Connecting WhatsApp for your customers is two jobs, not one. The Mucka half is a button. The other half happens on Meta's website, and it's the half nobody warns you about.
This article is that half. If you haven't read WhatsApp your customers yet, start there, it explains what the feature does and what changes on your number.
Fair warning: it's fiddly. Not hard, but it's Meta's site, not ours, and they move things. If you'd rather not, message us and we'll go through it with you on a screen share. That's a genuine offer, not a brush-off. It takes about twenty minutes together.
Before you start
Have these to hand or it'll stall halfway:
- The WhatsApp Business app on your phone, the one with the briefcase, not ordinary green WhatsApp
- The phone number you want your customers to see. Think about this one properly, see below
- Your Facebook login
- A debit or credit card. Meta bill you direct for messages, roughly 4p each
Decide which number first, because you can't change it later
This is the one decision worth five minutes.
Whatever number you pick becomes the number your customers see, and Meta won't let you move it to a different business account afterwards. So pick the number your customers already have for you, the one on the van and the invoices.
If you use WhatsApp Business on that number already, that's the one. Your chat history stays, your customers carry on in the same conversation, and Mucka's messages land in that thread.
If you pick a number that's new to WhatsApp, you're starting a fresh conversation with every customer. That works, but it isn't the version most people want, and it's worth knowing before rather than after.
What happens when you press Connect
In Mucka: Settings, then Connections, then Integrations, then WhatsApp for your customers, then Connect WhatsApp.
You'll get a panel listing what changes on your number. Read it, tick the box, press Connect WhatsApp again, and a Facebook window opens on top of Mucka.
In that window you'll log into Facebook, pick or create your business, and pick your WhatsApp number. Don't close it early. When it finishes it hands you back to Mucka, and Mucka should say it's connected.
If Mucka still says not connected, the handover didn't reach us. Try it once more. If it happens twice, tell us: we get a record of every attempt now, so we can see what Meta said rather than guessing.
Your number will say "Pending", and that's normal
A new number isn't live the moment you add it. Meta have to confirm you own it.
To check where it's up to, go to business.facebook.com, open the menu, and find WhatsApp Manager. Under Account tools you'll see Phone numbers, and your number will be listed with a status beside it.
- Pending means Meta haven't confirmed it yet. Open the number and follow the verification, they'll send a code by text or a call
- Connected means it's done
Nothing sends while it's Pending. Mucka carries on texting your customers in the meantime, so nobody misses anything.
Add a card, or nothing will send
Meta charge you directly for WhatsApp messages. No card, no messages, and the failure is quiet.
On business.facebook.com, go to Billing and payments, then Payment methods, then Add payment method. Add your card and make sure a currency is set, GBP if you're in the UK.
A few things worth knowing:
- It's Meta's bill, not ours. It arrives separately from what you pay Mucka
- Roughly 4p a message. We don't mark it up and we never see it
- We can't add it for you. It's your card on your Meta account, and we have no way to put it there
Then Meta check your messages
Once you're connected, Mucka sets up your message templates, the booking confirmation, the on-my-way, the invoice, the quote. Meta approve each one, usually within a few hours.
You can watch this on the same Mucka settings screen. Press Check template approval to refresh it. Until a template is approved, that particular message keeps going out as a text.
When it's all done
Nothing to switch on. Once a template is approved, Mucka starts using WhatsApp for that message, and falls back to a text for anyone who isn't on WhatsApp. Your customers get the message either way.
If it's still sending texts
Work down this list, it's in the order things usually go wrong:
- Is the number still Pending? WhatsApp Manager, then Phone numbers. Pending means nothing sends
- Is there a card on the Meta account? Billing and payments, then Payment methods
- Are the templates approved? Check on the Mucka settings screen
- Is that customer on WhatsApp? If not, they get a text, and that's working as intended
If all four look right and it's still texting, tell us and we'll look. Don't spend your evening on it.
Getting stuck is normal
This is the most fiddly setup in Mucka, and it's the one bit we can't do for you, because it's your business account and your card. If any of it doesn't match what's on your screen, stop and message us. Meta change their screens more often than we'd like, and a five-minute screen share beats an hour of hunting.