Getting paid in the chat, the right way

The chat went well. She’s chosen The Watch in Sage, she’s asked about delivery, she’s ready. Then: “how do I pay?”

For a lot of shops the answer is a UPI ID or a QR code, then a screenshot back, then you checking your bank app later to match it up. That works at a handful of orders a week. It starts to break when two people pay ₹2,499 within ten minutes of each other, when someone pays ₹2,449 by mistake, or when a screenshot looks right and the money never arrived.

Getting paid in the chat comes down to four things: an order she has agreed to, one safe way to pay, a calm answer when it goes wrong, and a clear confirmation when it’s done.

Confirm the order before you ask for money

Before any link or QR code goes out, send one message with everything in it: the product and its variant, the quantity, the price, any delivery charge, the total, her name, the delivery address and roughly when it will arrive. Then ask for a yes.

This one message prevents most arguments later. She has seen the total before paying, so a wrong amount is less likely, and if she spots a wrong pincode she tells you now — not the courier.

If she asks for a discount, decide your rule before the chat, not during it. Answer the same way for everyone, and make sure the link charges exactly the price you agreed. “Let me check” followed by silence loses more sales than a friendly no.

Copy this: “We keep our prices the same for everyone, so I can’t take anything off — but delivery is free, and it ships tomorrow.”

Send one link, for the exact amount

A payment link from your payment gateway — Razorpay or Cashfree, for example — is the cleanest way to take money in a chat:

• The amount is fixed, so there’s no wrong amount and no typo.
• She pays on the gateway’s own secure page, with UPI, card or netbanking — whatever you’ve switched on.
• The gateway tells you it’s paid. You don’t have to hold a screenshot up against your bank statement.
• Each link belongs to one order, so you always know who paid for what.

Send one link per order, and only one. If the order changes — she adds a second item, or switches to Sand — cancel the old link and send a new one. Two live links for the same order is how people end up paying twice.

Copy this: “Here’s your payment link for ₹4,999 — The Watch, Sage: [link]. You can pay with any UPI app, a card or netbanking. I’ll confirm here as soon as it comes through.”

With insideDM, your agent sends a Razorpay or Cashfree link for the exact order once you’ve switched payment links on — see How a customer orders and pays in the chat, and Connect payments to set up your gateway.

Keep payment details out of the chat

You never need her card number, its CVV, an OTP or her UPI PIN — and nobody else does either. Say so plainly, where your customers will see it: your Instagram bio, your WhatsApp Business profile, the first message you send.

Copy this: “We only take payment through the link we send you in this chat. We’ll never ask for your OTP, card details or UPI PIN.”

It protects your customers from people pretending to be you, and it protects your shop’s name. One more line worth repeating to customers: you never need a PIN to receive money. Anyone who asks her to “enter your PIN to receive your refund” isn’t you.

When a payment fails

Payments fail for ordinary reasons: a bank is slow, a UPI app times out, an OTP doesn’t arrive. What matters is that she isn’t left wondering whether she’s lost her money. There are three situations, and each needs a different answer.

It failed, and no money left her account. Reassure her and let her try again — often with a different UPI app, or a card.

Money left her account, but the payment shows as failed or pending. Don’t ask her to pay again straight away. Check your gateway first; a pending payment often completes on its own. If it really failed, her bank sends the money back to her account by itself, and if it doesn’t, she can raise it from that payment in her UPI app. Ask for the UPI reference number so you can check from your side.

The link has run out. Payment links expire. Send a fresh one for the same amount, and say why.

When she goes quiet after the link

Not every unpaid link is a lost sale. The customer may have been interrupted, or be waiting for payday. Send one friendly reminder — the next day, or before the link runs out — and leave it there. A second and third reminder turn a maybe into a no, and a muted chat.

Copy this: “Hi Arjun — your link for the Buds Pro (₹2,499) is still open until this evening, if you’d still like them. No rush either way 🙂”

When a payment link is about to run out unpaid, insideDM sends the customer one reminder with the link — see How a customer orders and pays in the chat.

Confirm it, with a receipt

The moment the money arrives, close the loop in the same chat: that it’s paid, the amount, the order number, and what happens next.

A confirmation in the chat cuts down the “did my payment go through?” messages, and the chat itself becomes her receipt. If your business is GST-registered, send a proper tax invoice too — with the order, or as soon as she asks — and keep a copy with the order.

When she pays, insideDM tells her in the chat and marks the order paid, and she hears from you again when you mark it dispatched — see Shipping and order updates.

The short version

• Confirm the whole order — item, total, address, delivery time — in one message, and get a yes before you ask for money.
• Send one payment link per order, for the exact amount, from your payment gateway; cancel and replace it if the order changes.
• Never ask for card details, an OTP or a PIN, and tell customers you never will.
• When a payment fails, find out which kind of failure it is before anyone pays again.
• Confirm every payment in the chat with the amount and order number — that message is her receipt.