IndiaMART leads on WhatsApp: reply faster as a team

IndiaMART collects buyer enquiries, calls and the BuyLeads you take up in Lead Manager, with alerts by email, SMS, app and WhatsApp. To work them on WhatsApp as a team, reply fast from a company number, ask the buyer before moving them to WhatsApp, and log each lead in a sheet or CRM through IndiaMART's Leads API, a paid add-on.

This guide is for B2B sellers, from Ludhiana manufacturers to Coimbatore distributors, whose sales teams already work on WhatsApp. WavesFlo has no IndiaMART connection of its own; the sheet step below uses IndiaMART's documented API and n8n. Details are as of October 2026.

Where do IndiaMART leads arrive, and what do you get?

Enquiries, calls and the BuyLeads you take up all land in Lead Manager, IndiaMART's inbox for sellers, on the website and in the app. Each lead carries at least a name, a mobile number or email address and a country, plus fields such as city, product and the buyer's message. Lead Manager adds reminders, filters by location, time period and lead type, and a Contacted label once you reply.

Under Settings, then Notification Settings, set enquiry alerts to instant rather than a daily or weekly summary. A lead read in tomorrow's summary is already a day old.

Does IndiaMART have a WhatsApp integration?

Yes, as a paid feature called IM Insta. IndiaMART sets up a WhatsApp account on your PNS number through Meta's Cloud API: buyers write from their own WhatsApp, and you answer from Lead Manager. From IndiaMART's help centre:

• Replies sent within 24 hours of the buyer's last WhatsApp message reach their WhatsApp; later ones go to their IndiaMART message centre, email and SMS instead.
• If a buyer doesn't reply, you can send one pre-written message a day for up to seven days after the enquiry. IndiaMART's newer description adds an automatic first message and a follow-up after five hours.
• The PNS number can no longer be used in the WhatsApp app on a phone. Any WhatsApp account already on it has to be deleted first, losing its chats, so IndiaMART advises a fresh number.

That suits a seller happy to work from Lead Manager. It doesn't help a team whose reps already sell from their own WhatsApp Business numbers, which is what the rest of this guide covers.

How do you get IndiaMART leads into Google Sheets automatically?

Through IndiaMART's Leads API, sold as a paid add-on to a seller subscription; ask your account manager. Both versions return JSON, which IndiaMART says can't be imported into Excel directly:

• Push API: IndiaMART posts each lead to a web address you give it, as the lead arrives. In Lead Manager, open the three-dot menu, then Import/Export Leads, then Push API; choose Other, enter an https address and confirm with the OTP. Failed leads are retried, and the Push API switches off if your address stops accepting leads for more than 48 hours.
• Pull API: your system asks for leads on a schedule, with a key generated under Import/Export Leads, then Pull API (only paying sellers see Generate Key). IndiaMART allows one call every five minutes, returns at most seven days per call (times in IST) and the last 365 days in total, and expires a key left unused for seven days.

For a sales team the Push API fits better, because a lead reaches the sheet when it reaches Lead Manager. In n8n it takes two nodes:

1. 1Add a Webhook node set to POST, and keep the long random path n8n generates. IndiaMART's documentation lists no signature on its pushes, only a Content-Type header, so a private address is what keeps strangers out.
2. 2Leave it to respond immediately, so IndiaMART gets its HTTP 200 at once. Publish the workflow, enter the production URL on IndiaMART's Push API page under Other, and send IndiaMART's test lead.
3. 3Add a Google Sheets node with the Append or Update Row operation, matching on UNIQUE_QUERY_ID, IndiaMART's ID for each lead, so a retried push updates its row instead of adding another. The lead's fields sit under RESPONSE in the body.

unique_query_id,query_type,query_time,buyer_name,mobile,city,product,message,owner,whatsapp_ok,status
29xxxxxx41,W,05-Oct-2026 11:42,Rakesh Jain,98xxxxxx21,Ludhiana,2 HP water pump,"Need 20 units, delivery to Ludhiana",Arjun,yes (call 5 Oct),quoted

The Pull API works too, with a Schedule Trigger node every 15 minutes and an HTTP Request node; overlap each window by five minutes, as IndiaMART suggests, and let UNIQUE_QUERY_ID absorb the repeats. Treat the key like a password: anyone holding it can read your leads.

