WhatsApp CRM integration with Telegram and MAX: never lose a message

Without WhatsApp CRM integration, a client writes to a manager's personal number, and the request is nowhere to be found. The head of sales doesn't see it, and when the manager quits, the conversation leaves with their phone. At night, messages wait until morning, and the client goes to whoever replied first.

The “Messengers” section brings WhatsApp, Telegram and MAX into one account. Every message becomes a lead, which is a client card in the CRM, or gets an instant reply from the AI chatbot, day and night. You don't need any external integrations: the AI bot creates the lead by itself, and with MAX direct it replies from your regular MAX number and can message the client first.

Watch the two-and-a-half-minute video, and below you'll find the step-by-step setup.

Why businesses need messengers in their CRM

• Online school. An AI bot in Telegram answers questions about courses around the clock, collects the name and phone number, and creates a lead. Every blogger gets their own bot link, so you can see which ads bring in students.
• Clinic, salon, car service. The administrator's WhatsApp or MAX number is connected to the CRM. Any administrator on shift sees the whole chat history.
• Real estate. An AI bot on the work MAX number asks about the budget, the area and the timing. It records the answers in the card and hands hot clients over to a manager.
• B2B sales. Every new person who writes to the Telegram bot becomes a lead with an assigned manager. The head of sales reads the chat in the card instead of asking for screenshots.
• Website requests. A client left a phone number but doesn't write. An autofunnel messages them first in MAX from your work number via MAX direct, the reply lands in the card, and a manager continues the conversation from the CRM.

Our clients' experience shows that Telegram brings in the most requests, so start with it.

How messenger CRM integration works

You can connect a bot or a number in one of two ways:

• “managers in CRM reply” — the “Telegram bot”, “MAX bot”, “WhatsApp” and “MAX direct” options. A client's message creates a lead in the selected project, and the conversation goes into the card's activity feed. A manager replies right from the customer profile in CRM: “Reply” → “From …” → the messenger channel.
• “the AI chat bot replies” — the “Telegram bot AI”, “MAX bot AI” and “MAX direct AI” options. The client gets an instant reply from a bot in the “AI chat bot” section; read more in the article about the Telegram bot for business. The bot creates a lead in the CRM if the “Create / update lead” target action is set up in it. A manager can step in from the card and stop the bot in this chat.

Telegram and MAX bots are connected with a token, which is the bot's secret key. MAX direct is a connection of a regular MAX number. It and WhatsApp are connected with a QR code, just like signing in on a new device. Don't connect the same bot or number in two places at once, for example to both the CRM and an AI bot: the connections would take messages away from each other. To move a Telegram bot from the CRM to an AI bot, delete the old connection (“Edit” → “Delete”) and add a “Telegram bot AI” with the same token.

How to connect a Telegram bot to your CRM

1. 1
   Create a bot

   In Telegram, open @BotFather, send the /newbot command and copy the token. A MAX bot's token is in its settings on the MAX platform for partners.
2. 2
   Click “Add messenger”

   The “Connect a messenger” window opens.
3. 3
   Choose an option in the “Integration” field

   “Telegram bot” if managers reply, or “Telegram bot AI” if the AI replies. Create the AI bot in the “AI chat bot” section beforehand.
4. 4
   Fill in the fields

   For the CRM, choose the “Project” and enter a “Name”; for the AI, choose the bot in the “AI chat bot” field. Paste the “Bot token”.
5. 5
   Click “Add”

   A row appears in the list. If it says “Pending verification”, wait a little and click “Refresh”.
6. 6
   Message the bot from your own phone

   The message should appear in the project's CRM or in the AI bot's “Dialogs”.

A MAX bot connects the same way — choose the “MAX bot” or “MAX bot AI” option. MAX bots are created on the MAX platform for partners, and MAX checks your organization first: under its rules, this is open to companies and sole proprietors that are residents of Russia. Without a company or sole proprietorship, connect a regular number via “MAX direct”. You can connect several MAX bots to one project.

How to connect WhatsApp and your MAX number to the CRM with a QR code

For “WhatsApp”, fill in the project and the name, enter the number in international format with the country code and click “Continue”. On your phone, open WhatsApp → “Settings” → “Linked devices” → “Link a device” and point the camera at the code. The code refreshes by itself every 20 seconds. The window closes as soon as the number is connected.

For “MAX direct”, you don't need to enter a number. Click “Continue” and scan the QR code in the MAX app on the phone with this number. The code is valid for 3 minutes. If the account has a cloud password, enter it in the window.

Telegram bot links with UTM tags for ads

UTM tags are labels in a link that show which ad brought the client. The link button in the “Telegram bot” row opens the “Bot link with UTM tags” window. Fill in “Source (source)” and, if you like, “Campaign (campaign)” and “Ad (term)”, then click “Generate link”. A client who starts the bot via this link comes into the CRM with these tags.

For “Telegram bot AI” and “MAX bot AI”, the button opens the “Bot link” window with the “Source (optional)” field. The source gets into the card of the lead that the bot creates. In MAX, it's passed only the very first time the client starts the bot.

How to reply to a client in MAX from the CRM and message first

When a client writes to a connected messenger, the person responsible for the lead gets a “New message from a client” pop-up. “Open” shows the lead card in the same tab, and “In a new window” opens it in a new one. In the card, click “Reply” → “From …” and choose the channel, for example MAX_bot or max_direct. Besides text, you can send pictures, videos and documents — up to 10 files per message. If a client wrote to two of your MAX bots, choose the right one in “From …”: by default, it's the bot with the most recent conversation.

A MAX bot writes only to people who started the dialog themselves. From a MAX direct number, you can message a client first: the message goes to the phone number in the card. Autofunnels can write to MAX on their own — the “Chat bot” block with the “Send via MAX_bot” or “Send via MAX_direct” checkbox. How to send a message to all of a bot's subscribers is covered in the article MAX messenger broadcast.

One MAX direct number sends up to 40 messages a day — including replies from the CRM, broadcasts, autofunnels and AI bot messages. When the limit runs out, the “Status” shows “Limit until 3:00 AM”: at that time Moscow time (MSK), the counter resets. “Blocked by MAX” means that MAX has restricted outgoing messages for spam, and new dialogs from the number are unavailable. This usually lifts within a few hours or a day; if it doesn't, reconnect the number with a QR code.

How much messenger CRM integration costs

The number of Telegram and WhatsApp integrations depends on your plan; see what each plan includes in the article on CRM pricing plans. On “CRM + Telephony + Automation” and higher, from $0.40 per user per day, the number is unlimited, and the AI chatbot also works starting from this plan. The bot's replies are charged to your balance: one conversation costs $0.02–0.03 on average. Messages to WhatsApp, Telegram and MAX from an auto-funnel are free if they don't use AI.

Read also: Telegram bot for business: connect MAX, website chat and Avito, Customer profile in CRM: full history, client replies and tasks, How to top up your account balance and avoid service pauses