Chatbots with menus, questions and hand-over
Build a chatbot from menus, questions and messages, with no AI and no code. On WhatsApp its menus show as buttons or a list. It saves answers on the contact, tags people and hands the chat to a person.
PLANSFrom Growth
The problem it solves
- Every chat starts with the same three questions before anyone can help.
- Customers do not know what to ask, so they send "hi" and wait.
- Answers like budget and city end up in chat history, not on the contact where you can use them.
- You want fixed, predictable answers for some questions, not AI.
How it works
- A Marketing Manager opens Marketing > Inbox > Chatbots > New, for example "Shop menu".
- Set what starts it: Starts On words (hi, hello, menu to start with) and Also on a First Message (on). Choose its numbers and accounts and who it Hands Over To.
- Add steps: a Menu with choices, a Question whose answer is saved, a Message, To a Person, or End. Each choice says which step comes next and may give a tag.
- Choose the First Step and save. When a customer writes a start word, or writes to you for the first time, the bot answers.
- The customer taps a button, picks from a list, types the choice or its number. The bot walks on until it needs an answer, hands over or ends.
- At To a Person, the chat goes to the bot's Hands Over To person if nobody has it. A note in the chat says so.
Everything it does
Steps
- Menu: what the bot says and its choices; each choice has a label, a description (shown in a list), Goes To and Give Tag
- Question: the question and Save the Answer As, a contact column such as budget or city (up to 500 characters kept)
- Message: a text, then the next step
- To a Person: hands the chat over and stops; the customer is told a person will reply
- End: stops the bot
- Texts can use merge fields such as {{first_name}}
How menus show
- WhatsApp: up to 3 choices as reply buttons, up to 10 as a list with a List Button label
- Choice labels: at most 20 letters on WhatsApp buttons, 24 in lists
- Other channels: numbered lines
- A first answer that matches no choice gets "Please choose one of these:" and the menu again; a second goes to a person
- Every menu ends with "Reply 0 to talk to a person."
Starting and running
- Starts On: the whole message must be one of the words, such as hi; comma separated
- Also on a First Message: the first message a person ever sends in that conversation
- A bot can be for some numbers and accounts, or all of them (WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, web chat)
- Message steps run straight on, up to 10 steps for one customer message
- While a bot leads the chat, the AI agent keeps quiet
- Replies are sent inside the chat window the customer opened, so no template is needed
- 0, agent, human, person, help, exit, quit or cancel hands the chat to your team, with a note in it
- STOP ends the bot and opts the person out of that channel
Who uses it
Marketing ManagerBuilds and changes the chatbots.
Inbox staffTake over chats the bot hands to them, with the answers already on the contact.
CustomerTaps buttons or picks from a list on WhatsApp, or types a choice on other channels.
Where you use it
- Web: Marketing > Inbox > Chatbots
- WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook Messenger and the web chat on your site: where customers use the bot
- Not built: a drawn flow chart; steps are a list that point to each other
What you control
Settings
- Starts On: hi, hello, menu
- Also on a First Message: on
- On Numbers / Accounts: empty means all
- Hands Over To, First Step, and the order of bots
Notifications
- Handing over sends no notification: the chat is assigned to the Hands Over To person and a note is written in it
Questions
Does the chatbot use AI?
No. It follows the steps you set, word for word, and uses no AI credit. The AI agent is a separate feature.Can a customer reach a person?
Yes. Every menu ends with "Reply 0 to talk to a person." That, agent, help and similar words hand the chat to your team. So does a second answer not on the menu.Where do the answers go?
A Question step saves the answer on the contact under the column you name, such as budget. Merge fields and segments can use it.Can I start the bot with the word START?
Do not. START opts a person back in to marketing messages. Typing it to open the bot would opt them in as well.Can a customer leave a menu?
Yes. 0, agent, human, person, help, exit, quit or cancel hands the chat to a person. So does a second answer not on the menu. STOP ends the bot.Related features
AI AND SELLINGThe AI agent suggests replies, and every answer is loggedTell the AI agent who you are, what you sell and what it must never say. In the inbox it drafts the reply from the chat and your own prices. A person checks and sends it, and every answer is logged.AI AND SELLINGThe AI agent answers by itself, with tools, documents and hand-overLet the AI agent answer customers by itself outside working hours, when nobody is assigned, or always. It looks up your products, searches your documents, sends a cart with a payment link and hands over to a person when it should.CHANNELS AND INBOXOne inbox for every channelWhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, web chat and replies to your outreach emails come into one inbox. Your team assigns, tags, notes and answers every chat in one screen, with the 24-hour reply window shown on each chat.OUTREACHWhatsApp forms (Meta Flows)Build a short form, publish it to Meta as a WhatsApp Flow, and send it from the inbox. The person fills it inside WhatsApp; the answers fill the contact, go into a lead list and tags, and can start a sequence.CHANNELS AND INBOXWhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook pages connected through SmartMy's Meta app, with number healthConnect your own WhatsApp numbers, Instagram accounts and Facebook pages from one screen, in Meta's own windows. Their messages come to one inbox, and each WhatsApp number shows its quality rating and messaging limit, with an alert when the quality falls.
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