SHORT ANSWER
Keep customer identity, conversation ownership and next actions connected across systems.
Map the customer journey first
Define who receives the message, when a lead is created, who owns it and what moves it to the next stage.
Choose the minimum data
Use a normalized phone number, conversation reference, owner, branch and next action. Define retention and access rules.
Launch safely
Apply least-privilege access, protect credentials and make retries idempotent so failures do not duplicate records.
Official references
Meta and WhatsApp policies and pricing can change. Verify the current official documentation before an operational decision.
