Draft WhatsApp replies in BM or English that you check and send

What you will build

A small reply desk for WhatsApp: one business notes file, a handful of example replies that show your voice, and one reusable prompt. Paste in a customer message and you get a short draft in the customer's language (BM, English or a mix) that uses only your real prices and policies. A person always reads it and presses send.

You will also turn your best, checked replies into WhatsApp Business quick replies, so the common answers are ready without opening an AI tool at all.

Before you start

• Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini, any plan.
• The WhatsApp Business app on the phone your business uses.
• Your price list, service area, opening hours and main policies (deposit, cancellation, warranty) in any rough form.
• Five replies you have already sent that you were happy with. Copy them from WhatsApp.
• Ten recent customer messages to test with, including one complaint and one message in BM.
• About 30 minutes.

How it works

The AI can only be as accurate as what you give it. Most bad AI replies come from two gaps: the AI does not know your facts, so it guesses, and it does not know your voice, so it sounds like a brochure. This guide closes both gaps with two short files: your notes (the facts) and your examples (the voice). Then a set of rules tells the AI what it may promise and when it must stop.

It is the Desk pattern in a small form: a named job, written rules, stop rules, a human who approves before anything is sent, and a saved known-good copy of the prompt.

1. Write your business notes file.
2. Capture your voice with example replies.
3. Write the reply rules and stop rules.
4. Put the prompt together and test it on ten messages.
5. Review every draft and fix the rules.
6. Save your best replies as WhatsApp Business quick replies.
7. Set a daily routine that keeps a person on the send button.

Step 1: Write your business notes file

Your notes file is a plain text page the AI reads before every draft. Keep it short and factual. If a fact changes, you change it here once.

BUSINESS NOTES: [business name]   Last checked: [date]

What we do: [one or two lines]
Service area: [areas, e.g. Shah Alam Seksyen 1 to 36, Klang town]
Not covered: [areas you do not go to]
Hours: [days and times]
How to book: [e.g. customer sends area + unit type, we confirm slot]
Languages: BM, English

PRICES (copy from your price list)
[service] | [unit] | RM [price] | [what is included]

POLICIES
Deposit: [rule or "none"]
Cancellation: [rule]
Warranty or re-check: [rule]
Payment methods: [e.g. bank transfer, DuitNow QR, cash]

THINGS ONLY THE OWNER DECIDES
Discounts, same-day jobs, jobs outside the area, refunds, anything not listed here.

The last section matters most. It tells the AI where its knowledge ends.

Check

• Every price has a unit and says what is included.
• "Last checked" has today's date.
• There is a written list of things only the owner decides.

Step 2: Capture your voice with example replies

Instructions like "be friendly" are vague. Examples are clearer. Anthropic's prompting best practices call examples one of the most reliable ways to steer tone and format, suggest three to five of them, and recommend wrapping them in tags such as <example> so the AI can tell them apart from instructions.

Pick replies that are different from each other: one in BM, one in English, one that asks for missing details, one that handles a price question. Remove names and numbers.

<examples>
<example>
Customer: Boss, servis aircon berapa?
Our reply: Hi boss, terima kasih sebab contact kami. Harga ikut jenis unit. Unit boss jenis dinding ke, dan berapa hp? Nanti saya bagi harga tepat.
</example>
<example>
Customer: Can you come this Saturday?
Our reply: Hi, thanks for asking. Let me check Saturday's slots and confirm with you by this evening. Which area are you in?
</example>
</examples>

Do not use replies that contain a promise you would not repeat, like a one-off discount. The AI will copy whatever it sees.

Check

• Three to five examples, covering BM and English.
• No names, numbers or one-off deals inside the examples.
• The examples sound like you on a good day.

Step 3: Write the reply rules and stop rules

Rules turn your notes and examples into safe drafts. Write them once and reuse them in every prompt.

