WhatsApp Sequences

Send a series of WhatsApp messages from your own WhatsApp number to candidates or business development (BD) contacts, and see who replies.

Before you start

• WhatsApp sequences are available on request or on supported plans. If they are off, the WhatsApp Web card shows “WhatsApp engagement is disabled for your organization” with an Unavailable button, and the WhatsApp Sequences item does not appear in the sidebar. Ask your Scout admin or Scout Support.
• Each person links their own WhatsApp. Scout sends from your number, not a shared one.
• You need WhatsApp on your phone, with access to Settings > Linked devices.
• WhatsApp sequences send plain text only. There are no attachments or formatting.
• Scout uses a WhatsApp Web style connection. The privacy screen states this works “like WhatsApp Web, so use it at your own risk” and that messaging at a normal pace keeps your number in good standing.

Steps

LINK your WhatsApp

1. Go to Settings > Integrations.
2. In the Communicate with your Contacts and Candidates section, find the WhatsApp Web card. Its description reads “Send sequences and save chats from your own WhatsApp.”
3. Click Link WhatsApp. The Link your WhatsApp dialog opens (“Takes about a minute”).
4. On step 1, Before you link, read the summary of what Scout does with your account. Optionally:
   • Click Ignore specific people (optional) to list numbers Scout must never save or message.
   • Click Full details to see the smaller behaviours.
   • Switch Read conversations with candidates and contacts on or off. When on, Scout saves your one-to-one chats with people already in Scout and uses them to keep their profiles up to date. When off, Scout only handles replies to sequences you send from Scout.
5. Tick I agree to link my WhatsApp to Scout as described above. and click Continue.
6. On step 2, Connect your phone, pick how to link:
   • Scan a QR code (easiest if your phone is nearby). Click Show QR code.
   • Use a code. Choose your country code, enter your WhatsApp phone number, then click Get code. You get a code to enter on your phone.
7. On your phone, open WhatsApp, tap Settings, then Linked devices, then Link a device. Scan the QR code, or tap Link with phone number instead and enter the code.
8. Wait for the dialog to close. The code is valid for a short time only. If it times out, click the button again to request a new one.

CREATE and ASSIGN a WhatsApp sequence

You enrol people from wherever you can select them: search results, a job or project, a candidate profile, or BD Contacts. All of these use the same Add to sequence flow as email and LinkedIn.

1. Select one or more people and click Add to sequence (on a candidate profile, use Add to Sequence from the actions menu).
2. In the Choose outreach channel dialog, click WhatsApp (“Message from your linked WhatsApp”). The button is greyed out until WhatsApp engagement is enabled and your account is Connected. The text under it tells you why: “Disabled for your organization” or “Link WhatsApp in Settings first” (a link that opens Settings > Integrations).
3. In the Add to Sequence panel, open the Sequence list (“Choose a WhatsApp sequence…”) and pick a sequence.
4. To make a new one, click + Create new WhatsApp sequence, which opens New WhatsApp Sequence:
   1. Type a Sequence name.
   2. Decide whether to switch on Send first message immediately.
   3. Write each step in the WhatsApp message body box. Each message must be plain text, 1 to 4096 characters. A counter shows your length. A sequence can have up to 5 steps; click Add step for more.
   4. In your first message, introduce yourself. Scout shows a hint if your name is missing. It is a hint only and does not block saving.
   5. Click Configure sending schedule, then set the Time zone, sending days (Monday to Sunday) and Start time and End time.
   6. Click Create sequence. You return to the picker with the new sequence selected.
5. Check the warnings that appear under the picker (see Common problems).
6. Click Save and activate sequence to start sending, or Save sequence and don’t activate to enrol people without sending yet.

