Set Up a WhatsApp Autoreply Bot for FAQs & After-Hours
Set up a WhatsApp autoreply bot in WA-CRM for FAQs and after-hours: exact, contains, startsWith and endsWith keyword rules plus a sensible fallback reply.
You shut the shop at 8 PM. At 10:40 PM someone messages "price kya hai?" — and by morning they have already bought from whoever replied first. A WhatsApp autoreply bot closes exactly that gap: it answers the same five questions you answer forty times a day, and it keeps a new enquiry warm until you are back at your desk.
This tutorial walks through setting up the Autoreply BOT inside WA-CRM: the four keyword match types (exact, contains, startsWith, endsWith), how to order rules so they don't fight each other, and how to write a fallback reply that doesn't sound like a machine.
What a WhatsApp autoreply bot can and can't do
WA-CRM is a Windows desktop app that runs your real WhatsApp Web session inside its own window. It is not official WhatsApp or Meta software, and it is not the WhatsApp Business API — no approval process and no per-message fee, but also no verified-bot badge. Two practical consequences:
- The bot only replies to people who message you first. It is not a broadcasting tool.
- It matches keywords. It does not understand intent the way an AI chatbot does. Five well-chosen rules beat fifty clever ones.
That is fine, because in most small businesses the same handful of questions make up 70-80% of incoming messages: price, delivery time, payment method, GST invoice, "is this available".
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- Scroll back through last week's chats and write down the exact questions people typed — their words, not your marketing words.
- Decide your working hours (say 10 AM to 8 PM, Monday to Saturday).
- Fill in your Quick Replies / Product Catalog first, so a human can follow up in one click after the bot answers.
Step 1: Open the Autoreply BOT panel
- Launch WA-CRM and pick the number you want to automate from the multi-account switcher at the top. Rules are per account, so your personal number and your business number can behave differently.
- In the right-hand feature rail, click Autoreply BOT.
- Turn the master toggle ON. Leave it off while you build rules quietly — nothing fires until it's on.
Step 2: Learn the four match types before writing a single rule
This is the part people get wrong, and it is the difference between a bot that helps and one that embarrasses you.
| Match type | Fires when the incoming message… | Best used for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| exact | is exactly the keyword and nothing else | menu replies ("1", "2", "yes"), "hi" | "Hi." or "hi sir" will NOT match |
| contains | has the keyword anywhere inside it | price, delivery, gst, refund | over-firing: "no price issue" also matches |
| startsWith | begins with the keyword | typed commands: "order", "help", "demo" | forwarded messages rarely start cleanly |
| endsWith | ends with the keyword | "…available?", "…kitna?" | least useful of the four; use sparingly |
Rule of thumb: contains for topics, exact for menu numbers, startsWith for commands, endsWith almost never.
Keep keywords short and in the language your customers actually type. In India that usually means both — "price" and "kitna", "delivery" and "kab milega".
Step 3: Add your FAQ rules
Click + Add Rule, then for each rule enter the keyword, pick the match type, and type the reply. A starter set that works for most product sellers:
| Keyword | Match | Reply (shortened) |
|---|---|---|
| price | contains | "Here's the price list — tell me which one you want and I'll confirm stock. Starting from ₹499." |
| kitna | contains | Same as above, in Hindi |
| gst | contains | "Yes, we give a proper GST invoice with CGST/SGST or IGST as applicable. Share your GSTIN and firm name." |
| delivery | contains | "Digital products are delivered instantly on WhatsApp after payment. Physical orders ship in 2-3 working days." |
| demo | startsWith | "Sure — send your name and I'll share a demo link within working hours." |
| 1 | exact | Menu option 1 answer |
Two things that save you later: write replies you would actually send (three short lines, no "Dear valued customer"), and never promise a timeline the bot can't keep.
Step 4: Order your rules so they don't collide
Rules are checked top to bottom and the first match wins, so put narrow rules above broad ones. If "price" (contains) sits above "price list pdf", the second rule never runs. Likewise, a rule with keyword "hi" set to contains will hijack the word "delhi" — set greetings to exact, always.
Then send yourself a few real-world messages and watch which rule fires. Ten minutes of testing beats a week of confused customers.
Step 5: Write the fallback reply
The fallback is what goes out when nothing matches — and honestly, it does most of the work. Give it three jobs: acknowledge, set a time expectation, ask one useful question.
Thanks for messaging. I've seen this and will reply personally within an hour. Meanwhile, tell me which product you're asking about so I can check stock straight away.
Never let the fallback fire on every message in an ongoing conversation. A bot that interrupts a live chat is worse than no bot.
Step 6: The after-hours setup
The bot does not watch the clock for you; you switch it. That is a two-minute routine worth building into your closing habit:
- At closing time, open Autoreply BOT and swap the fallback text to your after-hours version.
- Confirm the master toggle is ON.
- Next morning, swap it back.
An after-hours fallback that converts:
We're closed right now (we reply 10 AM - 8 PM, Mon-Sat). Your message is saved and you'll get a reply first thing in the morning. If it's about pricing, reply PRICE and I'll send the list right now.
That last line matters: it hands the customer a keyword your contains rule answers instantly, so even at 1 AM they get something real.
Step 7: Hand the conversation to a human
Automation should stop the moment a person is genuinely interested.
- When a reply arrives that the bot can't handle, open the chat and click + Lead in the chat header to save it into Lead Manager — set the type to Hot or Warm and the status to Contacted.
- Use Quick Replies to send the right product image and caption in one click.
- If they go quiet, attach an Auto Follow-Up Sequence. It stops automatically the moment they reply, so nobody gets nagged.
Keep your number safe
An autoreply bot is low risk because it only responds to inbound messages — the safest kind of automation there is. What gets numbers banned is the other stuff: mass-messaging strangers, scraped lists, identical text blasted to hundreds of people. Reply to people who wrote to you, keep broadcasts to opted-in customers with spin syntax and random delays, and you'll be fine.
Want to try it? WA-CRM has a 7-day free trial with the Autoreply BOT unlocked — download it or check pricing at wa-crm.in.
Frequently asked
Will the autoreply bot work when my laptop is off?
No. WA-CRM runs your WhatsApp Web session on your PC, so the app must be open and the machine awake for rules to fire. For overnight cover, leave the PC on with sleep disabled.
Can I have different rules for different WhatsApp numbers?
Yes. Each number runs in its own isolated session, and Autoreply BOT rules are saved per account — so a reseller number and a support number can answer completely differently.
What happens if two rules match the same message?
The first matching rule from the top of the list wins, and the fallback only fires when nothing matches at all. Keep specific keywords above general ones.
Does an autoreply bot increase the risk of a WhatsApp ban?
Replying to inbound messages is normal behaviour and carries very little risk. Bans come from unsolicited bulk messaging to people who never contacted you — that risk exists on every tool, including the official API.
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