WhatsApp CRM · Repair & Service Centres
A WhatsApp CRM for repair shops and service centres
Written for how repair & service centres actually work
Phone and laptop repair counters, appliance technicians who do fridge, washing machine and TV callouts, and vehicle service centres running everything from a routine service to an insurance job.
Phone and laptop jobs run same-day to a few days, mostly gated by part availability. Appliance work takes a few days to a week once you factor in scheduling the visit, and a vehicle service is same-day but an accident or imported-part job can stretch for weeks. The follow-up that matters is short and frequent while the job is open — one line a day on anything waiting for a part — and then one check-in a week after collection.
Laptop repairs pick up before school and exam periods, and water-damage phone jobs jump after heavy rain. Appliance work spikes around Avurudu and December when houses get cleaned and used hard, and vehicle service centres fill up before the same two travel seasons, with a steady month-end cluster from customers paid monthly.
A normal day in your inbox
- "Phone won't turn on, how much to fix?"
- "Screen broke — price to change it?"
- "Laptop is slow and hanging, how much for a service?"
- "Phone fell in water and won't turn on. Can it be saved?"
- "Display change — do you have original or the cheaper one, price for both?"
- "Fridge isn't cooling, how much to come and look?"
- "Is there a callout charge, and how much just for the visit?"
- "Brakes are making a noise, how much to check?"
Where the deals leak
- "How much?" with a vague symptom
- Diagnosis questions
- Range with a reason
- Drop-off or home visit booked
- Inspection and real quote
- Approval
- Repair
- Handover
Between the first message and the device actually arriving. A customer who gets a confident guessed number that turns out wrong feels lied to, and a customer who gets "just bring it in" with no reasoning decides you weren't listening. Either way the device never reaches your bench.
The same symptom has several causes. A cracked screen might be glass only or glass plus digitizer; a fridge that won't cool might be a gas leak or a compressor. The shop that wins is the one that asks a real question back, not the one that answers fastest with a number it can't stand behind.
A board that matches your job
This board is a job card, not a sales funnel. The two columns that matter most are Waiting on part and Ready for pickup — both are jobs where the customer is sitting in silence wondering whether you've forgotten them.
Stage 1
Enquiry
Fault described vaguely. Nothing seen yet, no number given yet.
Stage 2
Range given
Diagnosis question answered and an honest range sent, with the reason it can move.
Stage 3
Booked in
Drop-off time, callout visit or service slot actually agreed.
Stage 4
On the bench
Device or vehicle is with you, inspected, real quote approved, work in progress.
Stage 5
Waiting on part
Job is paused while a part is ordered — the stage that quietly eats the most goodwill.
Stage 6
Ready for pickup
Finished and priced. Message sent, waiting for collection and payment.
Tags worth having
- Screen / display
- Battery
- Water damage
- Board level
- In warranty
- Callout visit
- Routine service
- Insurance job
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
Make the diagnosis question your fastest reply, not the price
Save two or three quick replies for the faults you see all week: screen, battery, no power, water. Each one asks the question that actually changes the number — does touch still work, has the colour changed, did it get wet. Sending that in three seconds beats a guess.
- 2
Set an auto-reply for the hours you're under a bonnet
An enquiry at 8pm or mid-repair gets an instant honest first message — what you need to know to help, and when you'll reply properly. That's not a bot pretending to be you; it's the difference between silence and a conversation that's still alive when you pick up the phone.
- 3
Turn "bring it in" into an actual slot
The appointment centre lets you give a drop-off time, a callout window or a service slot instead of an open invitation. "Come whenever" is the sentence most of these jobs die on.
- 4
Put the range and the reason on the contact
Custom fields for model, fault, range quoted, warranty status and part ordered. When the customer comes back a week later and asks what you said, you're not reconstructing it from scrolling — which is exactly how a quoted range accidentally becomes a promise.
- 5
Use a chat tab for parts on order
A custom tab for jobs waiting on a part means you can go through that list each morning and send one line to each customer. Most complaints in this trade are not about the repair, they're about hearing nothing for four days.
- 6
Send one message after the handover
A scheduled message a week after collection asking whether it's still running fine takes seconds to set and is the only follow-up most shops never do. In a trade where people choose a technician on referral, that one message is worth more than a boosted post.
The messages that stall a sale
“"How much?" — before you've seen anything.”
Usually means
She isn't being unreasonable. She has messaged two other shops and is collecting comparable numbers fast.What works
Acknowledge the question, ask one diagnosis question, then give a range with the honest reason it can move. "Rs. [X] to Rs. [Y], depending on whether the digitizer is damaged too" beats both a confident guess and a flat refusal.“"The other shop said it's cheaper."”