REPLY RULES
- Reply in the same language as the customer. If they mix BM and English, you may mix too.
- Sound like the examples: friendly, direct, short. No formal letters.
- No emojis unless the customer used them first.
- Use only prices, services, areas and hours from MY NOTES. If something is not there, say we will check and confirm.
- Never promise a date, time slot, discount, stock level or result that is not in my notes.
- If details are missing, ask for at most two: the ones we need to reply properly.
- Keep it under 60 words. End with one clear next step.

STOP RULES (write OWNER REVIEW and the reason instead of a reply)
- Complaint, refund, angry customer, legal threat, medical or safety issue.
- Discount request, or anything in "things only the owner decides".
- The customer says stop, not interested, wrong number or do not contact.
- You are not sure what the customer wants.

Anthropic's guide also suggests telling the model what to do instead of only what not to do. That is why "say we will check and confirm" sits next to "never promise".

Check

• There is a fallback sentence for anything missing from the notes.
• Complaints and discounts always stop.
• The word limit fits a phone screen.

Step 4: Put the prompt together and test it on ten messages

Combine everything into one prompt. Keep a copy in your notes app so you paste the same prompt every time.

You draft WhatsApp replies for my business. You never send them. I read, edit and send.

Follow MY RULES exactly. Use only facts from MY NOTES. Match the voice in MY EXAMPLES.

For the customer message at the bottom, return:
1. The draft reply (or OWNER REVIEW and the reason)
2. Facts you used from my notes, quoted
3. Anything you were unsure about

MY RULES:
[paste reply rules and stop rules]

MY NOTES:
[paste business notes]

MY EXAMPLES:
[paste examples]

CUSTOMER MESSAGE (names and numbers removed):
[paste]

Asking the AI to quote the facts it used is your safety net. If a price in the draft does not appear in the quoted facts, it was invented.

Now test it on your ten saved messages, one at a time, in a fresh chat each time or in a single chat with clear separators. Include your complaint and your BM message.

Check

• Every draft quotes the facts it used.
• The complaint came back as OWNER REVIEW.
• The BM message got a BM reply.

Step 5: Review every draft and fix the rules

Read each draft as if you are about to send it. Ask four quick questions: Are the facts from my notes? Is there any promise I did not agree to? Did it miss that the customer is upset? Would I say this, in this language, to this customer?

When a draft is wrong, find the reason. Usually it is one of three things:

• A fact is missing from the notes, so the AI filled the gap. Add the fact.
• A rule is vague, so the AI read it its own way. Make the rule specific.
• An example shows the wrong habit, so the AI copied it. Replace the example.

Change one thing, then test the same message again. When all ten messages pass, save the prompt, notes and examples together with the date. That is your known-good copy.

REPLY DESK: known-good copy
Date checked:
Prompt version:
Notes file date:
Messages tested: 10   Passed: [number]
Rules changed today: [list]

Check

• No draft contains a price or promise that is not in the notes.
• Each fix was made in the notes, rules or examples, not only in the draft.
• The known-good copy is saved outside the chat.

Step 6: Save your best replies as WhatsApp Business quick replies

Some questions come every day: prices for the common service, your area, how to book. Once a reply is checked and correct, you do not need the AI to redraft it each time. The WhatsApp Business app has quick replies for exactly this: saved messages you can insert while typing. See How to use quick replies in the WhatsApp Help Center. Menus may move; check your app.

Good candidates:

• Greeting plus "which area and which unit type?"
• Your service area and what you do not cover
• How booking works and what you need from the customer
• Payment methods

Keep quick replies in sync with your notes file. When a price changes, update the notes and the quick reply on the same day.

Check

• Each quick reply was checked against the notes before saving.
• No quick reply contains a date or slot promise.
• You wrote down which quick replies depend on which prices.

Step 7: Set a daily routine that keeps a person on the send button

The routine is simple, and it never skips the human step:

1. Customer message arrives. If it is a common question, use a quick reply.
2. If not, copy the message and remove names and numbers.
3. Paste it into the reply prompt (or your reply Project).
4. Read the draft and the quoted facts.
5. Edit if needed. Send it yourself from WhatsApp.
6. If the draft was wrong, note why. Fix the rule at the end of the day.

