WhatsApp CRM · Event Planners & Decorators
WhatsApp CRM for event planners and decorators
Written for how event planners & decorators actually work
Wedding decorators doing poruwa, homecoming and stage work; balloon and themed setups for birthdays and kids' parties; and event companies handling office annual functions, launches and award nights. Usually the same owner-decorator quoting on the phone while standing in the middle of a setup.
Birthday and kids' party jobs move in days. Wedding decoration runs weeks to a few months, locked once the date is fixed. Corporate jobs sit in between and stall at internal approval rather than at the client. Chase a quotation two or three days in while the revisions are still live, and again before the hold you named expires.
April brings Avurudu decoration for homes and offices; May to August and November to January are the wedding windows, clustered on a handful of nekath Saturdays; August adds school-holiday birthdays; December stacks corporate year-end functions on top of everything else.
A normal day in your inbox
- How much for a poruwa decoration?
- Can you make one exactly like this photo? (Instagram screenshot attached)
- Is August 10 available? It's a Saturday.
- Balloon arch for baby's first birthday, unicorn theme.
- We need a stage for the office annual event, can you send a quotation?
- Just a small thing, can you add some flowers at the entrance too? No extra, right?
- The date isn't firm yet, the hotel hasn't confirmed. Can you hold it?
Where the deals leak
- Enquiry
- Theme and scope
- Site visit
- Quotation
- Revisions
- Advance
- Setup day
The quotation-and-revision loop. Each "just a small thing" reopens a conversation that was about to close, and because no running total is written anywhere, the price stays still while the scope keeps growing.
Nothing forces a repriced number, so the client keeps adding and you keep saying yes to avoid sounding difficult. The loop runs long enough that either the client goes quiet while comparing elsewhere, or a faster-moving decorator takes the date.
A board that matches your job
Keep weddings, birthdays and corporate jobs on one board but tagged apart, because the deal values are nothing alike. A quick look at the Revision column on a Monday tells you which quotations have been sitting open long enough to chase.
Stage 1
Enquiry
A photo or a "how much" message, before you know whether it's a wedding, a birthday or a corporate job.
Stage 2
Scope and site visit
Theme agreed; venue access, space and power points checked before you commit to a number.
Stage 3
Quotation sent
An itemised price with the deal value on the card, so revisions have something to move against.
Stage 4
Revision
Additions being priced one at a time. Edit the deal value every time you say yes.
Stage 5
Advance paid
Flowers and balloons can now be ordered against that specific date.
Stage 6
Confirmed
Date locked, with the setup and dismantle windows noted on the card.
Tags worth having
- Poruwa
- Homecoming
- Kids birthday
- Corporate event
- Fresh flowers
- Artificial
- Site visit done
- Soft hold
Set it up once
Everything below happens inside WhatsApp Web, on the number you already use. No API, no new inbox.
Add InboxCRM to Chrome- 1
Give every enquiry a stage before you give it a price
Pipeline boards let you name your own stages and put a deal value on each card. A balloon arch and a full poruwa job stop looking alike the moment the value is visible.
- 2
Keep the running total on the card
Custom fields and per-contact notes hold what the quoted package actually covers: arch size, fresh or artificial, entrance piece in or out. When the next addition arrives you edit the deal value first, then reply with the new number in the same message.
- 3
Turn a date hold into something you can see
The appointment centre turns a verbal soft hold into a dated entry, so when a second client asks about the same Saturday you know before you answer. Record the setup and dismantle windows on the same entry once the hall confirms access time.
- 4
Answer the fresh-versus-artificial question once
Quick replies carry images and video, so both versions of the same backdrop go out in one tap with the price difference spelled out. Text macros fill in the client's name and date.
- 5
Chase quotations that have gone quiet on their own
Follow-up rules fire on how long a chat has sat in one stage, so a card stuck in Revision for three days gets flagged while the client is still comparing.
The messages that stall a sale
“That's a lot for a decoration.”
Usually means
They are comparing your number against how simple the reference photo looks, not against the flower volume, balloon count and hours on site behind it.What works
Name what drives the cost first, then repeat the number. Dropping the price teaches them the first number was never real.“Just a small thing, there's no extra charge for that?”
