WhatsApp Business message triage into HubSpot and Slack

PromptCreate

When someone messages my WhatsApp Business number, I want the message triaged before anyone on my team touches it. Trigger this workflow with a webhook that fires whenever a new inbound WhatsApp message arrives.

First, read the message body and classify it as one of three things: a new sales enquiry, a support question from an existing customer, or spam.

If the message is spam, stop there and drop it entirely. Do not create a contact, do not log a note, do not post anything to Slack, and do not reply to the sender.

For sales enquiries and support questions, use HubSpot Search Contacts to look up the sender by their phone number. If there is no match, create the person with HubSpot Create Contact, setting the phone number and whatever name WhatsApp provides on the inbound message. Then use HubSpot Create Note to log the full message body against that contact, so the conversation history lives in the CRM.

Next, send a notification with Slack Bot Send a Message, routing it to the right channel: sales enquiries go to my sales channel and support questions go to my support channel. Include the classification, the sender's name and phone number, the message itself, and a suggested reply the rep can copy and paste.

Finally, acknowledge the customer on WhatsApp with Send Message so they know we received their message and someone is looking at it.

One important nuance: because the customer messaged us first, the 24 hour customer service window is open, so a free-form text reply is fine here and no pre-approved message template is needed. When sending, format the recipient's number in full international format with no plus sign, no spaces and no dashes.

What does this prompt do?

Reads every new message to your WhatsApp Business number and sorts it into a new sales enquiry, an existing customer support question, or spam.
Looks the sender up in HubSpot by phone number, adds them as a contact if they are new, and saves the message against their record.
Alerts the right Slack channel, sales or support, with the sender's name, the message, and a suggested reply your rep can copy and paste.
Replies to the customer on WhatsApp to confirm you got it, and drops spam entirely so nobody gets pinged and no contact is created.

What do I need to use this?

A WhatsApp Business account with a phone number you use for customer messages.
A HubSpot login where your contacts live.
A Slack workspace, plus the two channels you want sales enquiries and support questions to land in.

How can I customize it?

Change which Slack channel each type goes to, or send both to the same channel while you get started.
Adjust the wording and tone of the automatic acknowledgement the customer receives.
Tune what counts as spam, or add extra categories like billing questions or job applications.

FAQs

Do I need a pre-approved message template to reply?

No. Because the customer messaged you first, WhatsApp opens a 24 hour window where you can reply in your own words. This workflow replies inside that window, so a normal free form message is fine. Templates are only required when you start a conversation or when you reply after 24 hours have passed.

What happens to spam?

It is dropped completely. No contact is created in HubSpot, no note is saved, and nobody on your team gets a Slack notification. You only hear about real enquiries.

Will this create duplicate contacts in HubSpot?

No. The sender is looked up by phone number first, and a new contact is only created when there is no existing match. If they are already in your CRM, the message is simply logged against the record you already have.

Does it reply to the customer automatically?

It sends a short acknowledgement so the customer knows their message arrived and someone is picking it up. The real answer still comes from your team, using the suggested reply posted in Slack as a starting point.

Will this work with a regular WhatsApp account?

No, it needs a WhatsApp Business account with a number set up for customer messaging. A personal WhatsApp account cannot connect to automations like this.

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