WhatsApp Business for tradies: how to use it well

Why customers message instead of ringing

A customer can send a photo of the leaking tap, a pin for the address and “any chance this week?” in under a minute, and you can answer between jobs instead of taking a call on a ladder. The photo alone often tells you whether it is a quick fix or a quote.

The trouble starts when that happens on your personal number. Work chats sit between family groups, nobody else can answer, and nothing links the chat to the job. WhatsApp Business fixes the first part straight away.

App or Platform: the two kinds of WhatsApp Business

Meta offers two different products under the WhatsApp Business name. Most tradies start with the first.

Set up the app properly

Ten minutes of setup makes you look established and saves you typing the same answers all week.

Any price you show to homeowners should include GST. The ACCC treats a price that leaves GST out as potentially misleading for consumers.

• Use a separate number. A second SIM or an eSIM keeps work off your personal WhatsApp, and the number can stay with the business if someone leaves.
• Fill in the business profile. Business name, a short description of what you do, your hours, your service area, website and email. Customers check it before they message.
• List your common services. The app lets you set prices and share items. A “standard service call” or “end-of-lease clean, two bedrooms” with a GST-inclusive price answers half the questions before they are asked.
• Turn on a greeting message for first-time contacts, saying what to send you: photos, suburb and when suits them.
• Turn on an away message outside your hours, with what to do in an emergency.
• Use labels such as New enquiry, Quote sent, Booked and Waiting on payment, so you can filter chats at the end of the day.

Quick replies worth saving

Quick replies let you send a saved message with a shortcut. These cover most of a tradie’s day:

• First reply: “Thanks for getting in touch. Could you send a couple of photos of the problem and your suburb? I’ll come back to you today with a price or a time.”
• Booking confirmation: “You’re booked for Thursday between 8 and 10 am. I’ll message when I’m on my way.”
• Running late: “Sorry, the job before yours has run over. I’ll be about 30 minutes later than planned.”
• Quote follow-up: “Just checking you received the quote. Happy to answer any questions or adjust the options.”
• After the job: “Thanks for having us. Your invoice is attached. If you were happy with the work, a review would mean a lot.”

Sharing one number with your team

WhatsApp lets you link up to four additional devices to one account, and says employees can respond to customers directly from their own phones. That works well for a couple of people sharing the load.

It starts to strain with a bigger team. Everyone sees every chat, two people can answer the same customer, and it is hard to see later who promised what. Assigning a chat to one person, tracking whether it became a job, and handing it over when someone is on leave all happen outside the app, usually in someone’s head.

Signs it is time for the Platform

• More than two people regularly answer customer messages.
• Chats get missed because everyone thought someone else had replied.
• You copy addresses, photos and job details from WhatsApp into another system by hand.
• You want messages to arrive in the same place as email and web form enquiries.
• You want reminders and invoices to go out on WhatsApp without someone sending each one.

A number can only be on one WhatsApp account at a time, so moving to the Platform means connecting your number through your provider’s setup. Some businesses choose a fresh number for the team instead.

Meta’s 24-hour rule and templates

The Platform has a rule the app does not. When a customer messages you, Meta starts a 24-hour customer service window, and each new message from them resets it. Inside the window you can send normal replies. Outside it, Meta says template messages are the only type you can send.

A template is a message you write in advance and Meta approves before you can use it. Each template is classed as marketing, utility (job updates such as a reminder or an invoice) or authentication. In practice, a tradie needs a handful: a visit reminder, an invoice-ready message, and a “we tried to reach you” follow-up.

There is one longer window. If a customer messages you from a Click to WhatsApp ad, Meta keeps a free entry point window open for up to 7 days.

What the Platform costs

Meta charges per message, only for messages from the business to the customer, and only when they are delivered. The rate depends on the message type and the customer’s country. Messages from customers to you are not charged.

Meta’s pricing page, checked 30 October 2026, says that from 1 October 2026 each business phone number gets 1,000 free service messages (normal replies inside the window) a month, and later ones are charged. Templates are charged at Meta’s published rates. Your software provider may add its own fee on top, so ask for both figures before you sign up.

Stay on the right side of the Spam Act

The Spam Act 2003 covers commercial electronic messages, and its definition of an electronic message includes instant messages as well as email and SMS. The ACMA sums up the rules for marketing messages in three words:

• Consent. Get permission before you send marketing, such as a winter special or a service reminder offer, and keep a record of it.
• Identify. Say who the message is from, with your business name or ABN.
• Unsubscribe. Give an easy way to opt out, and act on it within 5 working days.

If a customer replies “stop”, stop. Keep marketing separate from job messages, and if you are unsure whether a message counts as marketing, treat it as if it does.

WhatsApp in Karya Falak

WhatsApp in Karya Falak connects your WhatsApp business number through Meta’s official Platform and puts the chats in a shared inbox beside email, SMS and web form enquiries.

See WhatsApp for tradies for more, and add a web form so every enquiry lands in the same place.

• The whole team answers from one business number, and every reply shows who sent it.
• Each conversation becomes a card on your job board that you assign to someone, so it is clear who is handling it.
• Each chat shows how long is left in its 24-hour window, and your team is told before it closes.
• Approved templates sync from your Meta account and are offered when the window has closed.
• Customers who reply STOP are opted out before anything else is sent.
• Send a quote or invoice from the card into the chat as a PDF.