📱 Switch to WhatsApp Business (and Set the Foundations)

Why switch

WhatsApp Business is free, keeps your number, and adds the things a shop needs: a profile with hours and address, a catalog, automatic replies, quick replies, labels and a short link. Regular WhatsApp is a phone; Business is a counter.

First-hour setup

Business name exactly as on Google, category, address, hours, a one-line description with your town, a profile photo that is your logo or your face, and your website or Instagram link. Get your wa.me short link and put it everywhere.

The greeting that sells

'Hi! Thanks for messaging [Name]. Tell me what you need and I'll reply shortly — or tap the catalog to see prices.' Warm, fast, points to the catalog.

Homework

Switch today. Complete the profile. Send your wa.me link to five customers.

✅ Do this now — step by step

1. Install WhatsApp Business (it keeps your number) and complete the profile: business name as on Google, category, address or area, hours, one-line description with your town.
2. Set your profile photo to your logo or your face — not a product, not a quote graphic.
3. Get your wa.me link (Business tools → Short link) and paste it into your Instagram bio, Google profile and website today.
4. Write the greeting message: warm, fast, points to the catalog.
5. Tell your existing customers you've moved to Business — nothing changes for them, but now they'll see your catalog.

⚠️ Mistakes to avoid

• Keeping two numbers (personal + business) and answering the wrong one — one number, one Business account.
• A greeting that's a paragraph — three lines max, one action.
• Leaving the description blank — that's your Google-visible sentence on the profile.

🇯🇲 How it plays out in Jamaica