WhatsApp Business for bookings: the setup that converts

First: WhatsApp personal vs WhatsApp Business

They're two different apps in the store. WhatsApp Business is free, works just like the regular one but adds: business profile, catalogue, automatic welcome message, away message, quick replies (shortcuts), customer labels and basic stats.

The simple rule: if you're going to use the same number for your business, switch to Business. If you want to keep personal and work separate, use a second phone or a cheap eSIM and keep Business for the business.

Step 1 · Complete business profile

Go to Settings → Business tools → Profile. Fill in every field:

• Business name (not your personal name)
• Right category (restaurant, beauty, health, services, etc.)
• Address with map
• Opening hours — critical, it's used for the away message
• Email and website
• Profile picture: logo or shopfront, not a selfie
• Description: one clear sentence about what you offer

This is what the customer sees before messaging you. With the profile sorted, you already look like a serious business and not someone who only just opened.

Step 2 · Automatic welcome message

Sent the first time someone messages you. Use it to set context and expectations:

What matters in the welcome message:

• Confirms you've seen them — kills the "have they read it?" anxiety
• Sets timing expectations — stops them messaging you three times in two hours
• Offers an instant exit — link to the booking system so they can close without waiting
• Human tone — emoji, business name, not robotic

Step 3 · Away message (out of hours)

Switch on "Away message" in Business tools. It only sends when you're closed (uses the hours you've already set). Use it for the people who write at 11pm:

This message saves you more bookings than almost anything else you'll do. People decide where to go in the evening, when you've already closed. If you don't give them a way out, they open the next tab and book at the place next door.

Step 4 · Quick replies (your shortcuts)

In Tools → Quick replies. They're templates triggered with "/" + word. The essentials to get going:

• /prices — list of services and prices
• /hours — full hours with bank holidays
• /map — Google Maps link to your place
• /book — direct link to the booking system
• /payment — payment options (Bizum, card, etc.)
• /thanks — "Thanks for trusting us! If everything went well, we'd love a Google review: [link]"

Typing /book takes 1 second versus typing the same text 20 times a day. You save an hour a day, literally.

Step 5 · Catalogue (only if it applies)

If you sell defined products or services (gym classes, salon treatments, signature dishes, properties for sale), put them in the catalogue — each with photo, name, price and short description. When someone asks "what do you offer?", you send the whole catalogue and you're done. It works as a light shop window.

Step 6 · wa.me link and website button

WhatsApp generates a link that opens a chat with you directly, without the customer having to save your number. Format: https://wa.me/34XXXXXXXXX (with the +34 prefix, no plus sign). You can add a pre-filled message:

https://wa.me/34631XXXXXX?text=Hi%2C%20I%27d%20like%20to%20book%20a%20table%20for%20Saturday

Put that link on:

• The floating WhatsApp button on your website (bottom-right corner, fixed)
• Your Instagram bio
• The footer of every email
• The printed QR on your table, reception or receipt
• Your Google Business listing

Each of those is another door into your inbox. And that's why Business works: you receive more, but you also reply better.

Step 7 · Labels so you don't lose customers

In the chat list, long-press a chat and add a label: "New", "Booking confirmed", "Awaiting payment", "VIP customer", "Follow up". In two weeks you've got a free mini-CRM. When you search "Follow up", you see the ones who went cold and you can rescue them with a short, polite message.

The flow that converts most

Of all the setups we've tested with businesses on the Costa Tropical, this is the one that produces the most bookings:

1. Customer messages on WhatsApp (they saw you on Google Maps, Instagram or the website)
2. Welcome message offers them the booking link
3. 40-60% book directly without continuing the conversation
4. The rest ask a specific question — you reply with a quick reply
5. Confirm with a short message and label the chat as "Booking confirmed"
6. The day after their visit, send /thanks asking for a review

That closed loop — from acquisition to review — is what moves the needle most over time. Because every new review feeds the Google Local Pack again (see the Google Maps post), and the Local Pack sends more customers to WhatsApp. Closed loop.

What not to do

• Don't send mass messages to your contact list without consent — it falls under Spanish e-comms law (LSSI) and you can be fined.
• Don't use groups with mixed customers (privacy violation, data protection).
• Don't show "last seen" so customers can see if you're online — manage expectations with the away message instead.
• Don't reply from your personal phone outside hours — protect your downtime. That's what the auto-reply is for.

One-screen summary

• Install WhatsApp Business, migrate your history
• Fill in the profile and opening hours
• Welcome message with booking link
• Away message with booking link
• 6 essential quick replies
• Catalogue if it applies
• wa.me button on website, Instagram, email and QR
• Labels by customer status

With those eight things, you go from "I'll reply when I can" to a system that works at three in the morning. And customers can tell.

Want us to set it all up for you? We'll configure WhatsApp Business end to end + the website button + the link in Google Business as part of any pack from Launch upwards.