How to Automate Customer Engagement for Small Businesses Using WhatsApp and AI

✍️ Opinions

Sanvi Barjatya

29 May 2025 — 4 min read

Vinil Chandra, CEO, Squarebox.ai, How to Automate Customer Engagement for Small Businesses Using WhatsApp and AI

This article has been contributed by Vinil Chandra, CEO, Squarebox.ai.

If you’re a small business owner in India, chances are your customer conversations already happen on WhatsApp. I’ve seen it firsthand with shop owners, real estate agents, and tuition centres, they’re not emailing leads or logging into CRMs. They’re replying to chats on their phone between appointments, sometimes late at night.

WhatsApp is the heartbeat of business for India’s small and mid-sized entrepreneurs. But here’s the problem: it’s still mostly manual.

What if you could run sales, support, reminders, and follow-ups all automatically without sounding like a robot? That’s exactly what we’ve been building at Squarebox, and here’s what we’ve learned after working with hundreds of SMBs across India.

Start With One Thing: Know Who You’re Talking To

Don’t start with automation. Start with clarity. Who are your customers?

You don’t need expensive analytics, just segment people based on where they are in your journey:

New inquiries
First-time buyers
Repeat customers
Ghosted leads
Past customers

One gym owner we worked with just tagged people into “Trial,” “Joined,” and “Dropped Off.” That alone helped him send better, more timely WhatsApp messages — no tech needed.

How to get this data:

Website pop-ups with a “Chat on WhatsApp” CTA
QR codes in your store or packaging
A simple form that says “Want offers? Drop your number”

Once you have that, you can talk to people, not at them.

Don’t Blast Campaigns .. Start Real Conversations

Most businesses treat WhatsApp like it’s email. They blast out long messages and wonder why no one replies.

That’s not how people use WhatsApp. They want short, natural, one-line messages. Think:

“Hey, your appointment is tomorrow at 3PM.”
“Here are three easy exercises you can try today.”
“Pooja lost 4kg in 60 days — here’s how.”

Short. Friendly. Scroll-friendly.

The best-performing content we’ve seen? Tips, reminders, transformation stories - not sales pitches. And always end with a button or reply prompt. That’s what makes it feel like a conversation.

Get Found First, Then Engage

Before you talk to anyone, you need to be discovered. For most small businesses, that means SEO, not the complicated kind, just being searchable locally.

Three easy wins:

Set up your Google Business Profile with your WhatsApp number included
Add a Click-to-WhatsApp button on your website and Instagram bio
Write three to four simple blog posts answering questions your customers ask

For example, a physiotherapist in Pune started ranking for “sports injury specialist Pune.” He added a “Chat with us on WhatsApp” button, and now, 45% of new leads come straight from search to chat. It’s not about traffic. It’s about conversations.

Run Click-to-WhatsApp Ads - But Do It Smartly

If you have even a modest ad budget, run ads that start chats, not send people to websites.

Here’s what works:

“Want a home loan quote? Message us instantly.”
“Book your free demo class — chat with us now.”
“Need a cake in two hours? WhatsApp us.”

Every extra click is a lost lead. Ads that open a WhatsApp conversation convert better, especially for impulse products like real estate site visits or birthday cakes.

Turn Happy Customers into Growth Engines

One thing we always tell our clients: your best salesperson is your last happy customer.

Referrals work beautifully on WhatsApp if you ask correctly. Don’t wait weeks.

A hair salon client sends this three days after the visit:

“Glad you loved your look. Refer a friend and both of you get 15% off next time.”

No complicated referral programs. Just a message and a button to forward. That’s it.

It’s inexpensive, effective, and scalable.

Watch the Data - Then Tweak Like a Human

Here’s the truth: no automation works forever. It has to evolve.

Even basic numbers can tell you what’s working:

Percentage of people replying
Percentage of chats that lead to a sale or booking
Drop-off rate
Unsubscribes

If 50 people read but no one replies, maybe the first message is too long. If people keep unsubscribing, maybe you’re over-messaging. Think of your automation like a sales intern where you can train it, tweak it, and it gets better.

The Point Isn’t to Sound Smart - It’s to Stay Human (at Scale)

We didn’t build Squarebox to replace people. We built it so small teams don’t burn out trying to do everything manually.

A WhatsApp CRM powered by AI doesn’t mean you send robotic messages. It means:

You remember birthdays without effort
You follow up on leads at the right time
You ask “Need help?” before the customer even asks

And you do this every day, for hundreds of customers, without hiring five new team members.

Final Word

Automation doesn’t mean losing your voice. It means amplifying it at scale, with consistency, and care. The small businesses that win on WhatsApp aren’t the loudest they’re the ones who have real conversations. At the right time. With the right people. Without dropping the ball. And with the right tools, that’s possible even if you’re a team of one. Let’s build businesses that talk, not just sell.