You will be able to judge when WhatsApp is the right first channel and write a first message that is fair to the person reading it.
Of all the channels you can use to reach a new prospect, WhatsApp needs the most care. The same message can be welcome from someone who expects to hear from you and intrusive from someone who doesn't. The difference comes from where the message lands more than how well it's written.
In Singapore, many people use WhatsApp to talk to the people closest to them: a partner, parents, friends, the family group. That makes it a strong channel for warm contacts and an intrusive one for cold ones. Email has a work feel, and people expect messages from strangers to arrive there. LinkedIn exists for professional contact in the first place. A cold WhatsApp message skips that usual distance. It arrives with the same sound and notification as a message from the recipient's mother.
Picture an unexpected WhatsApp on a Sunday evening from a number you don't know. The sender calls you "dear" and offers an "exclusive opportunity" to grow your wealth. You never gave them your number. It sits in the same app as your family and close friends, and it feels like a stranger at the door. A clumsy cold message like this can get you blocked, and the person may remember your name for the wrong reasons. Even a polite, well-written cold first message can feel intrusive because of where it arrives.
So before you think about how to write a good WhatsApp message, ask whether your first message should be on WhatsApp at all.
WhatsApp is the right first channel in only two situations. Someone who fits either one is a warm contact. Anyone outside them is a cold contact.
The first situation is when the person gave you their number for that purpose. A founder you meet at an event says to WhatsApp them the details. An enquiry form asked for a preferred contact method and they chose WhatsApp. This fits the purpose principle from lesson 5.2, "PDPA basics for prospecting: consent, purpose and records": personal data such as a phone number is used for the kind of contact it was given for. Here, they gave the number for this kind of contact.
The second situation is when a mutual contact introduced you and the person agreed to hear from you. Siti tells Nadia that Darren, a financial adviser and Siti's friend from school, will message her. Nadia has a new baby and has been wondering whether her cover still fits. She agrees to hear from him, and Siti passes Darren her number. A stronger version is a visible introduction: Siti starts a group chat with Nadia and Darren, then leaves, so both of them can see the introduction happened.
Outside those two situations, start with email, a LinkedIn note, or a call where the Do Not Call rules allow it. You can move to WhatsApp later, once the person has said they prefer it.
The answer is rarely the same for every lead on a list. Mei has a list of founders in three groups. The first group gave her their number at an event and said to WhatsApp them. She found the second group through job ads. Her point-of-sale contact introduced the third group. The first and third groups get a WhatsApp first message. The founders from job ads get an email.
WhatsApp messages go to Singapore phone numbers, so they raise the same questions as any marketing message: consent, purpose and the Do Not Call rules. The PDPC publishes guidance on how the PDPA's Do Not Call provisions and other rules apply to messaging apps, and that guidance can change. Read the PDPC's current guidance before you use WhatsApp for any marketing message. A colleague saying it's fine is not enough.
Until you have read it, treat a WhatsApp marketing message with the same care as a call or text under lesson 5.1, "What the Do Not Call Registry covers and how to check it": hold clear consent, or check before you send. Never add people to a broadcast list or group without their agreement.
A first message has four parts, in this order: who you are, how you got their number, why you are writing, and one question. It will be longer than a chat between friends. That is fine for first contact, because it answers who, how and why before the recipient has to ask.
Darren's message to Nadia follows that order. He says who he is and how he knows Siti. He says Siti passed on her number and said Nadia would be okay with a message. He says he is a financial adviser and that Siti mentioned Nadia's question about her cover now the baby has arrived. Then he asks one question: would a short call one evening next week be useful, or would she prefer he send a few questions first. He attaches nothing.
End your own first message with a single question, and attach nothing: no link, no brochure, no voice note. Check your messages against these habits, which make WhatsApp prospecting feel like spam:
openers full of exclamation marks voice notes the person did not ask for forwarded promotional images messages at night or on weekends, unless the person said that suits them
If someone does not reply, do not send three more messages. Module 6 covers how to space follow-ups across channels.
In the activity below you will write a WhatsApp first message for a warm introduction, then decide for three leads on your list whether WhatsApp is the right first channel.
Write a WhatsApp first message for a warm introduction. Then pick three leads from your list and decide for each whether WhatsApp should be the first channel.
Junxiong-WFG Organisation is an authorised representative of AIA Financial Advisers Private Limited (Reg. No. 201715016G).