How to Use Google Sheet Data in WhatsApp Chatbot Replies?

At Sendwo, we have listened to your feedback and introduced a simple but very useful and powerful feature that allows you to fetch Google Sheet data and use them in Chatbot replies.

For example, if you run a business offering services like plumbing, electrical work, and other household solutions, you can seamlessly provide relevant contact information through your WhatsApp chatbot. When a customer inquires about a plumber, the chatbot can automatically collect relevant data like the contact person's name and phone number, ensuring a smooth and efficient user experience.

In this article, we will show you how to fetch data instantly from the Google Sheet and store it in the custom fields that are used in the reply.

Step 1: (Creating Custom Fields)

To integrate data from Google Sheets into Sendwo, you'll need to create custom fields to store the information within the platform. Here's how:

1. Access Custom Field Management:
   • Navigate to the "Subscriber Manager" section within your Sendwo dashboard.
   • Locate and select the "Manage" option.
   • Choose "Manage Custom Fields" from the available choices.
2. Create New Custom Fields:
   • Click the "Create" button to initiate the process of adding a new custom field.
   • Provide a descriptive name for the custom field (e.g., "Google Sheets Product Name," "Google Sheets Price").
   • Select the appropriate data type for the field (e.g., Text, Number, Date).

Note: You can create as many custom fields as required to accommodate all the necessary data points imported from your Google Sheet.

Step 2: (Connecting Google account to Sendwo)

To access Google Sheets data for chatbot replies within Sendwo, you'll need to connect your Google account and link the desired sheet.

1. Navigate to Settings within your Sendwo dashboard.
2. Click on "Google Sheet Integration" and then select "Sign in with Google" to authorize Sendwo to access your Google account.
3. Link your Google Sheet:
   • Add an existing sheet: Choose the sheet containing the data you want to use.
   • Create a new sheet: If needed, create a new sheet within Google Sheets specifically for your chatbot.

For detailed instructions on creating or importing a Google Sheet, refer to the provided blog.

Step 3: (Create a campaign for fetching data)

Now that we have connected the Google account and imported the Google Sheets from where we want to fetch data for chatbot replies, we need to create a campaign to fetch data.

We will do this with an example sheet to help you better understand. We have a list of service providers for different kinds of services. If a customer is asking for a plumber, Sendwo will look at the Google Sheet to search for the word “plumber” and fetch the plumber’s name and contact numbers from that row to use in the bot replies.

1. From the Settings, go to Sendwo Sheet Fetch Data and select WhatsApp Data Fetch Campaign.
2. Click on the Create button, then give a name to the API and select the Google Sheet from which we want to fetch data.
3. Now we have to Map Data. The first one is for Search Data, the campaign will search for a row with data to find the row, and then it will fetch data from that particular row and store them to custom fields. We can search using the Subscriber ID/WhatsApp Phone number or by using the message of the subscriber. In this case we are going to find the row with a message from the customer. Select the file header (Google sheet column name) and on the data field let’s select “Subscriber Message”.
4. Now, go to the Assign part, select the file header as Plumber Name, and on the “Data Field,” select the custom field where we want to save the data. Later, we will use this custom filed in the message body.
5. Let’s click on a the “Map Data” button to get one more mapping field. Select the “Plumber Phone number” from the file header, and on the “Data Field” select the custom field where we want to save the data.
6. On this instance we only need these 2 data, we can add as many data as we need.
7. Finally, click on the Verify Connection button.

Step 4: Create a chatbot and use Google Sheet Data Fetch Campaign

Now that we have created the campaign for fetching Google Sheet data, we can use it to fetch data from the sheet and incorporate it into bot replies. Let's see how to do that. In the bot flow, we will use an interactive element, add three buttons, and specify button texts that will be used to search the sheet and select a row. We will add “Plumber,” “Electrician,” and “Cleaner” as the button options. As we already know, button text functions as a message from the subscribers. The campaign will search for the message in the sheet, and if it finds a matching row, it will fetch the data and save it to custom fields. And the custom field data will be used in the reply.

1. Go to WhatsApp Bot Manager from the Sendwo dashboard and select Bot Reply and click on the Create button.
2. Provide keywords and assign a name to the bot. Add an interactive element to the bot, include text and an image, and add three buttons to it. In this instance, the button texts will be used as messages that will be searched in the Google Sheet.
3. Select the button type as “Send Message” and then add the Google Sheet Data Fetch element just like the way we add any bot elements in Visual Flow Builder.
4. Double click on the Google Sheet Data Fetch and select the campaign that we have just created.
5. Now, let's add a text reply and use custom fields in the text reply, the custom fields will receive the data from the google sheet and use them in the reply as variables.

This is an example of how we can use the Google Sheets data fetch feature on Sendwo. The feature can be used in many different ways, depending on your needs. If we need to change the data, we can do so directly in the Google Sheet without altering the chatbot's replies.

Sendwo can really make things easy and straightforward for everyone wanting to integrate Google Sheets data into chatbot responses. From managing service providers to product inventories and personalized interactions with customers, this feature will ensure efficiency and flexibility for a better user experience as well as operational productivity. Sign up and start using Sendwo's Google Sheet integration right away to increase the way we manage chatbot communications!