One inbox for WhatsApp, Facebook, TikTok DMs, email and phone

You get one inbox for enquiries by sending every channel to the fewest possible places and keeping a single lead list that every enquiry goes into, whatever app it arrived in. Free tools join up some channels: Meta Business Suite handles Facebook and Instagram messages together, and Google Business Profile can send chats to WhatsApp. Nothing free joins all five, so the list is what holds it together.

Why do enquiries go missing?

Because each app has its own notifications and its own unread count, and on a busy day you only open the one that buzzed last. A customer who messaged your Facebook page on Tuesday doesn't know you never check it; they think you ignored them. Even a firm with admin staff can lose track. One owner summed up the problem in three words.

An installer network owner in Bolton, working solo with 25 installers and up to 20 enquiries a day, gets most of his contact on WhatsApp and still described the result as "that call that leads missed".

Step one: find every door into your business

Spend ten minutes listing every place a customer can contact you. Most owners are surprised by the count.

For each one, write down who checks it and how often. Any channel nobody checks at least once a working day is a leak.

Step two: close, redirect or join up each channel

You can't watch twelve doors, so reduce them. Close the channels you don't use, point others at one you do, and use the platforms' own tools to join up what they can. Here's what the free tools can do, from the providers' help pages as of October 2026.

Step three: keep one lead list

Whatever app the enquiry came from, it goes on the same list the same day. This is the single inbox that matters: not the apps, but a list that shows every live enquiry and what happens next. A shared spreadsheet, a notes app, a job management system or a whiteboard in the office all work if everyone uses it.

Date | Name | Contact (number or handle) | Came in via | Job and postcode | Photos? | First reply sent | Next step and date | Quoted £ | Won / lost / no reply

Example row:
14 Nov | Mrs Patel | 07xxx xxxxxx | Instagram DM | Combi swap, LU2 | Yes | 14 Nov 12:40 | Survey Thu 9am | £2,650 | Won

The "came in via" column pays for itself. After three months it shows which channels bring work and which only bring messages, which is what you need to work out your cost per lead.

A weekday routine that keeps it empty

Two short sessions a day keep the list current without stopping work. Automatic replies cover the gaps, so nobody waits in silence.

1. Set automatic replies everywhere you can.

   WhatsApp Business away and greeting messages, an email auto-reply, a TikTok welcome message if your account has it. Each says when a person will reply.

2. First session at lunch.

   Open every channel on your audit list in the same order. Reply to anything new with at least a holding message and add it to the lead list.

3. Second session when you finish on site.

   Same order. Book visits, send quotes that are ready, chase the ones that went quiet.

4. Once a week, check the quiet channels.

   Old email addresses, the lead site app, Facebook comments. If a channel has had nothing for two months, close it or redirect it.

Aim for a first reply within the hour where you can; how fast to reply to an enquiry has holding messages to copy.

When should you pay for a shared inbox tool?

When the free tools and a list stop coping: usually once more than one person answers enquiries, or you're above a dozen a day. Paid tools range from customer messaging platforms built on the WhatsApp Business Platform to job management software with an inbox, to assistants that answer and log enquiries for you. Before you pay, check which of your channels the tool can connect to, whether it keeps a record if you leave, and whether there's a long contract. Software integrations to check before buying has the questions.

Common questions