Usually means
Usually honest. A request genuinely feels small to someone who doesn't know flowers and balloons are priced per piece and per labour hour.What works
Say yes warmly and say the number in the same message: "we can add that, it's Rs. [X] more, updated total Rs. [Y]."“The hotel's package is cheaper than yours.”
Usually means
A bundled venue package is rarely a like-for-like comparison — it may use artificial flowers, a fixed backdrop, or a smaller scale than what they asked you for.What works
Ask what that package includes before responding to the gap. Never claim anything about what the venue will or won't do on the day.“I'd rather not pay a deposit.”
Usually means
Often genuine reluctance rather than distrust. They see the deposit as a formality for holding a slot.What works
Explain that flowers and balloons for their date are bought ahead and can't be returned, so the advance covers a real purchase, not a booking fee.“The date isn't firm, the hotel hasn't confirmed yet.”
Usually means
A real planning situation, especially when the venue and the astrologer both have to line up.What works
Offer a short, named hold with an expiry date instead of an open-ended promise, and say plainly that the date is only yours once an advance is in.
Quick replies to save first
Copy these, swap the details in [brackets], and save them as quick replies so you stop retyping them.
Reference photo received
Got the photo, that's a lovely setup. Two things before I give you an accurate price: are those flowers fresh or artificial, and what's the venue? Size matters for the price, so let me check it fits before I quote.
Addition priced on the spot
Yes, we can add that. [Item] is Rs. [X] more, so the updated total is Rs. [Y]. Shall I go ahead with that version?
Advance request
To lock [date] I take Rs. [X] as an advance. The flowers and balloons for your setup have to be ordered ahead, so that covers what gets bought for you specifically. Once it's in, the date isn't offered to anyone else.
Setup access check
Could you check what time we get access to the hall on [date]? That tells us how many hours to plan for setup, and by what time we need to be out after the event.
Corporate quotation
I'll send the stage and backdrop quotation with each item listed separately, so you can forward it as it is for internal approval. If the scale changes after the meeting, tell me and I'll reissue it.
Free tools that help here: WhatsApp Business Message Templates, WhatsApp Link Generator.
The parts of InboxCRM you'll use most
Pipeline boards with deal values
See every open quotation and what it's worth, instead of guessing which of eleven chats is closest to a yes.
Notes, tags and custom fields
Hold the scope: arch size, fresh or artificial, entrance piece in or out, and the venue's access time.
Quick replies with images and video
Send the fresh-versus-artificial comparison and package inclusions in one tap instead of retyping them at midnight.
Follow-up rules by stage
Flags a quotation that has been sitting in Revision too long, so the chase happens before the date goes.
Appointment centre and scheduled messages
Turns soft holds, setup times and dismantle windows into dated entries you can check before promising a Saturday.
Questions from event planners & decorators
Can it stop me double-booking the same Saturday?
It can show you the conflict, not prevent it. Every hold and confirmed job goes into the appointment centre as a dated entry, so when a second client asks about that Saturday you check before answering instead of trying to remember. The decision is still yours, and so is the conversation with whoever asked second.
I quote one package price. Do I have to itemise everything now?
No. The board only needs a deal value and a short note on what the price covers. The point is that when an addition arrives you have something to edit, so the new total comes out in the same message as the yes. Many decorators keep the client-facing quote bundled and the breakdown private.
Does this work for corporate quotations that need internal approval?
Partly. You can save a broken-out quotation as a quick reply so the office admin can forward it internally as it is, and keep the job in its own stage while approval runs. What it can't do is speed up someone else's approval process, so the follow-up rhythm matters more for corporate jobs than for birthdays.
Where is my client data stored?
CRM data stays locally in your browser, in Chrome's own storage, on the machine you use. There is an optional encrypted cloud chat backup and a local backup or restore if you want a copy. Nothing about your quotations or client notes has to leave your computer for the board to work.
I reply from my phone on site. Is a desktop tool useful?
Honestly, it helps most in the hours you're at a laptop, quoting and planning, not when you're up a ladder at a venue. Scheduled and automated sends need Chrome open with WhatsApp Web. Many decorators use it as the evening admin pass: update the board, price the day's additions, set the next follow-ups.