Setting Up Your Business Chat Profile Properly: The Twelve Details Customers Check Before They Trust You

A customer finds two tailors on a map search and taps the chat button for each. The first profile shows a logo, "Custom shirts and uniforms for offices, Bandung", opening hours, an address, six catalogue items with prices and a greeting that asks whether the order is for one person or a team. The second shows a blurred photo of a child, no description and the status "Busy". Both tailors may be equally skilled. Only one receives the order. A business chat profile is the shopfront most customers see first, and it takes an hour to do properly.

Before the profile: the number

• A dedicated business number, not someone's personal one.
• Registered to the business where possible, so it cannot leave with an employee.
• Two-step verification switched on, with the recovery email controlled by the owner.
• A business account type on the platform, which provides the profile fields, catalogue and messaging tools.
• One number published everywhere: website, map listing, social profiles, packaging, receipts.

The twelve details

1. Name

The business name exactly as customers know it and as it appears on your signage and listings. No slogans, no keyword stuffing.

2. Profile picture

Your logo, or a clear photo of the shopfront or signature product. Readable at thumbnail size. Not a personal photo.

3. Description

One or two lines: what you sell, to whom, where. "Daily lunch catering for offices in South Jakarta, minimum 20 portions." A customer should know in five seconds whether they are in the right place.

4. Category

Choose the closest category the platform offers.

5. Address or service area

A full address if customers visit. If you deliver or work on site, state the area you serve.

6. Opening hours

Accurate, including the days you are closed. Update for holidays. Wrong hours produce the most avoidable complaints.

7. Website or catalogue link

Your site, or a single page with your menu, price list or booking form.

8. Email

A business address for documents and formal matters.

9. Catalogue

Five to twenty main products or services, each with:

• A clear photo.
• A name customers would use.
• A price, or "from" a price, where you can.
• One or two lines of description.

Remove items you no longer sell. An outdated catalogue is worse than none.

10. Greeting message

Sent automatically to a new contact. Short.

"Hello, thank you for contacting us. We make custom shirts and uniforms. Is your order for yourself or for a team?"

One question that helps you serve them. No long menu of options.

11. Away message

Outside working hours.

"Thank you for your message. We are open Monday to Saturday, 9.00 to 17.00, and will reply when we open. To speed things up, please tell us what you need and for when."

Honest about timing, and it asks for something useful.

12. Quick replies

Saved answers for frequent questions, used by staff and edited before sending.

• Address and directions.
• Opening hours.
• How to order.
• Payment methods and the official account name.
• Delivery areas and costs.
• Return or cancellation policy.

Keep each one current. Review them when prices or policies change.

Consistency across places

Customers check you in more than one place. The name, address, phone number, hours and logo should be identical on:

• The chat profile.
• Your map and search listing.
• Social media profiles.
• Your website.
• Receipts and packaging.

Small differences, such as an old phone number on one listing, make people hesitate. They also make it easier for an impersonator to pass as you.

Verification and badges

Platforms offer various forms of business verification, with requirements that change over time. Check what is currently available for a business of your type and apply if you qualify. Do not pay third parties who promise a badge. And remember that a complete, consistent profile and a published list of official contacts do most of the work of building trust, with or without a badge.

Labels and organisation

If the platform's business tools include labels, set up a small set from the start.

• New enquiry.
• Quotation sent.
• Awaiting payment.
• Paid, in process.
• Completed.
• Follow up.

Six is enough. More than ten and nobody applies them consistently.

Safety details to publish

Use the profile to protect customers.

• State the official payment account name in a quick reply and in the catalogue or description if space allows.
• State what you never ask for: verification codes, card details, payment to personal accounts.
• List your only official contacts.

Customers who have read this once are much harder to deceive.

When several people answer

A profile on one phone works for one person. When the team grows:

• Use the platform's multi-device or team features, or a shared inbox tool, so staff answer from their own logins on the same number.
• Agree who answers when.
• Sign with a first name if customers like to know who they spoke to.
• Keep notes on each customer where colleagues can see them.
• Remove access on the day someone leaves.

A fifteen-minute quarterly check

1. Open your profile from another phone. See what a stranger sees.
2. Hours: still right? Holiday closures added?
3. Catalogue: prices current, discontinued items removed?
4. Greeting and away messages: still accurate?
5. Quick replies: payment account, delivery fees, policies up to date?
6. Links: do they open?
7. Other listings: same name, number, address and hours?
8. Security: two-step verification on, recovery email correct, old staff devices removed?

Put it in the calendar. Profiles decay quietly.

Common mistakes

• A personal number and a personal photo.
• No description.
• Hours that are wrong.
• A catalogue with last year's prices.
• A greeting that is a wall of text.
• An away message that promises a reply "soon" with no time.
• Quick replies with an old bank account.
• Different phone numbers across listings.
• No two-step verification.
• Former staff still logged in.

Beyond the profile

A good profile brings the first message. What happens next depends on how the team handles the conversation. Polynusa provides a shared inbox on the business number with notes and follow-up dates per customer, and AI drafts that staff approve. See the pricing page.

Summary

Use a dedicated, protected business number and complete twelve details: name, picture, description, category, address or area, hours, link, email, catalogue, greeting, away message and quick replies. Keep them identical to your other listings, publish your official payment account and what you never ask for, organise conversations with a few labels, control staff access, and check everything from a stranger's phone once a quarter.

FAQ

What should a business chat profile contain?

The exact business name, a clear logo or shopfront photo, a one-line description of what you sell and to whom, the category, the address or service area, opening hours, a website or catalogue link, an email address and a short catalogue of main products or services with prices where possible. Everything should match your other listings.

Should a small business use a separate number for business chat?

Yes. A dedicated business number keeps customer conversations out of a personal phone, lets several staff serve customers, survives when a staff member leaves, and looks more credible. Register the number in the name of the business where possible, and protect it with two-step verification.

What should an automatic greeting or away message say?

A greeting should say who you are and ask one simple question that moves the conversation forward. An away message should state plainly that you are closed, when a person will reply, and what the customer can do meanwhile. Neither should make promises about price, stock or delivery, and neither should pretend to be a person.