🎯 What is the Dynamic Tables Smarton and what is it for?
Imagine you have an expert salesperson who has live access to your inventory. The Dynamic Tables Smarton is exactly that: a tool that connects your catalog (whether in Google Sheets or your sales system) with your WhatsApp channel.
Unlike other virtual assistants that only read texts and guess the best answer, this Smarton performs an exact search in your data. This means zero made-up information: the bot will never give a wrong price or offer a product that is no longer in stock.
🔗 Note: For this to work, you must first have your data table connected to the platform. You can learn how to do this in our article on Dynamic Tables in Atom.
📊 When is the ideal time to use it?
Don't use it just because you have a small catalog. This tool shines and is necessary when:
Your inventory changes every day or every week, and you have many products (more than 100).
Your customers search by budgets or ranges ("cars under $200,000" or "courses starting in March").
An error is costly (giving a wrong price or selling without stock causes you problems).
Your customers ask you for exact parts, using specific codes or models.
🧠 How does this assistant's mind work?
To be so precise, this assistant divides its work into two separate tasks (as if they were two employees working as a team):
The Searcher (Analytical Brain): This "employee" receives the customer's question, goes to your data table and searches for exact information. They only have permission to read your table; for security, the bot will never be able to delete or modify your data.
The Spokesperson (Conversational Brain): Once the Searcher finds the data (for example: "Price: $500, Stock: 2"), they pass it to the Spokesperson. The Spokesperson takes those cold facts and drafts a friendly message (e.g. "Of course! The product costs $500 and we have 2 units left"). They are strictly prohibited from making things up if the Searcher tells them there is nothing.
📥 Where does it get the information from?
The assistant automatically syncs with your information (you can program it to update every few hours, daily or weekly). You can connect it in two ways:
Google Sheets (Spreadsheets): Your table must be organized. It must start in the first cell (A1), have clear titles in each column (like "Price", "Brand") and must not have merged cells.
Direct connection to your system: If you use sales software (CRM/ERP), you can connect it directly.
Speed limit: It supports up to 1,000 rows by 50 columns per table to maintain ultra-fast responses.
⚙️ Step by Step to configure it without being an expert
When you drag the "Smarton" component to your design screen (FlowBuilder), choose Dynamic Table and follow these steps:
1. Smarton Name and Table Selection
At the top, you can change the name (e.g. "Product Smarton") to keep your flow organized. Just below, in Dynamic Table, is where you choose the "source of truth": select the Google Sheets file or database that the assistant should read to give prices and stock.
2. The Prompt (Instructions on how to speak)
This is the main text box where you bring your assistant to life. As shown in your first image, the best practice in Atom is to structure it using "tags" in brackets so Artificial Intelligence understands you perfectly:
[Personality]: Define who they are. Example: "You are a sales advisor for the company, expert at resolving inquiries. You have a professional but friendly tone".
[Objective]: Tell them what you expect from them. Example: "Your main objective is to talk with the user to understand their tastes, persuade them and offer them the best available product in the table".
[Restrictions]: Set strict limits to avoid errors. Example: "Only talk about our products. Don't make up information. If they ask you about something that's not in the table, apologize politely".
[Response Format]: Tell them how you want the text to look. Example: "Your responses should be brief, clear and use emojis".
3. Smarton Description (and the magic of AI ✨)
This small box helps the central system know what this assistant is about and not confuse it with other areas of your company.
🪄 Artificial Intelligence Generation: Writing this by hand can be misleading, since if you put verbs or instructions (like "greet the customer"), the system can get confused. To avoid errors, simply press the star button (✨).
Our Artificial Intelligence will analyze your flow and write a perfect summary, using only keywords from your business (e.g. "Virtual assistant for customer service and product inquiries").
4. Interactive messages 🎠
Say goodbye to boring text. This section allows your assistant to send visual elements to WhatsApp so the customer only has to click. You don't have to know how to code, just turn on the button for what you want to use and explain to the assistant in your own words when they should use it:
Image with text: Use it if you want the bot to accompany a product with its photo or a technical sheet.
Response buttons: Use it for quick decisions, like "Yes / No" or "Buy / See more". (Maximum 3 buttons).
Carousel: Turn it on so the assistant shows your products as sliding cards (with photo, title and short description). It's ideal for customers to compare options by swiping.
5. Knowledge base
If your customers tend to ask questions that aren't in your Excel sheet (for example: "What are your hours?" or "Do you accept returns?"), turn on this button. It will allow you to upload documents (like a PDF) so the assistant can read those policies or frequently asked questions and know how to answer general questions without straying from sales topics.
