The Problem with 'Always On' Expectations
Small shop owners in India face a specific problem: customers expect WhatsApp replies at any hour. A customer drops off a phone at 7pm, they will message at 10pm asking if it is ready. Another messages on Sunday morning asking for a screen repair price.
You cannot — and should not — be available 24/7. But leaving customers on read kills your reputation.
Mobibix solves this with a layered automation system that handles routine questions automatically while keeping you in control of important conversations.
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Layer 1: The Keyword Bot (Instant Replies)
The Keyword Bot is the simplest automation. When a customer sends a message containing a trigger word, the bot replies instantly.
Examples that work brilliantly for repair shops:
- ✦Customer types "status" → Bot replies: "Hi! To check your repair status, please share your job card number (e.g. SHOPJ-2526-0012). We will give you a live update!"
- ✦Customer types "price" or "cost" → Bot replies: "Screen replacement prices: iPhone 15 ₹3,500 | Samsung S23 ₹2,800 | OnePlus ₹2,200. These are estimates — bring your device for an exact quote."
- ✦Customer types "ready" or "done" → Bot replies: "We will send you a notification when your device is ready for pickup. You can also check status by sending your job card number."
You set these rules once. They run forever, even at 3am, without your involvement.
Business hours gate: Enable the hours setting and the bot automatically switches to an after-hours message outside your working time. "We are closed right now (10pm - 9am). Leave your message and we will reply first thing tomorrow!"
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Layer 2: The Menu Bot (Interactive Navigation)
The Menu Bot is more powerful — it creates an interactive numbered menu that customers navigate like a phone IVR.
Here is an example menu structure for a repair shop:
- ✦1. Repair Status → Ask for job card number
- ✦2. Pricing → Submenu: 1. Screens | 2. Batteries | 3. Other repairs
- ✦3. Drop Off / Book Repair → Business hours + address
- ✦4. Talk to Human → "Our team will respond shortly. Or call +91 98765 43210."
When a customer messages you, if they have not been in conversation recently, the bot shows this menu automatically. No trigger word needed — just the act of messaging you starts the flow.
Customers navigate with numbers. The bot is polite, structured, and available round the clock.
Navigation shortcuts built in: At any point, a customer can type `menu` to restart, or `0` to go back. They never get stuck.
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Layer 3: AI Smart Replies (For Complex Questions)
On any deep menu option, you can enable AI Mode. This is where it gets powerful for customer service.
Let us say a customer selects '2. Pricing → 1. Screens'. Instead of a static price list, you turn on AI mode with a system prompt like:
*"You are a friendly WhatsApp assistant for a mobile repair shop in Chennai. Answer questions about screen replacement prices. Our prices: iPhone 15 ₹3,500, iPhone 14 ₹3,200, Samsung S23 ₹2,800, OnePlus 11 ₹2,200, Redmi Note 13 ₹1,800. For models not listed, say the price is determined after inspection and suggest they visit the shop."*
Now the AI can handle follow-up questions:
- ✦Customer: "What about iPhone 13 Pro Max?"
- ✦AI: "For the iPhone 13 Pro Max, screen replacement is priced after inspection as it depends on display type (OLED/LCD). Typically it ranges ₹4,000–₹5,500. We recommend visiting for an accurate quote."
This is not a chatbot reading a script. It is an actual language model understanding the question and giving a contextual answer — at any hour, for free after setup.
Always set a fallback reply on AI-enabled nodes in case the AI service is temporarily busy.
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The Human Handover Gate: The Most Important Feature
Here is the problem with most WhatsApp bots: once you reply manually, the bot sometimes replies too, creating a confusing double-response situation.
Mobibix solves this with an automatic Human Handover Gate.
How it works:
- ✦When a staff member sends a manual reply from the Mobibix inbox, the bot automatically pauses for that specific customer for 30 minutes
- ✦During those 30 minutes, no automated replies go to that customer at all — you have full control
- ✦After 30 minutes of no human reply, the bot automatically resumes
- ✦The chat header shows a "Bot Paused" badge so your team knows they are in manual mode
This is critical for high-value conversations. When a customer is asking about a complex repair, a quote negotiation, or a complaint — the human needs to take over, not the bot.
And because the system tracks it per-customer, the bot continues responding to all other customers normally while you handle that one manually.
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Conversation Assignment: Who is Handling This?
In a shop with 2-3 staff, a common problem is "I thought you were replying to this customer." Conversations fall through the gaps.
The Mobibix inbox lets you assign conversations to specific staff members:
- ✦Open any conversation
- ✦Select a staff member from the dropdown in the chat header
- ✦Their name appears under the conversation in the list — visible to everyone
Now there is no ambiguity. When a conversation is assigned to "Ravi", only Ravi needs to handle it. Everyone else knows.
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Unread Count — Always Know What is Waiting
The Inbox tab shows a live badge with total unread messages. Each conversation row shows its own unread count.
The count updates every 30 seconds automatically. When you open a conversation, it marks as read — no separate "mark as read" button needed.
For a 2-person shop, this means your team always knows at a glance: "5 conversations need attention right now."
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Setting Up in Under 10 Minutes
Here is the actual sequence for getting live with automation on Mobibix:
- ✦Connect (3 min): WhatsApp → Dashboard → Official Meta API → Continue with Facebook
- ✦Keyword bot (3 min): Automations → Keyword Bot → Apply REPAIR preset → edit rules to match your prices
- ✦Menu bot (5 min): Automations → Menu Bot → Add 4 root nodes → set reply text on each
- ✦Staff assignment (1 min): Add your staff via Settings → Staff, then they appear in the inbox assignment dropdown
Total: under 15 minutes. After that, the bot runs 24/7 without further action from you.