MANAGE and PAUSE a sequence

1. Click WhatsApp Sequences in the sidebar. This opens /engagement/whatsapp/sequence for candidates (see the BD section below for contacts).
2. Use Search visible sequences and the Filter by status list to find a sequence. Statuses include Scheduled, Active, Paused, Stopped, Archived, WhatsApp Invalid, WhatsApp Blocked and WhatsApp Error.
3. The table shows Audience (Active, Messaged, Total), WhatsApp (Replies) and Progress (Completed, Stopped).
4. Use the switch on a row to activate or deactivate (pause) the sequence. A toast confirms “started” or “stopped”.
5. Click View to open the detail page, Edit to change the steps, or open the … menu and choose Delete. Select rows and click Archive to archive several sequences.

VIEW a sequence detail page

The detail page has three tabs:

• Overview: counters for Active Audience, Messaged, Replies, Stopped and Completed, and a table of the people in the sequence. Select people and use the bulk actions menu to Archive from sequence. A small info icon next to a person explains why their WhatsApp step will be skipped.
• Edit: change the messages and settings.
• Schedule: change the time zone, sending days and hours.

The header shows an Active or Inactive badge and an Activate or Deactivate button. Activate is blocked with a message if WhatsApp is disabled for your organization or not linked (“Link WhatsApp in Settings before activating.”).

CONTROL your connection

On the WhatsApp Web card in Settings > Integrations:

• The status shows Connected, Reconnecting, Logged out remotely, Blocked by WhatsApp, Suspended or Not linked, plus your number and “N / limit sent today”. Click the info icon for the sending limits: a daily cap on new conversations that grows as a new account warms up, and per-recipient daily and weekly limits across your organization.
• Pause stops Scout saving or processing incoming messages and sending sequences until you click Resume. A message already being delivered when you pause may still go out.
• People to ignore opens People Scout ignores. Find someone by name, add a phone number, or pick from your WhatsApp chats. Scout never saves or messages these numbers. Organization admins also see Organization do-not-contact, the list of people who opted out of WhatsApp across the organization, and can remove an entry (only do this with the person’s permission).
• WhatsApp Data on Scout lists conversations saved from your account. Delete one person’s stored chat, or Delete all saved WhatsApp conversations.
• How Scout handles your WhatsApp reopens the privacy summary.
• Disconnect logs Scout out of your device. Tick “Also delete saved WhatsApp conversations” to remove saved messages. You can also remove Scout under WhatsApp > Settings > Linked devices.
• If your organization later turns WhatsApp engagement off, you can still disconnect and manage who Scout ignores.

CHANGE the chat capture setting

The switch Read conversations with candidates and contacts controls what Scout does with your other chats. It appears while you link and on the connected WhatsApp Web card in Settings > Integrations, so you can change it later.

• On: “Scout saves your one-to-one chats with people in Scout and uses them to keep their profiles up to date.”
• Off: “Scout only handles replies to sequences you send from Scout. It does not read or save your other chats.”
• Turning it off does not delete chats already saved. The card notes “Chats already saved stay until you delete them.” Remove them from WhatsApp Data on Scout.

SAVE a contact to your WhatsApp

On a candidate’s contact details and on a BD contact page, hover over (or tap) a phone number to reveal Save to my WhatsApp.

1. Make sure your WhatsApp is Connected (see LINK your WhatsApp). The button only appears for numbers Scout can match to a WhatsApp account.
2. Click Save to my WhatsApp. The label changes to Saving… and then Saved.
3. To update the saved name later, click it again.

This saves the person in WhatsApp only. It does not add them to your phone’s address book. If it fails, the label reads Retry save to my WhatsApp. If WhatsApp has not confirmed after a minute it reads Still saving. Retry.

IMPORT a phone number from WhatsApp

When you edit a BD contact (Edit Contact panel) or a candidate profile, and your WhatsApp is Connected, an Import from WhatsApp button appears next to the phone numbers.

1. Click Import from WhatsApp.
2. Search with Search by name or number. The list shows chats Scout has seen since you linked WhatsApp. It is read live from your account and not stored.
3. Click a chat to add its number. Chats already on the form show “(already added)”. Chats with no number show “Number hidden by WhatsApp” and cannot be picked.
4. Save the form. Nothing is stored until you save.