🔎 Advanced Settings (Data Search)
If you expand the Advanced Settings, you'll find a section called Data Search.
This is where your assistant's "Searcher" lives. Their only job is to translate what the customer asks in normal language (e.g. "I want a cheap car") into a computer language called SQL, which is what's used to quickly search through your data table.
Best practices for configuring it:
Don't delete the variables: You'll see words like
{table_id}or{table_description}. Leave them intact, the system uses them to connect to your file.Critical Classification Rule: You must be very clear with the assistant. Write to them: "If the user asks about any product, category or price, ALWAYS perform the search in the table, even if the name is not in your examples. When in doubt, always search".
Avoid greetings here: Tell the searcher that if the customer just says "Hi" or "Thanks", they shouldn't try to look that up in the products table.
Following this order, you'll have an assistant who not only talks with the perfect personality of your brand, but also quickly searches for information in your inventory without making up data. ✅
6. Exit Intents
This is one of the most important parts so the customer doesn't feel trapped.
What is it for?: Here you add routes so the assistant stops and sends the customer elsewhere.
Example: If the customer writes "I want to talk to a human" or "I need support", you add a "Branch" with those words. That way, instead of continuing to offer products, the assistant will understand that they should transfer the conversation to a real agent.
Note: You can use the AI suggestion to improve your bot's exit intents ✨
7. Save to information field (Automatic memory)
If you turn on this button, the assistant becomes an "attentive listener".
How does it work?: If during the conversation the customer spontaneously mentions their email, phone number or name, the assistant will detect it and automatically save it to their record. You don't need to ask them like an interrogation; the bot takes notes while you talk.
8. Customer stage (Your sales funnel)
This button allows the assistant to help your sales team prioritize.
What is it for?: You can configure that if the customer interacts with the catalog and finds what they're looking for, their status automatically changes (for example, from "New" to "Interested" or "Qualified Lead"). That way, your salespeople will know who is closer to buying.
9. Wait time (So no one is left hanging)
Sometimes customers stop responding in the middle of a consultation.
What does it do?: If you turn on this option, you can define how many minutes the assistant should wait before ending the conversation or sending a follow-up message (e.g. "Are you still there? Let me know if you need more help with the catalog"). This prevents conversations from staying "open" forever on WhatsApp.
🪄 Automatic Functions (The invisible help)
To make the conversation super natural, the system does three things for you without you having to program anything:
Budget understanding: If the customer searches for "a car for $200,000", the bot will automatically search a little above and below that price. That way, if you have one for $198,000, they'll offer it instead of saying "there's nothing exact".
Automatic corrector: If your Excel says CÓRDOBA and the customer types cordoba without an accent and in lowercase, the system understands it and matches the data perfectly.
Clean images: If you have photo links in your table, the bot will transform them into visual cards (carousels) and won't send the customer ugly long internet links.
💡 Summary of best practices:
Use clear names: If you have multiple catalogs, name each Smarton differently (e.g. "Cars Catalog" vs "Parts Catalog").
Don't forget the exits: Always add at least one exit intent for "Talk to an advisor". A customer who can't find what they're looking for and can't ask for human help gets frustrated quickly.
Turn on information saving: It's the easiest way to clean and complete your database without bothering the customer with forms.
With this you now have complete mastery of the tool! From when the customer enters, how the bot searches the data and what happens if the customer stops responding. 🚀
🛠️ Common problems? Here's the quick fix
What's happening? | Why does it happen? | How do I fix it fast? |
The bot says "There isn't any" but I know the product is in the Excel. | The search instruction used regular quotes (" ") instead of backtick (` `). | Go to Advanced Settings and write to it: "Always use the backtick (`) for column names, never use quotes". |
The customer asks something and the bot sends them to a human almost immediately. | Your exit rule is too general (e.g. you put the word "Advisor"). | Change your exit rule to a complete and specific phrase (e.g. "I want to talk to a support advisor"). |
The bot offers products we no longer sell. | You probably left a handwritten list in their speaking instructions, and that list is already outdated. | Delete any handwritten product list in the instructions. Tell it: "If there's no availability in the table, tell them it's out of stock, but DON'T make up products". |
Turn your inventory into an automatic store on WhatsApp! 🚀
By using the Dynamic Tables Smarton, you ensure you give 100% real, up-to-date and visually attractive information, allowing your customers to quote and check availability 24 hours a day. ✅