Smart Lead Management with Building Bubbles
An in-house WhatsApp CRM that replaced costly third-party tools, cut acquisition cost per student by 20%, and boosted reply speed by 35%. All while giving the team full control over data and workflows.
Rahul RavindranWhy?
When our LMS shifted from a freemium, VC-funded model to a paid, revenue-focused one, we had to slash SaaS spend without hurting growth. Lead outreach was scattered across 8-10 WhatsApp numbers and expensive tools like WATI. Building our own system was the only way to keep quality high, costs low, and investors confident in our operating leverage.
To align with our new business goals, I designed and built Bubbles, an internal tool that centralized our lead management, automated WhatsApp communication, and integrated webinar workflows, all while cutting SaaS costs & human errors significantly.
Challenges
When our LMS product transitioned from a VC-backed freemium model to a fully paid structure, cost control and operational efficiency became top priorities. Our sales team heavily relied on third-party tools like WATI and WebinarJam for outreach and follow-ups via WhatsApp, but these came with high costs and limited control.
Letting go of convenience — sales reps were comfortable with WATI's plug-and-play features.
Maintaining speed & context — every reply had to come from the same WhatsApp number the lead first contacted.
Avoiding a productivity dip — non-technical reps needed an interface as intuitive as consumer chat apps.
Driving down CAC — each new paid student had to cost less, not more, after the tool switch.
Solution
To replace costly third-party tools like WATI while keeping the sales workflow intact, I built Bubbles—a custom, full-stack CRM tailored for WhatsApp communication. We authenticated all 8-10 team WhatsApp numbers using whatsapp-web.js and Puppeteer, allowing incoming messages to be automatically routed to the correct number. This meant that any sales rep could reply from the right account, ensuring continuity for the lead. We also added features like tagging and internal notes so that if one rep handed off a lead to another, the context was never lost. For our team, this meant smoother handovers, faster responses, and more confidence when chatting with prospects.
To align with our new business goals, I designed and built Bubbles, an internal tool that centralized our lead management, automated WhatsApp communication, and integrated webinar workflows, all while cutting SaaS costs significantly.