In Brazil, the sales funnel of small and mid-sized companies ends on WhatsApp. Ads, Instagram and the website exist to generate the message. The problem is that what happens after the message is rarely designed.
The 5 stages
1. Entry — every channel points to WhatsApp with a pre-filled message ("Hi, I saw the post about X and want a quote"). The pre-filled message says where the lead came from and what they want — free qualification.
2. Reply in minutes — a lead from Instagram cools down in 10 minutes. Automatic welcome reply + a human within 15 minutes during business hours. After hours, the auto-reply says when you're back.
3. Qualification — three questions, not ten: what they need, by when, and what they already have. Those who don't answer aren't ready; they go to the follow-up list.
4. Proposal — as a PDF, on WhatsApp itself, within 24 hours. With fixed price and next step. A 4-minute voice note is not a proposal.
5. Follow-up — leads disappear after the proposal. Touch at 2, 5 and 10 days, with content (a case, a frequent question), not with "so?". After that, a monthly nurture list.
Metrics per stage
- Messages received per channel (where the lead comes from).
- Average first-response time.
- % of qualified leads.
- % of proposals sent within 24h.
- Closing rate per source.
Tools
WhatsApp Business with labels handles up to about 100 leads a month. Above that, a CRM with integration (Kommo, RD Station, HubSpot) — but the tool doesn't fix a funnel that was never designed.
The most expensive mistake
Investing in ads to generate messages nobody answers in time. Before raising the budget, measure your response time.
Need this in your company?
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