How to Send Customer Quotes with WhatsApp Automation

Picture a customer writing to a car dealership on WhatsApp: "How much is this car?" The sales rep first asks for the model, then the trim, then whether there is a trade-in. The answers come in pieces, and when evening comes the conversation is left half finished. WhatsApp automation turns this back-and-forth into an orderly form: the customer enters their details in one go, and you prepare the quote with complete information. Below we build this setup first around a car sale, then adapt it to other industries.

How does the quote process work with WhatsApp automation?

In short, it has four steps:

1. The customer writes. They can come from an ad, from the chat window on your site or straight to your number.
2. The bot opens the form. It asks the questions needed for a quote one by one, or shows a form screen that opens inside WhatsApp.
3. The details reach an agent. When the form is complete, the conversation, with the answers, is assigned to someone on the sales team.
4. The quote goes out and follow-up begins. The agent sends the price, the validity period and the next step in a single message.

There are two different form types here. If you know the difference between them, picking the right one gets easier.

In-chat question-and-answer flow

The bot asks each question in a separate message, and the customer answers by typing or tapping a button. With Chatopya's drag-and-drop flow designer, you set up flows such as order forms, appointments and surveys without writing code. If the customer asks something outside the flow, the AI answers it from your information, and when it can't, it hands the conversation to an agent along with the chat history. You'll find the details on our WhatsApp customer service and AI chatbot page.

A form screen with WhatsApp Flows

Meta's WhatsApp Flows feature offers a multi-step form that opens inside the chat. It has dropdown lists, checkboxes, date and text fields. The customer fills in and submits the form without leaving WhatsApp. In Chatopya, WhatsApp Flows is available in the Business and Enterprise plans. In the other plans, you get the same job done with an in-chat flow.

How do you set up a quote form for car sales?

A good quote form for a dealership or showroom is short. Each question should collect a detail that really changes the quote. You'll talk through the rest on the phone anyway.

Which questions should the form have?

• Make and model: Use a selection list instead of free text.
• New or used: For used cars, you can also ask for a model year range.
• Trim, fuel and transmission type
• Trade-in: If there is a trade-in, ask for the car's make, model, year and mileage.
• Payment method: Cash, a vehicle loan or another option
• City: Needed for delivery and the nearest branch.
• When should we reach you? Morning, noon or evening

Selection fields help a lot here. When a customer misspells the model name, the agent doesn't have to guess. Also, don't stretch the form past seven questions; long forms can get abandoned halfway.

What happens after the form is submitted?

The answers are assigned to a sales rep along with the conversation. In the customer card on the side, the rep sees whether this person has written before from Instagram or from the chat window on the website. If it's the same person, the records are gathered in one card, in one timeline. The rep prepares and sends the quote and, if needed, hands the conversation over to a teammate.

In cases that need an appraisal, such as valuing a trade-in, it's hard to give a firm figure in the first message. In such cases, giving an appraisal appointment together with a preliminary quote works well. The bot can ask for a suitable day and time in the same flow.

How does the same setup work in other industries?

A car is only one example. The same logic applies to any job where the price changes with the information you get from the customer.

What they have in common: the form collects in advance everything the agent would ask in the first five minutes.

Should the bot send the quote, or an agent?

That depends on how fixed your price is.

• If the price comes from a list (a standard package, a fixed service fee): The AI can share this information from the content you provided, 24/7. E-commerce is similar. The bot asks about the customer's need, suggests a suitable product from the catalog and directs them to the payment link.
• If the price varies by situation (trade-in, survey, a personal discount): The bot collects the details and the agent gives the quote.
• If the price is calculated in your own system (dealer software, ERP): The Enterprise plan has API access and custom integration options. We work out together during setup what is possible for you.

One limit of the bot builds trust too: it doesn't make up an answer to a question the knowledge base has no answer for; it leaves the conversation to an agent. A bot that states a wrong price can cost more than an agent who replies late. If you define a handover rule for forms that arrive outside business hours, you can deal with them first thing in the morning.

How does the 24-hour rule affect the quote process?

On the WhatsApp Business API, when a customer writes to you, a 24-hour customer service window opens, and it is renewed with each new message. While the window is open, you can send the quote as free text, a PDF or an image.

Once the window has closed, things change. For example, if you want to write "Our quote is still valid" three days later, you need to use a Meta-approved template message. We explained the details in our post on the WhatsApp 24-hour rule.

There is one more advantage: if the customer came to you from an ad that leads to WhatsApp, Meta opens a free entry point window. Running an ad for a launch or a seasonal campaign and connecting the quote form to this entry is a sensible setup.

What should a good quote message include?

• A short summary of the request: Repeat the model, trim and trade-in details at the start. You head off misunderstandings from the beginning.
• The price and what it includes: State clearly whether taxes, delivery and extra costs are included.
• Validity period: Say until which date the quote is valid.
• Next step: Something like "pick a day for a test drive" or a payment link.
• Attachment: If needed, attach a PDF quote or a product image.

In follow-up messages, template variables make your work easier. Fields such as the customer's name, the model they are interested in and the quote date fill in automatically. You can also add an image, buttons and a link to the template.

How do you follow up with customers you've sent a quote?

You sent the quote, but there is no word from the customer. So what now? If you don't follow up, the quote is most likely forgotten.

• Segment: Group the people who got a quote and haven't replied by interest or custom fields, and send a reminder with an approved template. You can also upload contacts with Excel.
• Timing: Schedule the reminder for a suitable hour. Scheduled sending works by time zone.
• Report: You see message by message which one was delivered and read, which got a reply and which link was clicked.
• Team performance: In the analytics dashboard you track response time, resolution rate and satisfaction. History per agent is also recorded.

If the reminder carries marketing content, the customer must have given permission to receive messages from you on WhatsApp. Chatopya keeps consent records, opt-out requests and sending history. That way you don't overlook someone who says, "Don't message me anymore."

Frequently asked questions