Most businesses don't lack conversations. The problem is that every message arrives in a different shape: a photo of an order, a voice note, or a line like “need a quote for 50 units”. Staff spend their time understanding, re-asking and copying into a sheet before the real work starts.
A clear input comes first
Before any automation, agree on what a complete request looks like. For a quotation: item, size, quantity, delivery location and date. The WhatsApp assistant collects these fields with one question per step, not a long paragraph. If a field is missing, it asks for that field only.
Every request has a state
A request moves through three clear states: new request, in review, and done. Each state is written in words with a matching mark, so anyone on the team knows where it stands without opening the chat. Colour alone is not enough to explain a state.
The decision stays with the process owner
The assistant can prepare a draft quote from the catalogue in minutes, but a person approves the final price and any exception. That is not a weakness; it is what makes the team trust the system. Start by reviewing every quote, then decide what can go out without review once you've seen the results.
How to start
Pick one request type that repeats every day and write down the fields you need to fulfil it. Then test the path against ten real past conversations: would the assistant have collected the data correctly? Could the reviewer approve quickly? Those answers are your project plan.