# WhatsApp AI lead capture: turn chats into useful enquiries

WhatsApp is a familiar place for customers to ask a business about prices, opening hours or a product they have seen. The challenge is turning that interest into a record your team can act on.

Before buying automation, separate three different needs: answering questions, handing a conversation to a person, and recording what happened.

## A WhatsApp link is not a native WhatsApp bot

A link shared in a WhatsApp message can open a hosted AI conversation in the browser. A website handoff button can open a conversation with your team on WhatsApp. A Business Solution Provider integration can capture supported WhatsApp activity.

Those are different flows. Do not assume a WhatsApp icon means an AI assistant automatically replies inside every WhatsApp chat.

### The routes, side by side

| Route | Where the conversation happens | Who replies | What gets captured |
|---|---|---|---|
| Native WhatsApp AI add-on *(paid, Growth/Scale)* | WhatsApp | Your configured AI agent, with team takeover | Conversation and captured enquiry details; replies use the plan allowance |
| Tracked agent link shared in WhatsApp | Browser, hosted agent | The assistant | Question, details the visitor shares, campaign source |
| Website widget | Your website | The assistant | Same, plus page context |
| Human WhatsApp handoff *(Growth)* | WhatsApp | Your team | Whatever your staff record |
| Supported BSP integration *(Scale)* | WhatsApp | Depends on the supported workflow | Supported events only |

A tracked agent link opens browser chat; human handoff opens a chat with your team; the native add-on answers inside WhatsApp. Choose the route you need rather than treating every WhatsApp icon as the same capability.

## Start with a clear route

Choose the route that matches your team:

1. Share a tracked Serviti agent link when customers need business information before speaking to someone.
2. Let the website assistant answer from approved content and offer a human handoff when available.
3. If you use a supported BSP, confirm the integration and its supported events before relying on it for conversation capture.

A click-to-WhatsApp ad opens WhatsApp. With the WhatsApp AI Agent add-on connected to that business number, Serviti can reply inside WhatsApp. Without the add-on, a person or your existing system handles the message. A tracked agent link remains a separate route to Serviti's browser-based chat.

### A pre-launch test script

Run this on a phone, not a desktop, before you put a link in any campaign. Fifteen minutes here prevents the most common launch failures.

1. **Open your own link from a WhatsApp message.** Does it load quickly on mobile data? Is it obvious what this is?
2. **Ask a price question with a condition** — a product that costs different amounts in different sizes. Does the answer keep the condition attached?
3. **Ask about something not in your content.** Does it say what needs checking, or does it produce a confident guess?
4. **Type a single vague word**, like "price" or "delivery". Does it ask a useful clarifying question?
5. **Share your details when asked.** Then check what your team actually received — the question, the product, the contact detail, the source.
6. **Trigger the human handoff** if you are on Growth. Does the visitor understand they are moving to WhatsApp and talking to a person?
7. **Ask for something it cannot do**, such as cancelling an order. Does it decline clearly and offer a real next step?

Failures on steps 3 and 7 are the ones that cost you customers. A wrong confident answer is worse than no answer.

## Capture context, not just a number

When a visitor is willing to share details, preserve the question, product or service of interest, preferred next step and contact information.

Ask one useful question at a time. A person typing "price?" may need a particular product, not a generic price list. If the product is unclear, clarify it before quoting.

Prices and delivery promises should come from current business content or be confirmed by staff. A chat transcript is not proof that stock has been reserved.

## What Serviti provides

Serviti combines a website or hosted AI assistant with lead capture and a lead CRM. Tracked links can be shared through WhatsApp campaigns and QR codes.

Starter includes a daily missed-lead summary and weekly digest email. Growth adds real-time email and WhatsApp lead alerts and human WhatsApp handoff. Scale adds supported bidirectional BSP integration and Lead Intelligence.

Native replies require the separate WhatsApp AI Agent add-on on Growth or Scale and a connected business number. Alerts, handoff and BSP integration do not enable native AI replies by themselves. Nor do team follow-up reminders mean automatic outbound customer messages. See the [WhatsApp feature guide](/whatsapp-lead-capture) and [plan comparison](/pricing).

### Matching the plan to how you work

The plan difference that matters most is not a feature list, it is how quickly a person finds out a lead exists.

On **Starter**, captured leads are available in the dashboard, with a daily missed-lead summary and weekly digest email. These are scheduled summaries, not instant alerts. If enquiries need an immediate staff response, consider Growth or Scale.

On **Growth**, real-time email and WhatsApp alerts reach the team as enquiries arrive, and the assistant can hand a conversation to a person on WhatsApp. If your enquiries are time-sensitive, this is the line worth crossing.

**Scale** adds Lead Intelligence and supported BSP integration — relevant once you have enough enquiry volume that prioritising between them is a real problem.

## Keep the human handover practical

Tell visitors who will contact them and avoid promising a response time your team cannot meet. Give leads an owner and record the outcome after the conversation.

A stated response window you consistently meet builds more trust than an ambitious one you miss. "We reply during business hours, usually within a few hours" is better than "instant response" if instant is not true.

## Common questions

**Can Serviti reply automatically on our WhatsApp number?**
Yes, with the separate WhatsApp AI Agent add-on on Growth or Scale and a connected WhatsApp Business number. The AI replies inside WhatsApp, and your team can take over. Website chat, tracked links, handoff and alerts remain distinct capabilities; the base plan does not include native replies.

**Our ads use click-to-WhatsApp. Does that feed the assistant?**
A click-to-WhatsApp ad reaches the assistant when the destination business number is connected with the WhatsApp AI Agent add-on. Otherwise it reaches your existing WhatsApp conversation flow. A tracked Serviti link can instead open the website agent. Test the actual ad destination and do not assume every DM includes campaign attribution.

**Will it send follow-up messages to customers who go quiet?**
No. Reminders go to your team, prompting a person to follow up. There is no automatic outbound customer sequence, and you should not describe one to your customers.

**What if the assistant gets a price wrong?**
Check the source content, retrieval and configuration as well as the answer. An old page or a price without its conditions can cause errors, but the model can also misread valid evidence or retrieve the wrong subject. Correct the cause and re-run steps 2 and 3 of the test script.

**Do we need a QR code as well as a link?**
Only where people are physically present — a counter, a package, a vehicle, a standee. The QR is just a way of delivering the same tracked link. Use a distinct one per location if you want to compare them.

Read next: [stop losing enquiries](/blog/missed-customer-enquiries-cost-small-business) and [organise follow-up](/blog/automated-lead-follow-up-small-business).