OpenClaw connects an AI agent to WhatsApp, Telegram and other messaging apps, so it can answer customer enquiries, draft quotes and manage bookings where customers already message you. You talk to the same agent from your phone, by text or voice note. This suits tradespeople and small businesses that work away from a desk.
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For New Zealand tradies, admin competes with early call-outs and late-night estimates, and missed messages and slow quotes cost jobs. An OpenClaw agent can handle customer enquiries, draft quotes, schedule jobs and follow up while you stay on the tools, working inside the messaging apps your business and its customers use.
OpenClaw is an AI agent rather than a chatbot: it connects to your messaging channels and business tools and works like a virtual office manager. It can be set up with the terms your trade uses, follow your workflows, and track every enquiry through to a reply.
How it works in WhatsApp and Telegram
OpenClaw connects to WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack and other messaging apps. Customers message your business the way they already do, and the agent replies, asks the right questions and passes the job on. You talk to the same agent from your phone: send it a voice note from the car, a photo from site or a quick question like "what's on tomorrow?", and it acts on it. There is no extra app for customers to download. Our OpenClaw setup service connects it to the channels you use.
Enquiry handling
On a roof, under a house or in the middle of an installation, replying straight away isn't always possible. An OpenClaw agent can act as your front desk for messages, handling enquiries by WhatsApp, Telegram, SMS and web chat. It can:
- Answer common questions about your services, hours and availability.
- Collect the job details from potential customers.
- Qualify leads, so you spend your time on serious enquiries.
- Forward urgent enquiries to your mobile with a short summary.
New enquiries are sorted and summarised by the time you come off a job. For phone calls, an AI voice agent does the same job on your business number.
Automated quoting
Connected to your services and pricing, an OpenClaw agent can:
- Draft detailed, professional quotes from what the customer has told it.
- Include your standard terms, conditions and payment options.
- Send quotes to customers by email or messaging app, once you've approved them.
- Follow up on outstanding quotes.
For electricians, plumbers, builders and other trades, that means faster quote turnaround.
Scheduling and job management
An OpenClaw agent can also manage jobs, crews and customer schedules:
- Manage your calendar and book appointments around your availability.
- Send appointment reminders to cut no-shows.
- Coordinate with your team, assigning jobs and updating schedules.
- Handle rescheduling requests.
This kind of business automation keeps the admin moving while you're on the tools.
Example scenarios for tradies
These are illustrative examples of how an agent could be set up, not accounts of specific businesses.
- The busy plumber: while the plumber is on a job, a potential customer messages about a burst pipe. The agent replies straight away, gathers the details and photos, explains the emergency call-out process, books the urgent job into the calendar and alerts the plumber with a summary.
- The electrician on the road: an email arrives asking for a quote to rewire a house. The agent reads it, asks any clarifying questions, checks the pricing, drafts a detailed proposal for the electrician to approve and sets a follow-up reminder.
- The builder managing subbies: a builder needs several subcontractors lined up for a project. The agent sends schedule updates, collects availability and confirms each booking, cutting out a lot of back-and-forth.
The same approach applies beyond trades. For a private agent that runs your email, calendar and files through Telegram, see our AI employee service, or read OpenClaw vs ChatGPT for business for how it compares with a general chat tool.