whole team share one WhatsApp.

Can I message somebody who isn’t in the list yet?

Yes. Press the + button beside the search box, type the number under Their number, and press Open the chat. Singapore numbers can be typed without +65.

Why does a red line above the box say the number is logged out?

The phone behind that number has been unlinked from WhatsApp, so nothing typed here will arrive. Press Reconnect in that line and scan the code with that phone. See Connect or reconnect a WhatsApp number.

A lead wrote days ago and I can’t find them. Where are they?

Search them by name or number. Search reaches past the conversations already loaded, and older ones arrive at the bottom of the list.