What is this?
An Ask step sends a question and then waits for the customer to answer. When they do, the platform checks the answer is the right kind (for example a real email address), saves it to a custom field, and moves on. If they don’t answer properly, it follows a different path. It’s the easiest way to collect information — names, emails, dates, photos — without a human typing anything. [SCREENSHOT: automation-steps-ask-config — An Ask Text step’s settings panel showing the question text, validation settings, and the field to save the answer in]What can I do here?
How to use it
The settings every Ask step shares
- Question Text (required) — what to ask. You can use variables.
- Store response in field — the custom field where the answer is saved. Create the field first in Custom Fields.
- Validation Settings
- Attempt limit — how many tries the customer gets. After this, the step follows the Not Submitted path.
- Validation error message — what the customer sees when the answer isn’t valid, such as “That doesn’t look like an email — please try again.”
- Submission Deadline — a number of minutes, hours, or days to wait. After that, the step follows Not Submitted. The customer can still answer late.
Ask Text
Asks for any text and saves it. Use it for names, cities, a description of the problem, or a product search phrase (see Product Search).Ask Number
Asks for a number and checks that the answer is numeric. Use it for budgets, quantities, or ages.Ask Date
Asks the customer to choose a date. Use it for appointment days or delivery dates.Ask Email
Asks for an email address and checks that it looks valid.Ask Location
Asks the customer to share their location from WhatsApp. It’s saved automatically with its latitude, longitude, and a readable street address, so later steps can use those values as variables.Ask Address
Shows WhatsApp’s native address form. The form is pre-filled with any addresses already saved for the contact, and the result is saved automatically in the address table for later steps.Ask Image, Ask Video, Ask Audio, Ask File
Ask the customer to send a file. Use them for ID proof, damaged-item photos, voice notes, or documents.
For Ask File, set Expected Format to control which file types the customer may upload.
Ask steps on other channels
Instagram, Facebook, and Web Chat each have Ask Text, Ask Number, and Ask Email steps — see Instagram Steps, Facebook Steps, and Web Chat Steps.Example: capture a lead
- Ask Text — “What’s your name?” → saved in Name.
- Ask Email — “What’s your email?” → saved in Email.
- Ask Number — “What’s your budget?” → saved in Budget.
- Update Label — add the label New Lead.
- Assign team member — hand the lead to your sales team.
Troubleshooting / Technical Notes
- The automation is stuck on the question. It’s waiting for the customer. Set a Submission Deadline and connect Not Submitted so something happens if they never reply.
- The answer isn’t saved anywhere. Choose a field under Store response in field.
- The customer’s file was rejected. Check the format and size limit for that step. Use Validation error message to tell them what’s accepted.
- Ask Address doesn’t appear for the customer. It’s only available for India-based businesses and customers so far.