Chatbot with a button menu: greeting, services and a way to reach a person

What the template sets up: four blocks and one command

The trigger is the /start command. Next comes a “Message” “Hello! Choose a section:” with two buttons. “Services” leads to a “Message” with placeholder text: “Our services: replace this text with a list of services and prices”. “Contact us” leads to a “Message” “Passing the conversation to a team member — write your question here, and we will reply in this chat” and an “Operator” block with the note for the team “The client asks to get in touch”.

After “Contact us” the conversation goes to Conversations for the team, and the bot stays silent in it until a team member clicks “Return to bot” or closes the conversation. In VK, MAX and the website widget /start does not always arrive, so there the first text message from a new contact also opens the greeting. If a person types text instead of tapping a button, the bot shows the menu again.

What to replace before launch

• Greeting. Add your company name and one line about how the bot helps: “Hello! This is Lyon salon. I can share prices or call the administrator”. The first message decides whether a person taps a button — options are covered in the article on the bot welcome message.
• The “Services” reply. List 3–7 items with “from” prices and a link to the full price list. Nobody reads a long price list in a chat.
• Text before the operator. If your team does not reply around the clock, state the reply hours so the client does not wait at night.

Test the flow with the “Check flow” button in the editor: the test chat goes through the same blocks as the client and does not count toward the conversation limit. The “Services” branch ends with the reply, but the menu buttons in the chat keep working: tapping them again follows their branch.

How to grow the menu

A new button is one more output on the menu block and one more “Message” behind it. “Prices”, “Address and opening hours” and “Book” are usually added next. For booking it is easier to plug in the ready branch from the “Appointment requests” template, for frequent questions — “Autoresponder FAQ” with keyword replies. If there are more questions than buttons, install the “Answers from documents” template: there an AI agent answers questions asked in people’s own words (Basic plan).

A channel limit: VK allows no more than 10 buttons in one message, and a long menu reads worse in Telegram and MAX too — better 3–5 buttons and a second menu level.

Plan and channels

The template works on the Free plan: 30 conversations per month per bot and one operator, no AI needed. The same flow replies in Telegram, MAX, VK and the website widget — no need to adapt it for each channel. Open the template in your account.