USE WhatsApp for business development

BD works the same way, with contacts instead of candidates.

1. Click Switch to Business Development in the sidebar.
2. Open Clients > Contacts (or Business Development > Prospects), select contacts and click Add to sequence.
3. Choose WhatsApp, pick or create a sequence and click Save and activate sequence.
4. Track results under WhatsApp Sequences in the BD sidebar.

See the BD Dashboard for outreach totals across your BD sequences.

What you should see

• The WhatsApp Web card shows Connected with your phone number.
• WhatsApp Sequences appears in the sidebar (candidate and BD modes).
• After activation, the sequence row shows Active and Messaged grows as steps send. When a person replies to a sequence, Scout notices and pauses or stops their sequence so you can reply yourself.

Common problems

When a WhatsApp step cannot be sent for one of the first six reasons above, only the WhatsApp steps are skipped. Email and LinkedIn sequences for the same person are not blocked.

Talk to Scout from WhatsApp (AI agent)

This is a separate feature from sequences. In Settings > Integrations, the Talk to Scout AI Agent section has a Chat with Scout on WhatsApp card (“Message Scout to manage candidates, roles and clients”).

1. Click Connect. The Link your WhatsApp dialog opens.
2. Click Open WhatsApp Web and press send on the prefilled message. Or copy the code with Copy code and send it to the number shown in the dialog. The code is valid for a short time only.
3. The card shows your profile name once linked. Click the linked name for WhatsApp details, or the unlink icon and Unlink to remove it.

See Ask AI for what the assistant can do.

WhatsApp Group Watch (experimental pilot)

WhatsApp Group Watch monitors WhatsApp groups for recruiting activity and acts on messages posted there. It is an experimental pilot, not part of the standard WhatsApp integration.

Availability

• Only an organization admin sees Settings > WhatsApp Group Watch.
• Group Watch is available on request. Ask your Scout admin or Scout Support.
• It needs a dedicated WhatsApp number and the “Scout WhatsApp Group Watch” browser extension kept open on that number, as the page warns. It is read-only and never sends or replies into a group.
• Group Watch is scoped to your own account and requires the Chat with Scout on WhatsApp link above (the AI agent link, not the WhatsApp Web sequences card). Without it the page shows “Link your WhatsApp to enable Group Watch” and its controls are disabled.

Enable it

1. Open Settings > WhatsApp Group Watch. Connection status shows Connected (green) or Not connected (red) and when the last message was received.
2. Under Watched groups, tick the groups to monitor. Groups your extension has discovered are listed with their participant counts. If none appear: “No groups discovered yet. Open the Scout WhatsApp Group Watch extension and complete WhatsApp Web pairing to populate this list.” Only ticked groups are monitored, and teammates only see their own groups.
3. To add a group by hand, enter the Group ID (for example 1234567890@g.us) and Group name, then click Add.
4. Click Save watched groups. A toast confirms “Watched groups updated.”

What it does with messages in watched groups

• Scout reads each message and decides if it is a request to add a note about a candidate, or to shortlist a candidate for a job.
• It only acts if the sender’s WhatsApp number is linked to a Scout user through the Chat with Scout on WhatsApp link. Messages from unlinked senders are ignored and nothing is changed.
• The candidate is looked up by name inside the sender’s organization. If Scout finds exactly one clear match, the note or shortlist is applied automatically. Shortlisting also needs a job title in the message.
• If the match is ambiguous, missing or low confidence, Scout sends a clarification question to the sender’s own one-to-one chat with the Scout bot, never into the group.

Pro Tip

Start a new sequence with 2 or 3 short steps and a clear first line that says who you are. Replies are easier to get when the recipient recognizes the sender straight away.

Related pages

• Email Sequences
• LinkedIn Sequences
• Settings
• Integrations
• BD Dashboard
• Troubleshoot