Getting started with Mercately comes down to three moves: create your trial account, connect your channels (WhatsApp through the official API, Instagram and Messenger) and invite your team. From there, you set up the pipeline, tags and automations that turn every conversation into an organized sale instead of a chat that slips through the cracks.
This guide follows a logical order. First, the foundation everything else rests on (channels and team). Then your sales structure (pipeline and tags). Finally, automation (chatbot, AI agent, catalog, payments and campaigns). For each step, we explain what you are setting up and why it matters, so you make good decisions from the start.
Before you start: three decisions that save time
A CRM takes minutes to set up, but it takes judgment to organize. Before you log in, get clear on these answers:
- Which channels you will cover. Just WhatsApp, or Instagram and Messenger too? One number or several (by branch, team or campaign)?
- Who handles what. List the people who will reply, whether they split into teams (sales, support, collections) and what hours they work.
- What your sales process looks like. Write down the real stages a customer goes through from first message to payment. If that is fuzzy, read our guide to the sales funnel and its stages.
With those answers in hand, the setup is almost mechanical.
At a glance: what to set up and why
| Step | What you set up | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Account and 15-day trial | Explore the platform with no commitment |
| 2 | WhatsApp through the official API | Team inbox and automation on your main number |
| 3 | Instagram and Messenger | DMs and comments in the same inbox |
| 4 | Team and assignment | Every chat reaches the right person |
| 5 | Pipeline and stages | See where every deal stands |
| 6 | Tags | Segment contacts for routing, filtering and campaigns |
| 7 | Quick replies and welcome message | Fast answers in a consistent voice |
| 8 | Chatbot and MIA | 24/7 coverage and lead qualification without manual work |
| 9 | Catalog and payments | Sell and collect inside the chat |
| 10 | Templates and campaigns | Win back customers and send bulk messages |
| 11 | Metrics | Track response times, workload and sales |
Step 1: create your account and start the free trial
Go to app.mercately.com/register and sign up. The trial lasts 15 days with no credit card required, so you can connect channels, invite your team and test workflows with real conversations before you pick a plan.
A practical tip: run the trial with real customers, not just internal test messages. That is the only way to find out whether your pipeline and quick replies hold up in day-to-day work.
Step 2: connect WhatsApp through the official API
WhatsApp is usually your highest-volume channel, so it goes first. Mercately runs on the official WhatsApp Business API. That is what lets several agents share one number, makes chatbots and campaigns with Meta-approved templates possible, and logs everything in the CRM. It is a different setup from the multi-device mode of the WhatsApp Business app, which is built for very small teams.
The connection process has its own walkthrough: how to connect WhatsApp Business API to Mercately. If you run several branches or teams with separate numbers, you can connect them all to one account with the multi-number CRM, including routing, team permissions and per-number reports.
Keep Meta’s pricing model in mind. Since July 1, 2025, Meta charges per delivered template message (marketing, utility and authentication). Since October 1, 2026, replies inside the 24-hour window the customer opens and utility templates sent inside that window are charged too, at the country’s utility rate. Messages inside the 72-hour window opened by a click-to-WhatsApp ad are still free. To estimate your spend, use the WhatsApp API pricing calculator.
Step 3: add Instagram and Facebook Messenger
Next, connect Instagram and Messenger. Direct messages and comments from both networks then land in the same omnichannel inbox as WhatsApp, with each customer’s full history.
Why does this matter? Plenty of customers discover a brand on Instagram and end up buying over WhatsApp. When those channels live in separate tools, you lose context. Once they are centralized, any agent sees the whole conversation and never has to ask the same question twice.
Step 4: invite your team and define assignment rules
With channels in place, invite the people who will handle conversations. Two decisions matter here:
- Teams and permissions. Group agents by role (sales, support, collections) so each person sees what is relevant to them.
- Assignment rules. With WhatsApp Multiagente, chats can be assigned automatically by team, workload, schedule or tag, or distributed round robin. Supervisors can reassign manually and monitor the whole operation in one place.
To go deeper on running several people on a single number, read our guide to multiple users on WhatsApp. Your team can also reply from the Mercately mobile app for iOS and Android.
