The Lockhart WhatsApp Assistant answers your business’s WhatsApp messages day and night, takes each customer’s details and sends you a summary within a minute, with a voice agent for the calls you miss. It is for owner-led businesses in Southern Africa: R14,500 (US$935) to set up, then R2,450 (US$160) a month, plus WhatsApp message fees at cost.
Not installed for clients yet: Lockhart runs its own assistant first, so the costs and answers are proven before you pay for one.
On your WhatsApp number, day and night, from a short file of your services and prices that you approve.
Its first message makes clear it is an assistant. It never pretends to be you or a member of staff.
Name, what they need, where, and when to call back. One question at a time, and only what it doesn’t already know.
A summary on your WhatsApp within a minute, with urgent enquiries flagged and the full transcript attached.
Polite reminders by WhatsApp and email on invoices that are overdue, on the schedule you set. It never changes an amount or a due date, and anyone who replies is handed to you.
R4,500 set-up, then R750 a monthUS$290 set-up, then US$50 a month
An add-on to the WhatsApp Assistant, not included in its price. WhatsApp message fees are billed at cost. No VAT is added.
Coastline Plumbing, automated assistant
While you’re off the clock, the WhatsApp Assistant answers, says plainly that it’s automated, takes the details one question at a time and hands the job to you.
Example conversation. The business and the names are made up.
New enquiry, WhatsApp, Urgent
Full transcript attached
Agreed with you before it goes live, and changed whenever you want. When a rule says “hand over”, you get the conversation straight away.
| When someone | The assistant |
|---|---|
| Asks for you, or wants to negotiate on price | Takes their details, tells them you’ll respond today, and flags it to you as urgent. |
| Is upset or complaining | Apologises once, takes their details, flags it as urgent. It never argues. |
| Asks something it doesn’t know | Says it doesn’t know and passes the question to you, word for word. |
| Sends spam or a sales pitch | Declines politely and logs it. You aren’t disturbed. |
| You reply in the chat yourself | Stands down on that conversation for 24 hours. |
Handled under POPIA. The privacy page sets out what is stored and where.
A one-off set-up fee, then month to month. No VAT is added.
Ask now to hold a place.
Live 2 weeks after your install starts
Live 3 to 4 weeks after your install starts
Everything in the WhatsApp Assistant, plus:
Meta charges a few cents for each WhatsApp message (about R0.12 a reply), billed at cost. What it costs to run
Need a new website too? Signature (R79,500 · US$5,130) includes the WhatsApp Assistant set up and its first 3 months.
Question not here? WhatsApp Luke and he’ll answer it himself.
It needs a number on WhatsApp’s business platform, and a number on that platform cannot also be used in the normal WhatsApp app on a phone. Most businesses give the assistant a new number, or move their main number and reply from a dashboard. Luke will set out the options for your business.
It answers only from a short file you approve. If the file doesn’t cover a question, it says so and takes a message. You can read every transcript, and the file is updated as you go.
The monthly fee covers the assistant. Meta, which runs WhatsApp, also charges a few cents for each message: about R0.12 for a reply to a customer.
Meta’s fees are billed at cost, with nothing added. You agree a monthly cap at set-up, and Lockhart alerts you before your fees reach it.
Yours. The WhatsApp number and the Meta business account are registered in your business’s name, so they stay with you if you stop the service.
The WhatsApp Assistant goes live in 2 weeks. With the Missed-call Voice Agent it takes 3 to 4 weeks.
Yes. Reply in the chat yourself and it stands down on that conversation for 24 hours.
It books calls. Booking into a calendar is planned as an add-on once the core assistant has run for a month.
Send Luke your website address on WhatsApp. He’ll show you what your assistant would know, and what it would hand over to you.
