Built an AI agent for WhatsApp customer service and bookings for SG businesses. Still early, would love feedback from business owners and freelancers.
Hi business owners, managers and freelancers! would love to hear your thoughts on a platform we've built, Merlion Labs. We're early stage and this post is genuinely more about getting feedback than anything else.
Here's what we've built so far.
An AI agent that sits on your WhatsApp and handles customer conversations automatically. It answers enquiries, makes bookings without sending customers to a separate booking page (like what businesses have to do using Fresha, Calendly, etc), integrates with the current tools you use (google sheets, notion, google calendar, etc), captures leads & customer details directly within the chat itself. Feel free to suggest more features that will benefit your business, especially in the local market (eg. PayNow integration). Pricing will start from just S$29, and is good enough for most small businesses.
The thing we spent a lot of time on that most platforms don't solve is letting businesses keep using their WhatsApp Business app normally while the automation runs alongside it. Usually it's one or the other. We think that's a dealbreaker for a lot of SMEs here who aren't going to change a workflow that already works for them, so we made both work together. You also keep your existing number and everything runs through the official Meta API through an official Meta Business Partner so there's no risk to your account.
The AI isn't meant to replace anyone. It handles the repetitive stuff and knows when to hand the conversation to a human team member. And you can takeover the AI anytime from your inbox, and hand the convo back to the agent! Think of it less like a chatbot and more like a new staff member who deals with routine enquiries so the rest of the team can focus on actual work.
Honestly we're still figuring out a lot of things. Which industries this fits. How to build automations and workflows that actually help SG SMEs scale and focus on things that actually matter. And of course, how to make it sound more human.
We've seen data suggesting businesses using agents like this see value in this over time, because Singaporeans love to get stuff done over WhatsApp. In Singapore, 40% more enquiries on WhatsApp than traditional website forms, and 60% increase in bookings in 3 months of using a platform like this.
A few things I'd would love input on:
- For businesses that tried something similar before, what specifically broke down? Was it the setup, the AI giving wrong answers, customers hating it, something else? Is pricing the main blocker or is it more about trust and not knowing if it actually works?
- For businesses that have yet to try, what is something that you would appreciate to see as a feature/workflow to automate your processes?
Just trying to understand where the real gaps are before we go further. If you're open to trying it for free and telling me honestly what works and what doesn't, feel free to DM me. Thank you!
Sharing some screenshots below to show it in action.
