How an AI WhatsApp bot changes the rules of the game: eliminating asking for a phone number from the sales funnel

Common opinion

Most online sales companies follow the standard logic: in order to communicate effectively with a potential customer, you must first ask for their phone number. It is generally accepted that without a direct request, the company will not be able to contact the client, enter them into CRM and, ultimately, bring them to a deal. Moreover, this approach is considered universal: it is used by both start-up entrepreneurs and large corporations. Everyone thinks that any further steps are simply impossible without contact details.

However, there is one important problem with this stereotype. A direct request for contacts often becomes a kind of bottleneck in the whole process: the user does not want or doubts the need to leave a number, or they don't have time to do so right now. The result is obvious: the company is losing potential customers, and the percentage of leads that “fall off” can be measured in tens of percent. But what if there's a way around this “biggest barrier” when working with customers and make the sales funnel smoother?

Specific event

We received a request from a major customer who wanted to implement an AI bot to communicate with customers via WhatsApp. The task seemed standard: the bot should qualify leads, determine their interest, and transfer all the collected information to the CRM system. The client had already worked with other messengers, such as Instagram Direct and Telegram, and knew that they always required an additional question: “Please leave your phone number so we can contact you.”

During the integration process, our specialists drew attention to the technical capability that is provided through the WhatsApp Business API. It turned out that you can write a special script that allows you to automatically pull up the person's phone number if the conversation takes place on WhatsApp. In other words, the bot itself “sees” the number of the person who initiates the chat and immediately transfers this data to CRM. As soon as we implemented this feature into our control panel, it became clear that there was no need to request a head-on number here at all.

Why this observation is important

If a company does not know about such an option on WhatsApp or does not know how to technically implement it, then it is missing out on a serious competitive advantage. Every additional step in the sales funnel — whether it's registering, entering contact details, or confirming consent — increases the risk of losing a customer. A potential buyer may close the dialogue, get distracted by other things, or simply lose interest.

At the same time, ignorance of the technology automatically turns into “hidden costs”: the business not only loses profit due to the “leak” of leads, but also spends extra time trying to regain lost contact. By reducing the number of funnel steps, we directly increase the conversion rate and, consequently, the profitability of the entire process of interacting with potential customers.

Case example

For clarity, let's consider two cases:

• Real estate company. Before the introduction of the WhatsApp bot, their main communication channels were Messenger and Telegram. There, managers or bots first talked to the client and then made sure to ask: “Please leave your phone number for further interaction.” On average, about 10-20% of leads stopped the conversation at this stage. But after we set up the WhatsApp bot and enabled the automatic number identification feature, the company saw an almost twofold increase in target leads. Moreover, this happened just in the first few weeks of the new channel: the user did not have to manually enter a contact, so the “weak link” in the funnel was eliminated.
• Another case: Telegram bot for a call center. After a few days of using the WhatsApp bot, we noticed that we had a list of phone numbers, even those potential customers who didn't close as leads. As part of the project, we suggested that every day the Telegram bot generates a list of those who started a dialogue but did not continue the conversation to the end. Then the client's call center calls these “under-pressed” leads and offers additional help, presentation or advice. Thus, businesses get a second chance to convert without additional advertising costs — after all, people have already shown interest once they start chatting with companies.
  

Unexpected conclusion

‍The whole “magic” is that WhatsApp, when properly configured, makes it possible to bypass the main barrier to communication: manually requesting a phone number. This nuance makes it possible not only to simplify interaction, but also to significantly increase conversions. At the same time, if you use other messengers and can't get a number automatically, there are always alternative ways to “squeeze” the client: well-thought-out dialing scripts, repeated notifications, flexible integrations, etc.

The final insight is that every additional point of contact that requires effort from the user is the risk of losing a lead. When we eliminate or mitigate this point, sales grow by themselves. A business that can use such unobvious opportunities invariably improves its competitiveness by getting more leads from existing advertising channels and optimizing costs. It is these details that often make a significant difference and help the company stand out in the market.

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