For Sales

How to talk about it

If a prospect specifically asks "what happens if a patient hides their WhatsApp number?" — that's the one question this PR answers. It's not a feature to lead with; it's a good answer to have ready if the topic comes up during a technical evaluation, especially with a clinic group that has previously been burned by a competitor's WhatsApp integration dropping messages.

Suggested answer: "Dentolize's WhatsApp integration handles contacts using WhatsApp's number-privacy setting — the conversation still comes through and stays linked to the same patient record, addressed by their WhatsApp username or Meta's internal ID instead of a phone number when that's all we have."

Objections you might hear

"Does this mean you can text patients who hide their number?" No — outbound-initiated conversations still require WhatsApp's normal opt-in/24-hour-window rules. This fix is about correctly handling inbound contact from someone using privacy settings, and replying within an existing conversation. It doesn't create a new way to reach people who haven't messaged first.

"Can I still see their phone number for our records?" Only if WhatsApp gives it to us — either because they aren't hiding it, or because you'd previously exchanged messages/calls with that number before they turned privacy on (Meta's own criteria, not Dentolize's). Otherwise, no: your team sees their WhatsApp username or an internal ID, not a phone number, and the patient record can't be auto-matched from that conversation alone. Be upfront about this — a clinic team relying on WhatsApp conversations as their source of a patient's phone number needs to know that path can come up empty.

"Does this affect appointment booking or payments over WhatsApp?" Booking, yes — it uses whichever identifier the conversation has. Online payment links, not yet: a contact reachable only by their WhatsApp-internal ID currently can't get a payment link generated (the flow errors out cleanly rather than sending a broken link). Don't claim full parity here if asked directly.

Competitive angle

This is the kind of gap that's easy for a competitor's WhatsApp integration to have quietly, without anyone noticing until a clinic staff member reports "some patients' messages just don't show up." If a prospect is comparing WhatsApp reliability across vendors, it's a fair (if narrow) differentiator — but only worth raising if they ask, not as an unprompted claim.