How do you split IndiaMART enquiries between salespeople?

Decide the rule before the leads arrive: by product line, by region, or in turn. Put a name in the owner column as soon as a lead lands, so nobody wonders whether someone else has called.

In WavesFlo's shared inbox, every rep's number and the main number sit in one list, each chat marked with the number it arrived on, and a reply goes out on that number. The owner starts the chat from the inbox, labels it IndiaMART and adds an internal note with the enquiry ID and the quote. If the buyer writes to the main number instead, a team leader hands the chat to the owner. Chats are assigned by hand, or round-robin within a team on Growth and Enterprise; reps set up as Agents see only the chats assigned to them, and a live typing indicator stops two people answering at once.

How do you move an IndiaMART buyer to WhatsApp?

Ask first. WhatsApp's Business Messaging Policy lets a business contact someone only once they have given their number and the business has their opt-in. An IndiaMART enquiry gives you the number and a reason to reply, not necessarily a yes to WhatsApp.

• Reply in Lead Manager or call, and ask: shall I send the price list on WhatsApp? Note the yes in the sheet, with the date.
• If the buyer used IndiaMART's WhatsApp button or wrote to your number, they started the chat; answer it there.
• If you must write first, send one short message that names the enquiry and asks permission. If they never reply, that message and every nudge after it may count towards the monthly limit WhatsApp is testing on messages to people who don't reply.

A first message should say who you are, which enquiry you are answering, one useful fact, and one question:

Namaste Mr Jain, this is Arjun from [company], Rajkot. You enquired on IndiaMART about 2 HP water pumps for delivery to Ludhiana. Is it all right if I send the price list and spec sheet here on WhatsApp?

Thank you for your time on the call, Mr Jain. As discussed: 20 units of the 2 HP pump at ₹14,850 each plus GST, delivered to Ludhiana in 7 working days. Quotation PDF attached. Shall I hold this rate until Friday?

Hello Ms Rao, Arjun from [company] here. You posted a requirement on IndiaMART for 500 kg of food-grade stainless steel sheet in Hyderabad. We stock 304 grade in 1 mm and 1.5 mm. Which thickness do you need, and by when?

How do you follow up on IndiaMART quotations?

Send the quotation as a PDF with a three-line summary above it (item, price with GST, delivery date), so the buyer can answer from the notification. Follow up twice at most: once a few days later with something new, such as stock or a delivery slot, and once before the quote lapses. The examples for chasing the quotation cover the wording.

With a dozen quotes open, send the follow-up as a campaign from a sheet: one personalised message per row, scheduled inside working hours, with approval on so a manager reads it first. Opt-outs are checked at send time, so a buyer who asked you to stop is skipped. The Google Sheets to WhatsApp guide shows the set-up.

Can buyers' WhatsApp replies go back into your sheet or CRM?

Yes. If you use HubSpot or Zoho CRM, connect it from WavesFlo's dashboard by signing in to the CRM. Once a workspace admin turns syncing on, each incoming and outgoing one-to-one WhatsApp message, and each opt-out or opt-in, is logged as a note on the contact with the matching phone number; group messages never reach the CRM. For a sheet, Salesforce or another CRM, use webhooks: WavesFlo sends a signed message.received event for every message arriving on a connected number, carrying the ID of that number, and an n8n workflow can verify the signature and update the buyer's row by mobile number or write the reply into the CRM. Events arrive at least once, with a stable ID, and can arrive out of order, so deduplicate on the ID; the webhooks and n8n guide has the details.

WavesFlo is not a CRM: IndiaMART's record stays in Lead Manager, and stages belong in your CRM. Threads begin when a number is linked, so earlier chats stay on the phone. The same habits apply to real estate portal leads and Click-to-WhatsApp ads; WhatsApp for sales teams brings them together.