WhatsApp CRM, WhatsApp Business API, SMS: comparisons

Three decisions, in this order

Which number do clients talk to? Personal number or brokerage number: the decision that protects the book when an adviser leaves.
Which WhatsApp tool? The WhatsApp Business app or the API: several users, approved templates, archiving.
Where do conversations live? In a generic CRM or a WhatsApp CRM, and for the team, WhatsApp groups or a shared inbox.

Then comes the channel (SMS or WhatsApp, email or WhatsApp) and automation (chatbot or supervised AI).

These comparisons are published by the company behind ORIS, a WhatsApp CRM: we say so, and each page states when the other option is the right one. The criteria are things you can check (Meta's rules, record-keeping duties, how the brokerage works), with no invented prices, ratings or reviews.

All comparisons

Generic CRM vs WhatsApp CRM: which one suits an insurance brokerage?

Horizontal sales CRM with a WhatsApp add-on, or a CRM built around WhatsApp for brokers: pipeline, shared inbox, templates, opt-in, cost, integrations.

WhatsApp Business app vs WhatsApp Business Platform (API): which one for a brokerage?

Free app on one phone or the Business Platform (API) with software: cost, templates, 24-hour window, team access, records. Which fits your brokerage?

WhatsApp groups vs shared inbox: how should a broking team organise itself?

A team group where client messages are forwarded, groups with clients, or a shared inbox on one number: assignment, history, confidentiality, cost, limits.

Personal number or brokerage number: which WhatsApp should clients write to?

Advisers answering clients on their own WhatsApp: speed against lost history, POPIA, FAIS and FCA records. When it is acceptable and how to migrate.

Chatbot vs supervised AI: what automation suits a brokerage's WhatsApp conversations?

A button menu that answers alone, or AI that classifies, drafts and only auto-replies under rules with a human behind it: FAIS advice duties, risk, cost.

Spreadsheets vs CRM: how far can a brokerage run its book on Excel?

Client book, renewals and reminders in a spreadsheet or CRM: Excel's real limits, what a CRM adds, cost, migration, POPIA and FCA records. When to switch.

SMS vs WhatsApp for insurance brokers: which channel for reminders and service?

Debit-order reminders, documents, claims follow-up: SMS or WhatsApp for a brokerage? Reach, cost, opt-in, attachments, replies. The right channel per job.

Email vs WhatsApp: which channel for a brokerage's client communication?

Policy documents, reminders, everyday questions: what email does better than WhatsApp and the reverse. Durable medium, deliverability, records, teamwork.