The Problem: You're Missing Enquiries You Don't Know About
When a potential customer messages your Facebook Page, Facebook sends you a notification. If you're on a roof in Redcar or under a sink in Stockton, you're not looking at your Facebook notifications. By the time you see it — that evening, maybe the next morning — they've messaged two other plumbers too. Whoever replied first probably got the job.
The same thing happens on Instagram. If you have an Instagram Business Account connected to your Page, DMs from potential customers sit there unread while you're working.
This is one of the most common ways tradespeople lose jobs they never even knew were there.
How fast do leads go cold? Research on lead response times consistently shows that enquiries responded to within 5 minutes are dramatically more likely to convert than those responded to an hour later — and enquiries left until the next day convert at a fraction of the rate. Speed of response matters more than almost anything else.
The Old Solution (and Why It Doesn't Work)
The obvious answer is to check your Facebook Page more often. But that means:
- Remembering to check a separate app while you're in the middle of work
- Switching between Facebook and WhatsApp when you want to reply
- Manually copying the customer's phone number and details across
- Still potentially missing it if you forget
Some tradespeople set up Facebook notifications on their phone, but notifications get buried, silenced, or missed along with everything else. It's a workaround, not a solution.
What you actually want is for Facebook enquiries to arrive in the same place you're already paying attention: WhatsApp.
How TaskDrop Connects Facebook & Instagram to WhatsApp
TaskDrop connects directly to your Facebook Business Page via Meta's API. Once connected, three things happen automatically:
When any of these come in, TaskDrop does three things before you even see it:
- Classifies the message — AI filters out thank yous, existing customers chasing an update, spam, and anything that isn't a genuine new job enquiry. You only get alerted about real leads.
- Extracts the job details — name, job type, location, and phone number are pulled out of the message automatically.
- Sends you a WhatsApp alert — the lead arrives in your existing TaskDrop WhatsApp with all the details laid out and two buttons: Start quote or Ignore.
Here's what that looks like in WhatsApp:
Tap Start quote and TaskDrop launches the quote flow with Dave's details pre-filled. You can have a professional quote back to him in under two minutes, still on the job site.
What about non-job messages? If someone messages your Page to say "great work on the bathroom!" or an existing customer asks when you're coming back, those don't trigger an alert. The AI classification filters them out — you only see genuine new enquiries.
What Are Facebook Lead Ads?
Facebook Lead Ads are a specific type of Facebook advertisement that includes a built-in contact form. Instead of sending someone to your website, the form opens directly on Facebook — pre-filled with whatever information Facebook already has about them.
A tradesperson running a Facebook Lead Ad might set it up to capture:
- Name and phone number
- What type of work they need
- Their postcode or area
- When they need it done
Because the form is pre-filled, completion rates are significantly higher than sending people to an external website. The problem is that the leads then sit in Facebook's Lead Centre — a tool most tradespeople have never opened.
With TaskDrop connected, every Lead Ad submission fires straight to your WhatsApp within seconds of the customer pressing submit. No checking Facebook Ads Manager. No logging into Lead Centre.
How to Set It Up
If you're already using TaskDrop, the setup takes about two minutes from your dashboard. If you're new to TaskDrop, you'll set up your account first (also about two minutes) and then connect your page.
- Sign up or log into your TaskDrop dashboard Go to taskdrop.co.uk and sign up with your mobile number — no password, just a verification code. Existing users go straight to the dashboard.
- Scroll to the Leads section and tap Connect Facebook Page This opens a Facebook authorisation screen. You'll be asked which Page you want to connect to TaskDrop.
- Select your Business Page and confirm Choose your Facebook Business Page. If you have an Instagram Business Account linked to that Page, Instagram DMs are included automatically — no extra steps.
- Done — your Page is connected The dashboard shows "Facebook connected." From this point, every Messenger DM, Instagram DM, and Lead Ad submission triggers a WhatsApp alert. You don't need to do anything else.
You need a Facebook Business Page, not just a personal Facebook profile. Most tradespeople who use Facebook for their business already have one. If you don't, you can create one free at facebook.com/pages/create — it takes about 10 minutes.
Do I Need to Run Facebook Ads?
No. The Messenger DM and Instagram DM integration works regardless of whether you run any ads. If potential customers message your Page organically — after finding you on Facebook, seeing a post you've shared, or being recommended by someone — those messages come through to WhatsApp.
Facebook Lead Ads specifically require running an ad campaign, but that's optional. Many tradespeople get a steady stream of organic Messenger enquiries without spending anything on ads.
If you do run ads, the Lead Ad integration means you can set up a simple "Request a quote" campaign and have the leads arrive in WhatsApp ready to quote — without any manual handling in between.
Is This Only for Big Trade Businesses?
Not at all — it's built specifically for sole traders. If you're a one-person operation who occasionally gets Facebook messages about work, that's exactly the use case. You don't need a team, a CRM, or any technical knowledge. You need a Facebook Page and a WhatsApp number, both of which you almost certainly already have.
The businesses that benefit most are sole traders who:
- Have an active Facebook Page but don't check Messenger regularly
- Are on the tools most of the day and can't be checking multiple apps
- Have lost jobs to competitors who replied faster
- Run or are considering running Facebook ads for their trade
Frequently Asked Questions
Connect your Facebook Business Page to TaskDrop in under 60 seconds. Every Messenger DM, Instagram DM, and Lead Ad submission lands straight in your WhatsApp — free, forever.
Get leads straight to WhatsApp