New client welcome message on WhatsApp: setting expectations from day one

WhatsApp category : Utility (service)

When to send this message

On the day cover starts, or within 48 hours of signature once the schedule has been sent. For many clients it is the first message from the brokerage number, so it sets out what the number will be used for (premium reminders, documents, claims) and what it will not (no marketing without consent), and names the person who looks after them.

If the onboarding conversation is still open (the client wrote within the last 24 hours), it goes free-form. Otherwise it is a Meta-approved utility template tied to the policy just taken out. In ORIS, "welcome" is one of the starter template categories; the client is created in Customers & Segments with their WhatsApp opt-in recorded, and the engagement score starts building from this first exchange.

It is also where you confirm consent. In South Africa, remind the client they agreed to be contacted on WhatsApp about their policy and how to stop it, which sits comfortably with POPIA and the FAIS General Code's disclosure duties; in the UK, the same reminder is part of fair treatment under Consumer Duty and keeps you on the right side of PECR when marketing comes later.

Variants

Plain

Warm

Short (mobile money, East Africa)

Formal (UK commercial)

Writing tips

• Say in one sentence what this number is for and what it is not; it prevents the "who is this?" replies and off-topic requests.
• Name the representative and the reply hours; a client who knows when they will be read does not send three messages in a row.
• Remind the client how to stop messages (STOP): Meta requires it, POPIA and PECR expect it, and it reassures rather than the opposite.
• In markets where premiums are paid by mobile money or EFT, state where money goes and where it never goes; the welcome message is the best defence against fake-broker fraud.
• Send during the day, after the schedule, never alongside three other messages: one subject, the welcome.
• No sales proposal in this message, not even in passing; it stays a service message tied to the policy just bought.

Common mistakes

• Sending the welcome from the representative's personal number, which the client will save and use for years.
• Slipping a cross-sell offer into the first message: rejected as a utility template and a poor first impression.
• Leaving out the opt-out instruction, then discovering the problem in a complaint.
• Sending the message before cover is actually in force or the schedule is available.

Frequently asked questions

Does this message need a Meta-approved template?

Yes if the onboarding conversation has been closed for more than 24 hours, which is common when the policy was signed in the office or by email. One utility welcome template with the policy, date and representative variables serves every new client.

Can it be sent without opt-in?

No. The WhatsApp opt-in must have been collected at inception (a dedicated tick box, a clause in the mandate or written agreement in the conversation). The welcome message restates it and gives the client a way to withdraw it.

Should the welcome go to the whole existing book when the brokerage moves to WhatsApp Business?

That is a different campaign, prepared with prior opt-in collection for each client. Announcing a new number to clients who never opted in exposes the brokerage to complaints and the number to a drop in its quality rating.