Step 5: build your pipeline and its stages
In Mercately, every conversation becomes a contact with a stage, an owner and data. The pipeline view shows how many opportunities sit at each point in the process and where they are getting stuck.
Create stages that match what actually happens in your business. Here is an example for a store that sells over WhatsApp:
- New contact
- Interested (asked for a price or details)
- Quote sent
- Payment pending
- Closed won
- Lost
Resist adding too many stages at first. Start with five or six clear ones and adjust once you have real data. If you sell with formal proposals, our walkthrough on PDF quotes from WhatsApp will come in handy later.
Step 6: create tags that actually help
Tags are how you segment contacts. They do three jobs: route chats automatically, filter the inbox and target campaigns at a specific group.
A few categories that tend to work:
- Interest or product: what the customer asked about.
- Source: the ad, channel or campaign they came from.
- Customer type: new, repeat, wholesale.
- Special status: needs follow-up, open complaint.
Keep the list short and agree with your team on when each tag applies. Inconsistent tags mean campaigns reach the wrong people.
Step 7: quick replies and a welcome message
Now set up the basic automations. These save the most time from day one:
- Welcome message: the first thing someone sees when they message you. Introduce your business, say what you can help with and, if relevant, share your hours.
- Quick replies: saved answers to frequent questions (pricing, shipping, payment methods, hours). They keep your brand voice consistent and prevent typos.
- Scheduled messages: useful for reminders and follow-ups on specific dates.
Mercately also gives your team smart AI suggestions that propose replies instantly and help them respond faster.
Step 8: turn on the chatbot and the AI agent (MIA)
With the basics running, it is time to automate first-line support. You have two complementary tools:
- No-code chatbots: a visual flow builder for WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger. Use it for automated replies, lead qualification and routing, inactivity reminders, showing the catalog in the chat and handing off to an agent. To control when each flow fires, see our guide to chatbot triggers in Mercately.
- MIA, the AI agent: works 24/7, replies in your brand voice, draws on your catalog and knowledge base, qualifies leads, spots buying intent and hands off to a person when needed.
For MIA to answer well, give it clear material: FAQs, shipping and return policies, and product descriptions. Also define when the conversation should move to a human.
Step 9: connect your catalog and payments
If you sell products, sync your catalog so you can share product cards with prices and variants inside the chat and create the order without leaving the conversation. Mercately has native integrations with Shopify and WooCommerce.
Then set up digital payments: payment links, order creation and automatic payment confirmation inside the conversation. Available gateways include Stripe, Nequi, Daviplata, Bre-B and Payphone, among others. The upside is simple: customers pay without sending you screenshots of bank transfers.
Step 10: prepare templates and your first campaign
To message a customer outside the 24-hour window, you need Meta-approved templates. Create at least one utility template (an order confirmation, for example) and one marketing template (a promotion or product update). Our guide to WhatsApp message templates explains how to write them so they get approved.
Once templates are ready, you can send bulk campaigns segmented by tag or pipeline stage. Start with a small group, measure replies, then scale. How much you can send depends on Meta’s messaging policies.
Step 11: check your metrics in week one
Mercately’s analytics show response times, conversation volume, workload per agent and sales. Review them at the end of your first week to spot:
- Agents with too many assigned chats.
- Time slots where nobody replies quickly enough.
- Pipeline stages where opportunities pile up.
If you also run ads, the Performance Hub add-on connects Meta Ads to CRM conversations and closed deals so you can measure the real return on each campaign.
Common mistakes when getting started
- Automating before organizing. A chatbot on top of a messy pipeline just speeds up the mess.
- Creating tags without rules. If every agent tags differently, segmentation stops working.
- Forgetting the 24-hour window. Outside it, you can only start a conversation with an approved template.
- Not testing the trial on real cases. Fifteen days is enough to validate the whole flow if you use it with real customers.
You do not have to do it alone
Mercately offers guided setup and support from its team, with onboarding and Customer Success depending on your plan. If you would like to see the platform applied to your business before you configure anything, book a demo. To compare plans, visit the pricing page.
Try Mercately free for 15 days, no credit card required and get your chat sales operation running in your first week.