Usually means
She has a number from elsewhere — which was very likely quoted blind too, possibly for a different fault entirely.What works
Ask whether that shop actually checked the device or quoted over chat. Once you know what was diagnosed you can compare like for like. Dropping your price to match a number you haven't understood is how you lose money on a job that was never comparable.“"Is the warranty over?"”
Usually means
She wants to know if this is free or chargeable, and she may be testing whether you'll just say it's expired to charge her.What works
Ask for the bill photo or the purchase date and check it properly. Then explain what warranty covers and what it doesn't — physical damage and water damage are almost always excluded. A bare "warranty is finished" reads as an excuse.“"Is it an original part or a copy?"”
Usually means
A trust question wearing a parts question. She has heard about shops swapping in a cheaper part without saying so.What works
Lay out the options plainly — the price and durability difference between them — and let her choose. Don't claim a part is guaranteed genuine unless you can actually verify it.“"It fell in water. Can you save it?"”
Usually means
She is worried about photos, contacts and work files far more than about the device.What works
Say honestly that nobody can promise an outcome before the device is opened and dried, that bringing it in quickly helps, and that she shouldn't try to power it on. A promise here is the one that hurts most when it breaks.
Quick replies to save first
Copy these, swap the details in [brackets], and save them as quick replies so you stop retyping them.
The bare "how much"
I'll check it and give you the exact number. Before that, quick question — what's happening with the [device]? Is the screen cracked, is it not turning on, or something else?
Screen diagnosis
The screen is cracked — is the touch still working? Has the colour changed anywhere on the display, or is it only the glass that's broken?
Range with the reason
A display change usually runs Rs. [X] to Rs. [Y]. I can give you the exact number once I've checked whether the digitizer is damaged too. Can you bring it in on [day]?
Water damage, honestly
Nobody can promise a water-damaged phone will be saved — that's the truth. The sooner it comes in, the better the chance. Please don't try to switch it on. Can you bring it today?
Callout booking
The visit charge is Rs. [X], and it comes off the repair cost if you go ahead with the repair. Shall I send a technician on [day] at [time]?
Free tools that help here: WhatsApp Business Message Templates, WhatsApp Link Generator.
The parts of InboxCRM you'll use most
Auto-reply rules
An enquiry that lands while you're mid-repair gets an honest first message and a real question, instead of two hours of silence that sends the customer to the next shop.
Appointment centre
Drop-off times, callout windows and service slots in one place, so "bring it in" becomes a booking with a time on it.
Quick replies
The diagnosis questions and the honest range templates, typed once and sent with greasy hands in three seconds.
Pipeline board
Every open job visible by stage, so nothing sits in Waiting on part or Ready for pickup while the customer assumes you've forgotten.
Contact notes and custom fields
Model, fault, the range you quoted, warranty status and part ordered — held on the chat so the number you said last week is the number you can defend today.
Questions from repair & service centres
Can it tell me what's wrong with a device?
No. It can't diagnose a fault, can't make an accurate quote possible before you've seen the device, and can't guarantee any repair or data recovery. It helps with the part around the repair: asking the right question fast, holding the range you quoted against the right contact, and turning "bring it in" into a scheduled drop-off.
I'm the only technician and I'm on the bench all day. When do I use this?
It runs in desktop Chrome on WhatsApp Web, so it fits a shop with a counter computer better than a phone-only setup. The auto-reply and scheduled messages need Chrome running with WhatsApp Web open to send. Most single technicians set it up once and let the auto-reply cover the hours their hands are busy.
Can I send an update to everyone waiting on a part?
Keep those jobs in a custom chat tab or in the Waiting on part stage, then work down the list sending an individual line to each. That reads as a person keeping you informed, which is what this trade runs on. Campaigns exist for opted-in lists, but a repair update belongs in a one-to-one message.
Can I show a customer what work was agreed?
You can keep notes and custom fields on the contact — model, fault, range quoted, part ordered, warranty status — and write the agreed scope into the chat itself so it's in writing on both sides. There's no printed job card, but the chat plus the notes covers what most small shops were keeping on a scrap of paper.
Does a customer see any of this?
No. Stages, tags, notes and custom fields are yours only — the customer sees a normal WhatsApp chat. The CRM data sits in your browser on your own computer. There's also a one-click privacy blur if you need to show your screen to someone without exposing names and numbers.