Turning WhatsApp messages into quotes,
without losing one.
Your buyers already order on WhatsApp. The channel is not the problem: the gap between a message on someone's phone and a quote on the desk is. Close it by turning every buying message into a quote request automatically, pricing it from the prices you already agreed, and keeping a person on the send button.
Why WhatsApp orders go missing
A typical trade ask arrives in pieces: a photo of a part, then “M10 x 150 Allen bolt, 10 pcs”, then “and 20 washers”, sent to whichever number the buyer has saved. The rep who owns that phone may be on site, on leave or on another call. Nothing records that the request exists, so nothing tells anyone it is waiting.
The result is familiar to every distributor: buyers who asked twice, quotes sent days late, and orders that went to the supplier who answered first.
Five habits that turn messages into quotes
- One business number, many people. Buyers save one number and your team answers from a shared inbox, so a request never depends on one person's phone.
- Every ask becomes a request. A message that names products, sizes or quantities is filed as a quote request in the buyer's own words, so nothing is retyped and nothing is lost.
- Follow-ups join the same request. “Also 20 washers” an hour later belongs on the request already open, not on a new one.
- Price from what you agreed. Draft the quote from the buyer's price list, in the unit you sell in (pieces, boxes, kilos), so the first draft is close to right.
- A person sends it. Automation drafts; your team checks and presses send. Buyers trust a quote a person stands behind.
Should an AI assistant answer on WhatsApp?
It can help: answering “do you have it?” at night, or taking down a list. But only if it sounds like your team and knows when to stop. Start with the assistant limited to your own numbers, read what it writes, and let it answer buyers only when it writes the way your best rep does: short, plain, in the buyer's language, never pitching sign-ups and never quoting a price it does not have.
How Sokisoko handles it
- Connects your business number through the Meta Cloud API or the Sozuri gateway, group chats included.
- Files buying messages as quote requests on the quote desk, one per buyer per day, with later messages added once.
- Links a known number to its customer account, so the request carries the right price list.
- Drafts the quote from contract prices in units that match your catalogue; your team reviews and sends it.
- An optional assistant replies in short texts, can be limited to test numbers while you try it, and hands the chat to a person when asked.
Galaxy Fasteners & Supplies in Nairobi runs its catalogue, quoting and trade pricing on Sokisoko at galaxy-fasteners.com.
Questions people ask about this
Do I need the WhatsApp Business API?
Yes: a business number on the Meta Cloud API or the Sozuri gateway. Sokisoko connects to either, and your team keeps using the same number buyers already know.
Will an AI reply to my customers?
Only if you switch it on. You can limit it to your own test numbers first; everyone else is served by your team, and their requests go to the quote desk.
What happens to greetings and small talk?
They stay in the chat. Only messages that ask for goods become quote requests.
See it on your catalogue,
in your currency.
A working session on your own products and prices, not a slide deck.