Require the user to send a message before there is a push message from the chat widget launcher icon

Currently, when the user opens our website application, the chat widget appears on the screen with a red notification like there is a new message (even if they never clicked the chat widget). I think this is because we automatically send the intro message ("Hi! We're here to help!") -- is there anyway to make it so the message isn't automatically sent so they aren't getting a message immediately after opening the app? We want the user to initiate the conversation, not be greeted with a notification/message when they open the webpage.