If customers often send voice notes, WhatsApp can show a text transcript on some devices (Settings > Chats > Voice message transcripts). WhatsApp says the transcripts are generated on your device. See How to turn voice message transcripts on or off. Anonymise the transcript before pasting it anywhere.

Check

• Every message that leaves the business was read by a person first.
• Wrong drafts are written down, not just corrected and forgotten.
• Quick replies and the notes file carry the same facts.

Worked example

This example is made up for teaching. The shop, messages and details are not real.

An aircon servicing shop in Shah Alam covers Seksyen 1 to 36. Its notes list general service and chemical wash prices per unit type, say that slots are confirmed by the owner only, and say jobs outside Shah Alam are an owner decision.

Message 1, anonymised: "Hi boss, servis aircon 2 unit berapa? Rumah area Seksyen 13. Boleh datang Sabtu?"

Draft returned:

Hi boss, terima kasih contact kami! Seksyen 13 memang dalam kawasan kami. Harga servis ikut jenis unit. Dua-dua unit jenis dinding ke, dan berapa hp? Untuk Sabtu, saya check slot dulu dan confirm dengan boss petang ni.

Facts used: "Service area: Shah Alam Seksyen 1 to 36", "Slots are confirmed by the owner only".
Unsure: unit type and horsepower, so no price given yet.

The owner checked it: correct area, no invented price, no slot promise, two missing facts asked. Verified. The owner sent it.

Message 2, anonymised: "Your guy came yesterday, now my aircon dripping water on the floor. Very disappointed."

Draft returned: "OWNER REVIEW. Reason: complaint after a job. Decision needed: re-check visit and whether it falls under our warranty rule." No customer reply was drafted, which is correct.

Message 3: "Klang area can?" The first run replied "Yes, we cover Klang", because the notes listed Klang in an old line. The owner found the old line, removed it, re-ran the message and got: "Klang is outside our usual area. Let me check with the owner and reply to you today." The notes file date was updated and a new known-good copy saved.

Common mistakes and fixes

• The draft quotes a price that is not on your list → make the AI quote the facts it used, and add the missing price or a "we will confirm" rule.
• Replies sound stiff and formal → add real example replies in your own voice and remove "Dear customer" style examples.
• The AI replies in English to a BM message → put "reply in the customer's language" at the top of the rules and add a BM example.
• Replies are too long for WhatsApp → set a word limit and ask for one next step only.
• A complaint gets a cheerful sales reply → add complaints and refunds to the stop rules and test with a real complaint.
• Old prices keep appearing → you have two versions of the notes. Keep one file with a "Last checked" date and delete the copies from your prompts.
• Staff paste customer phone numbers → make anonymising step two of the routine and show staff the safe-to-paste checklist.

Take it further

• Project: put your notes, rules and examples into a Claude Project (or a ChatGPT Project or Gemini Gem) so you only paste the customer message. See Set up a Claude Project as your business brain.
• Skill: when the reply desk is stable, package it as a Claude Skill. See Write your first Claude Skill for quotes or enquiry replies.
• Weekly habit: every Friday, read the week's wrong drafts and fix one rule or one fact.
• Related: The Lead Triage Desk: sort every new enquiry and draft replies you approve, Put your price list in a shape AI can read correctly, Check the AI's answer before a customer sees it and Before you paste anything into AI: a two-minute safety check.

Quick checklist

• Notes file with prices, area, hours, policies and a "Last checked" date.
• Three to five example replies in your voice, BM and English.
• Reply rules with a "we will check and confirm" fallback.
• Stop rules for complaints, refunds, discounts and "do not contact".
• Prompt asks the AI to quote the facts it used.
• Tested on ten anonymised messages, including a complaint.
• Known-good copy saved with a date.
• Checked answers saved as quick replies.
• A person sends every message.