Instagram DM × Heep: reply to 100% of your messages in under a minute, 24/7
Heep replies to every Instagram DM at your restaurant in under a minute, 24/7, in the guest's own language. Stop losing bookings to unanswered messages.
An Instagram DM is not a message, it is a half-formed request. For it to become a booking, three things have to happen in the same thread: a real availability, a confirmation, and a write into your booking software. As long as one link is missing, you have not replied, you have chatted.
That chain is what we wired. Heep reads the message, queries your booking software, offers a slot that exists, writes the booking when the guest says yes. Here is every link, and where we stop.
Why 35% of Instagram DMs sit unanswered in your inbox
The problem is not the volume, it is the timing. DMs peak between 7pm and 11pm, on Sundays and on bank holidays. The floor is full, nobody opens Instagram.
The average manual reply time is 14 hours. An Instagram user's patience runs out inside the hour, and 73% switch to a competitor when nobody replies within the day (Sprout Social Index 2025 + Meta Business 2025).
- 150M DMs sent to businesses on Instagram each month (Meta Business, 2025)
- 42% of users expect a reply within 1 hour on social media (Sprout Social Index 2025)
- +31% more bookings for restaurants active on social media (Ion Hospitality, April 2026)
How many DMs are you sleeping on each month? Turn on Instagram DM in Heep, 15-min demo
The 7 types of DMs a restaurant receives (and which Heep handles alone)
Seven families, no more: that is what lands in a restaurant's inbox. Out of 100 DMs received, 92 are handled without human intervention. The remaining 8, large groups, private events, VIP requests, trigger an escalation carrying the full thread and its context.
- Opening hours & days (22%) — 100% automated
- Last-minute availability (19%) — 100% automated
- Standard booking 1-6 covers (17%) — 100% automated
- Modifying an existing reservation (14%) — 100% automated
- Allergens & dietary requirements (11%) — 100% automated
- Brunch, kids menu, recurring events (9%) — 100% automated
- Group >8 covers or private event (8%) — Human escalation
See how many bookings you're losing each week from unanswered DMs
How Heep books via DM into Zenchef or SevenRooms
Meta Business connection (~2 min)
One click on "Connect Instagram". No password transmitted, revocable in 1 click.
Brand voice learning (10 example messages)
Paste 10 replies your team has already sent. Heep extracts your tone, your sign-off, your house phrases.
Reading your booking software, in real time
Heep queries Zenchef, SevenRooms or TheFork every 30 seconds. The reply reflects the actual state of the floor plan.
Confirmation in the DM, booking written into the software
Heep sends the confirmation in the Instagram conversation and creates the booking right after. See syncing Heep with Zenchef.
Owned trade-off: Heep only states what it can read somewhere. Otherwise it stays cautious.
30 days in: what restaurants measure
Human reply / ManyChat
- Average delay: 14h / <1 min
- Books into PMS: Yes / No
- Brand voice: Yes / Rigid scripts
- 24/7: No / Partial
Heep
- Average delay: <1 min
- Books into PMS: Yes, natively
- Brand voice: Yes (10 examples)
- 24/7: Yes, with contextual escalation
80-cover Paris restaurant, 3 weeks after activation
Before Heep: dozens of DMs a week went unanswered until the morning. After Heep: a reply in under a minute, no DM left aside, and confirmed bookings from Instagram alone in the very first week.
What is left is the setting nobody will decide for you: the cover count above which Heep stops replying on its own. Eight here, because past that a group is negotiated. The thread itself does not move: why restaurants lose bookings, and how Heep fixes it.
Frequently asked questions
Can Heep really reply to an Instagram DM in under a minute, even overnight or on Sundays?
Yes. The median response time observed is 38 seconds, weekends and nights included.
How does Heep learn my restaurant's brand voice?
You paste 10 replies your team has already sent during onboarding. Heep extracts your tone, signature and standard responses.
What happens when a guest asks something Heep can't handle?
Heep detects the sensitive request, replies with a holding message, and immediately notifies your team with all the context summarised.
Can Heep take a booking directly from an Instagram DM?
Yes. Heep reads your PMS, confirms in the DM and creates the booking. The guest has no link to click.
What's the difference between Heep and ManyChat?
ManyChat runs pre-written scripts, doesn't read the PMS and can't close a booking. Heep is a conversational AI agent specialised for restaurants that completes the booking in your database.
