Prerequisites

Integrating WhatsApp Messaging Service with Zoho CRM  

To integrate WhatsApp Business with Zoho CRM

1. Go to Setup > Channels > Business Messaging.
   

2. Under WhatsApp click Details > Integrate.
   

3. In the WhatsApp access request page, log in with Facebook Business Manager's credentials.
   

4. Click Get Started.
   

5. Click Continue to give permission.
   

6. Create a new Facebook Business account or select existing account from the options.
   
7. Create a new WhatsApp Business Account or select existing accounts from the options.
   

8. Click Continue.
   

9. Create a new WhatsApp Business profile or select an existing profile from the options.
   

10. Click Continue.

11. Verify your WhatsApp Business number.
    

12. Click Ok on the next screen.
    

13. On the Configure WhatsApp Business Profile in CRM pop-up:
    

1. Provide a nickname for the WhatsApp Business Profile in CRM.
   

2. Select a phone number to be associated with the WhatsApp Business profile.
   
   All the numbers associated with your WhatsApp Business Manager profile will be listed here. If a number does not meet the conditions mentioned in the Prerequisites, you will not be able to associate the particular number.

14. Provide a nickname for the WhatsApp business profile in CRM and click Next.
    

12. Provide the account preferences choosing from the dropdown options.
    Choose add as Leads or Contacts

13. Assign to users, groups or roles
    

14. Choose the users, groups or role.
    

15. Click  Save .

WhatsApp Business messaging account is activated.

Notes:

• Once your business is verified, it will be reviewed for compliance with the WhatsApp Terms of Service and WhatsApp Commerce Policy.

• If you have rebranded your domain (domain-mapped accounts), you must enable third-party cookies in your browser before starting the integration,

• You cannot use WhatsApp phone numbers being used on other products. Only unused phone numbers can be used for the integration.
  

• Migration of existing phone numbers is not supported yet.

To deactivate WhatsApp Business integration

1. Go to Setup > Channels > Business Messaging.
   
2. Click on the Deactivate button in the WhatsApp Business integration section.
   
   
3. Click Yes, Delete on the pop-up to deactivate the integration.
   
   

Business Message Charges, buying credits, and auto-recharge  

Messages sent by the company are charged. You can buy credits based on the frequency of your usage so that the charges are automatically deducted from it. After the initial purchase of credits, you can use the auto recharge option to avoid running out of balance by setting the minimum number of credits that must be maintained in your account at anytime. You can also mention the number of credits that must be purchased when the limit is exhausted.  

To buy credits

1. Go to Setup > Channels > Business Messaging.

2. Click Buy Credits.
   This option will be available only after the phone number is active.

3. Enter the value.

4. Click Next.

5. Click Make a payment.

To auto-recharge

1. Go to Setup > Channels > Business Messaging.

2. Click Auto recharge.

3. Toggle on Enable Auto recharge.

4. Enter Minimum credit balance to be maintained.

5. Enter the number of credits to be added when the balance is minimum.

6. Click Save.  

Instead of charging the customer for every message they send, businesses are now charged per conversation based on the new policies. Every conversation has a 24-hour messaging window where your customers can send unlimited messages. To know more about conversation-based pricing for WhatsApp Business and check the various rate cards click here.

2.  Receiving notifications for business messages 

The push notification will be shown to the record owner. 

Within the push notification the user will get an option to be re-notified after a few minutes or hour. If the user cannot respond immediately, he can click remind after 15 minutes. This is not a global setting, therefore the user has to select when to be reminded for each push notification that they receive. Once the user clicks ignore, the notification will close.

When multiple messages are received the notification will display the count of messages.

The user can also access the message notification from

SalesSignal.

3.  Replying to the business messages 

Note:

• CRM users can reply to a message within 24 hours of receiving. After this time the WhatsApp messaging window will be closed.
  

• WhatsApp allows only the end customer to initiate a conversation by sending a message to the business. A user is not allowed to initiate a conversation to leads or contacts via WhatsApp. This restriction is enforced by WhatsApp.
  

To reply a business message

1. Click on the notification to view the message.
   Alternately, you can go to the Messages tab and click on the record.

2. Type your message or click Predefined text and select a text.
   

3. Click Send, to respond.
   

4. Setting and managing predefined text 

• Answers to commonly asked questions like what is the cost of the mobile cover? My order is delayed, can you help me track?
  

• Greetings, like Hi, $[Leads.First Name] how are you doing? How can I help you?
  

To create predefined text

1. Go to the Messages tab, click on a message.

2. Next to the typing bar, click New Predefined Text next to the typing bar.
   Alternately, click Manage and + New Predefined Text.

3. In the New Predefined Text popup, give a name for the text (for eg., Greetings)

4. Enter the text message.
   You can use merge fields too.

5. Click Save.

The predefined text messages can be edited or deleted by clicking the Manage button. All the texts are stored here, the users can filter them module-wise or search using the text name.

Note: You cannot change the module while editing a predefined text. This is to prevent errors in case of merge fields have been used in the predefined texts.

To manage predefined text

1. Go to the Messages tab and click Predefined Text from the text area.

2. Click Manage from the drop-down list.
   

3. In the Manage Predefined Text, hover on a text and click Edit or Delete icon. 
   

5.  Sending attachments via business messages 

• Upload a file from their computer.
• Attach files from the Inventory such as sales orders, quotes, purchase orders, and invoices.
• Attach files from supported cloud drives like Google drive, Sky Drive, Evernote, and Dropbox.