Intern
What you actually do
Inbound test, format test, opt-in gate. Screenshot the thread on the contact. You are not allowed to start a WhatsApp broadcast.
Library / Wire / WhatsApp is Conversations, not a side chat
WhatsApp works until the owner is on a plane or a second person needs the thread. Wiring it to GHL means the number lives in Conversations on the contact, templates have jobs, and you do not run a second unofficial WhatsApp as the real company. This is objects, opt-in, and the test message — not a UI tour of the app.
WhatsApp works until the owner is on a plane or a second person needs the thread. Wiring it to GHL means the number lives in Conversations on the contact, templates have jobs, and you do not run a second unofficial WhatsApp as the real company. This is objects, opt-in, and the test message — not a UI tour of the app.
The company number must be in GHL, not only on a personal phone. If the founder’s WhatsApp is the product, you have a hostage, not a system.
Phone format is identity. +country code consistency or you will split one human into two contacts. Write the format rule.
Broadcast lists inside WhatsApp are not nurture. If you need a sequence, it is a GHL workflow that sends WhatsApp with a stop rule. Meta policy is not a reason to skip the stop rule.
Reminders and speed-to-lead are valid jobs. Pitching every inbound with a voice note is how you train people to leave on read.
Handoff: when a human takes over, the workflow pauses. The next owner can read the thread on the contact. If they cannot, you are still on a phone.
Intern
Inbound test, format test, opt-in gate. Screenshot the thread on the contact. You are not allowed to start a WhatsApp broadcast.
Operator
Protect the company number. Templates have jobs. Human reply pauses automation. The pipeline still moves on booked and paid — chat is not Won.
CEO
If the business cannot answer when one person is offline, you bought a personality. Conversations on the contact is the asset. The phone in a pocket is a risk.
WhatsApp Business / API number, GHL Conversations, contact phone as identity, opt-in field, template messages with jobs, opportunity, owner user, after-hours auto-reply, unofficial personal WhatsApp (to kill).
Inbound WhatsApp → contact match on phone; thread on the contact in Conversations
Opt-in recorded (form, keyword, or checkbox) before marketing templates; service replies can continue a thread
Template jobs: reminder, no-show recovery, speed-to-lead — each named; not a dump of 'broadcast lists'
Booked or paid events still write the pipeline; WhatsApp does not replace the opportunity
Connect WhatsApp Business API or the GHL-supported path to the sub-account. Publish that number on the site. Personal numbers stop being official.
Why: Two numbers is two CRMs. Customers will write the one that already has history — the personal one.
Done when: A test inbound from a new phone appears on a GHL contact, not only on a mobile app.
E.164. Forms, Calendly, and WhatsApp must write the same format. Merge rule if a contact exists with a missing plus sign.
Why: Format drift is duplicate contacts and missed threads.
Done when: Same person texting from the site form and WhatsApp lands on one record.
whatsapp_opt_in true/false, source of opt-in, date. Marketing templates only if true. Transactional reminders follow your policy and the thread.
Why: A banned number is an outage. A field you can audit is cheaper than 'we thought they were fine'.
Done when: A contact without opt-in does not get the promo template in a test.
At most a handful: speed reply, reminder, no-show, onboarding. Each tied to a workflow with a stop. Kill WhatsApp broadcast lists as an operating habit.
Why: Unnamed blasts from the app are how you look like a spammer and how you cannot report.
Done when: Each live template maps to a workflow name on the spec page.
When an owner sends from Conversations, the sequence waits. Assignment is visible. After-hours auto-reply tells the truth about hours.
Why: Bot stacking on a human conversation is how you lose the lead and the brand.
Done when: Test: auto SMS/WA, then human reply, then no third automated pitch in the next hour.
Text the published number from a new phone. Confirm a contact in GHL, thread visible, phone in E.164. Confirm the founder’s personal WhatsApp is not listed on the site. Send a reminder template to an opted-in test contact. Confirm a non-opted contact is blocked from the promo template.
A second WhatsApp 'for the VA' or a broadcast tool until the official number is in Conversations and personal numbers are retired from the website. More chats on unofficial SIMs multiply hostage risk.
GHL WhatsApp was connected and then ignored. Real sales happen on the founder’s phone. Broadcast list fires on Saturdays. Opt-in is a myth. Duplicate contacts from 061 vs +38761. Pipelines never move because the deal happened in a voice note. That is a SIM card with a logo.
New inbound → one contact → human can pick up from Conversations. Opt-in gate works. Reminder template tied to a calendar event on that contact. Personal number removed from public CTAs. After-hours reply is honest.
Until vacation, a lost phone, or a hire. Like is not an operating system. Move official traffic to the company number or admit you are the bottleneck.
That is how numbers die and how GHL never sees who was mailed. Sequences belong in GHL with opt-in and sunset.
It is a channel with jobs. Email still carries proof and length. Mixing every job into WhatsApp is how you get ignored in the one place they still read.
This week
This week: official number in GHL, E.164, opt-in field, one reminder template, personal number off the site. No broadcast lists.
A full calendar and an empty pipeline is two databases.
Read ↗A high score in a CSV is not a qualified opportunity.
Read ↗If the thank-you does not change the contact, the page was a brochure.
Read ↗If paid lives in Stripe and the opportunity is still open, reporting is theatre.
Read ↗Working notes
The minimum CRM, pipeline, and nurture spec before you add more pages. Request the file. It arrives by email — not a public dump, not a drip of slogans.
Email and WhatsApp stay open. A call is for installing the system — not for a tour of tools.