A WhatsApp AI agent for plant nurseries: do you have a 6-foot fiddle leaf, why are the leaves yellow, and can you deliver to a condo
Nursery customers send a photo of a sad plant and ask what is wrong, or ask whether the big monstera is still there, or whether you can deliver to the twelfth floor. Staff are watering. An agent answers availability and prices by size, quotes your care sheet, books the delivery, and passes the sick plant to someone who can look at it.
Quick answer
A nursery's agent answers plant availability and prices by pot size from a list you keep current, gives care information from your own care sheets (light, water, soil, feeding), quotes delivery by area with condo and lift arrangements, answers pot, soil and fertiliser questions, takes landscaping and bulk enquiries for a quote, and hands over plant health diagnosis from photos, guarantees and complaints.
The split
| Let the agent handle | Keep with a person |
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Care from your own sheets
General plant advice online contradicts itself, and an agent that answers from general knowledge will contradict your staff. Write one care sheet per plant you sell in volume: light, water, humidity, soil, feeding, common issues you are happy to state. The agent answers from those and nothing else. "Yellow leaves" gets your sheet's line on overwatering plus a handover so a person can look at the photo. That keeps the nursery's voice and avoids the plant dying on the assistant's advice.
Delivery and condos
Give the agent the delivery zone table and the questions a condo delivery needs: block, floor, lift size, whether the guardhouse needs a name. Large plants and pots need a note on access. The agent confirms the total and the date; a person plans the van.
Setting it up
- Knowledge. Type the availability list by plant and pot size, upload the care sheets, the delivery table, and the pot and soil price list.
- Instructions. Role, tone (friendly, patient), the care-sheet-only rule, the photo handover, the condo questions, and the landscaping capture.
- Booking or intake. Set the appointment types and hours, or the intake questions the agent asks in order.
- Handover. Name the topics that go to a person; the agent flags the chat and stops replying until you hand it back.
- Test. Send twenty real messages before customers do; the checklist is in the pre-launch test.
ReplyKit connects your number through Meta's official WhatsApp Business Platform. You sign in with your Facebook business account from the dashboard, pick or create the number, and it is live in a few minutes: no pairing, no phone that has to stay online, and no linked-device restriction risk. Replies to customers who message you carry no Meta fee inside the 24-hour service window; reminders and follow-ups sent outside it go as approved templates at Meta's per-message rate. Details in why ReplyKit runs on the official platform.
Landscaping enquiries
"Can you do my garden?" is the enquiry worth the most. The agent asks location, size, whether it is a new garden or a refresh, budget range and timeline, and books a site visit or hands over for a quote. The intake pattern is in the landscaping guide.
Frequently asked questions
Can the agent tell a customer what is wrong with their plant?
No. It shares your care sheet's relevant line and hands the photo to staff.
Can it check whether a plant is in stock?
From a list you keep current, by size, with the date it was updated.
Does it handle condo deliveries?
Yes, asking block, floor, lift access and guardhouse details before confirming.
Can it give watering and light advice?
From your own care sheets for plants you sell, yes.
What about plant guarantees?
Handed to a person, who can look at the plant.
Availability and care answered, plant doctor kept human
Stock by size, care sheets and deliveries handled in the chat. 7-day free trial.
Sources and further reading
- Harvard Business Review, The Short Life of Online Sales Leads (Oldroyd, McElheran, Elkington, 2011) · firms that responded within an hour were about seven times more likely to qualify the lead
- WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy · opt-in, opt-out and prohibited-use rules every business must follow
- ReplyKit Acceptable Use Policy · what we refuse to automate
ReplyKit is an independent product and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Meta or WhatsApp. This article is general guidance for running a small business, not legal, financial or regulatory advice.