Sample result
Automated Messaging Builder for Restaurants
The owner asked this:"We answer the same thing all day on WhatsApp: opening hours, whether delivery reaches a given neighbourhood and whether there is a table. Two locations, and all I have is WhatsApp Business, nothing else to automate with."
① The counted inventory, four weeks
Nobody was asked what people ask: the history was read. Between 21 July and 17 August, 709 messages came in through WhatsApp and Instagram across both locations, and they were grouped by question in the guest's own words.
| Question in the guest's words | Times in 4 weeks | Channel | Changes today? | Decision |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "What time do you open?" | 168 | No | Automatic | |
| "Do you deliver to my neighbourhood?" | 131 | The area no, the shift yes | Mixed | |
| "Do you have a table for 6 at 8?" | 96 | Yes | To a person | |
| "Send me the menu" / "how much is the bandeja?" | 88 | Instagram and WhatsApp | No | Automatic |
| "Where are you? Is there parking?" | 74 | No | Automatic | |
| "Can you take 20 people on Saturday?" | 41 | Capacity no, the date yes | Mixed | |
| "Is there any sancocho left?" | 37 | Yes | To a person | |
| "Do you take bank transfers?" | 29 | No | Automatic | |
| 45 different questions, once each | 45 | Both | — | Out |
Eight questions carry 664 of the 709 messages, 94%. The other 45 are 45 different questions that showed up once: none gets automated, because automating what happens once is exactly the work nobody maintains and the one that six months from now will be saying something false.
Of those 664: 359 answer themselves in full without knowing anything about today (54%), 133 can never be answered alone —table and dish availability— and 172 are mixed, where the automatic reply hands over the fixed half and announces the missing one. Adding the fixed ones and the fixed half of the mixed, the first message settles or advances 531 of 664 conversations, 80%, without anyone on the team touching the phone. Illustrative figures, drawn from the history you provided.
SUPUESTO: there is no house figure for how many messages a restaurant this size receives per month, so the 709 threads counted over the 4 weeks of YOUR history are used, not an industry average. If the real volume were double, the midday answer time no longer holds with the hands available and somebody else has to be put behind the phone before the second message is switched on.
② The border and the real answer time
This is where you decide what goes out on its own and what does not, and there is one rule: if the answer changes with the day, no machine writes it.
| Question | What goes out alone | What the automatic reply does NOT say | Who answers the rest | Answer time promised |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delivery to a neighbourhood | The list of areas the in-house delivery covers, the minimum order and the usual delivery time | Whether a rider is free for that address at that hour today | Cashier of the location covering the area | 20 min outside lunch · after 2:30 p.m. during Tuesday-to-Friday lunch |
| Table for today | That groups of up to 8 are taken without booking and that the room fills from 12:30 to 1:30 | Whether a table exists at that hour | Floor manager of that location | 20 min outside lunch · 2:30 p.m. if they wrote between 12:00 and 2:30 |
| Whether a dish is left | That Bandeja de la casa, Sancocho de tres carnes and Trucha al ajillo run every day until they sell out | Whether any is left at this hour | Kitchen, through the floor manager | 20 min · after 8:30 p.m. nothing is promised: it is confirmed tomorrow at 11 |
| A party of 20 on Saturday | Capacity per location, the 28,000 to 72,000 COP per person range and that a deposit holds the date | Whether Saturday is free | Admin | Same day if they write before 5 p.m.; otherwise before 11 a.m. the next day |
The promise breaks exactly when most messages arrive. From 12:00 to 2:30 Tuesday to Friday and Sunday midday, the 18 operations people are serving and nobody looks at the phone: promising five minutes there is a lie the guest can time with a watch. So the automatic reply in that slot tells the truth —"we will get back to you after 2:30"— and the four o'clock one promises twenty minutes and keeps them. A long, honest wait buys more than a short, false one.
③ What gets pasted into WhatsApp Business today
All of this fits in the app you already have: greeting message, quick replies with a shortcut and away message. Nothing needs to be bought.
Greeting message (sent on its own to anyone writing for the first time or after 14 days of silence):
Welcome to Sazón de Origen. Here we answer opening hours, address, menu and delivery straight away. If you need a table for today or want to know whether a dish is left, write "TABLE" and a person will take it: 20 minutes outside lunch, after 2:30 p.m. if we are mid-service.
Quick reply /hours:
We open Tuesday to Sunday. Lunch from 12:00 to 3:30 p.m. and evenings from 6:30 to 10:00 p.m. Sunday lunch only, 12:00 to 4:00 p.m. Closed Monday. Laureles and Envigado, same hours.
Quick reply /delivery:
In-house delivery to Laureles, Estadio, Floresta, Envigado centre and Sabaneta. Minimum order 45,000 COP, usual delivery 35 to 50 minutes. Outside those areas we arrive through the delivery platform. To confirm it reaches your address today, write "DELIVERY" and we will answer.
Quick reply /menu (names the three house dishes and not a single promotion, so the sales mix does not sink; the one that goes first is the one that leaves margin):
Here is the full menu. The house dishes: Sancocho de tres carnes, Bandeja de la casa and Trucha al ajillo. Prices run from 28,000 to 72,000 COP.
Quick reply /booking (asks for three details and not one more, and states the expected departure hour — which is what protects table turnover):
Glad to hold one for you. I need the date, the hour and how many covers. Tables are held for 90 minutes; if you plan to stay longer, tell me and we will look at it. A person confirms it, because availability changes every day.
Away message (10:15 p.m. to 11:00 a.m., and all day Monday):
We have closed. Tomorrow we open at 12:00 and answer from 11:00 a.m. If it is an order for tomorrow, leave it written here with the hour and we confirm it as soon as we open.
None of these six texts says whether there is a table, whether sancocho is left or whether delivery reaches you today: the four that depend on today go out through the keyword and a person picks them up.
The full example has 2 more part(s): you see them inside the library, with your account.