WhatsApp AI chatbot for businesses: 9 questions to answer before launching in Mallorca

In Mallorca, and across the Balearic Islands, a lot of customer contact happens on WhatsApp: bookings, appointments, quotes, "what time do you open?", "is this in stock?". So it makes sense that many businesses are looking at a WhatsApp AI chatbot to reply when nobody on the team can.

The trouble is that most projects start with the tool instead of the questions. This article goes the other way round: nine questions worth answering before you commission or switch on anything. Get them clear and the project ends up shorter, cheaper to maintain and, above all, it won't embarrass you in front of your customers.

To keep it concrete, we'll use a hypothetical example: a car repair garage in Manacor that gets WhatsApp messages asking for appointments, whether a car is ready, and rough prices for a service.

1. What messages do you actually get?

Before thinking about AI, look back through the last few weeks of conversations and sort them. A simple spreadsheet is enough: type of message, how often it comes up, and whether it can be answered without checking anything.

For the garage, the groups would look something like this:

• Booking or moving an appointment.
• Asking whether the car is finished.
• Asking for a rough price for a service or new tyres.
• Questions about opening hours, location or a courtesy car.
• Complaints or problems with a repair.

That list is the foundation. Anything that isn't on it, the chatbot doesn't need on day one.

2. What can it answer alone, and what not?

Split the groups into three boxes:

• Answers on its own: stable information such as hours, address, services and how appointments work.
• Answers using data from your systems: car status, free slots in the diary. The bot needs to read real data here; if it can't, it shouldn't try.
• Hands over to a person: complaints, quotes that depend on seeing the vehicle, anything involving money or liability.

A chatbot that can say "Toni will get back to you first thing tomorrow" is far more useful than one that makes up an answer.

3. Which phone number will you use?

It sounds minor, but it shapes a lot. A reliable AI connection runs on Meta's official WhatsApp Business Platform (the API), not the phone app. So you need to decide whether to move the number your customers already know or start with a new one, and who will manage the business account on Meta.

If your current number lives in the WhatsApp Business app on the owner's phone, plan the switch carefully: what happens to the history, who answers in the meantime and how regular customers are told.

4. Which languages do customers write in?

In the Balearics it's rare for everything to arrive in one language. Depending on the business, you'll see Spanish, Catalan, English, German or French. A good AI chatbot can reply in the customer's language, but you still need to decide:

• Whether the human handover can also work in those languages, or the bot should warn that a person will reply in another one.
• Whether sensitive wording (terms, warranties) is translated on the fly or points to a reviewed document.

In Ibiza and Menorca, with lots of overseas customers in season, this question tends to matter even more.

5. Where does it get its information?

AI doesn't "know" anything about your business by itself. It needs a source: a document with services, hours, policies and standard replies, plus access to your diary or management software when needed.

The rule of thumb is simple: if a piece of data changes often, the bot should read it from its source, not keep a copy. For the garage, opening hours can live in the document; free appointment slots can't.

6. What must it never do?

Write this down before you start, as a list of hard rules. For example:

• Never give fixed prices for repairs.
• Never confirm a car is ready unless the system says so.
• Never ask for bank or card details in the chat.
• Never argue with an upset customer: hand over to a person.

That list becomes the bot's instructions and a set of tests you rerun before every change.

7. How and when does a person step in?

The human handover is what separates a helpful chatbot from an annoying one. Define:

• What triggers it: keywords, a complaint, the customer asking for it, or the bot not having an answer.
• Who receives it: a phone, an email address or a shared inbox.
• What they receive: a summary of the conversation, so the customer isn't asked the same things again.
• What the customer is told: a realistic time frame ("we'll reply today before 7pm"), not a "right away" that never happens.

8. What about out-of-hours messages and notifications?

WhatsApp has its own rules for businesses: within 24 hours of the customer's last message you can reply freely; outside that window, writing first requires approved templates and the customer's consent to receive messages. That affects things like "your car is ready" or appointment reminders.

It's worth designing from the start which notifications you'll send, with which template and which consent, rather than finding out once the bot is live. And keep in mind that Meta reviews its policies: the bot should be focused on your business, not be a general-purpose assistant for anything.

9. How will you know it's working?

Before switching it on, decide what you'll review after a few weeks. No magic numbers, just honest questions:

• What share of messages gets resolved without a person?
• How often did the bot hand over, and why?
• Were there wrong answers? Which ones, and how were they fixed?
• Have you stopped losing appointments or out-of-hours enquiries?

Those answers are what you use to adjust the source document, the list of hard rules and the handover triggers. A WhatsApp chatbot is never "finished": it gets tuned.

A careful way to start

If the project still makes sense after these questions, this is the order we recommend:

1. Start with stable information only (question 2, first box).
2. Test it internally with real, anonymised conversations.
3. Switch it on for customers with a clearly visible human handover.
4. Connect the diary or management software later, once the simple part works.

It's slower than "turning everything on on Monday", but it avoids the scenario that does the most damage: a long-standing customer getting a wrong answer from a robot.

Want to look at it for your business?

At Derek Solutions we design and integrate AI automation for businesses in Mallorca and the Balearics, including WhatsApp chatbots connected to your diary, CRM or management software. If you'd like to go through these nine questions with your own case, email derek@dereksolutions.com, call +34 680 283 973 or use our contact form.