You will be able to open a conversation in each channel in a way that signals competence and respect for the buyer's time.
A message arrives from a number you do not know. It says "hi" and nothing else. Or it is a two-minute voice note from someone whose name you do not recognise. Or your phone rings at 12.40 on a Tuesday and a cheerful voice asks how your day is going before saying who they are. In each case you have decided something about the person before they have said anything about what they want.
Buyers make the same quick judgment about you. In lesson 2.1, What trust is made of, you saw that reliability is built from small promises kept. A first contact is the first of those promises, and it is the moment self-orientation is easiest to spot. Each channel has its own way to get it right.
Arrive early. Ten minutes gives you time to find the table, buy your own coffee and settle before the buyer walks in. If you are meeting at a busy food court in Raffles Place at lunch, it also gives you time to find a seat where you can both hear each other.
Put your phone away, out of sight, not face down on the table. A phone on the table tells the buyer that something else might be more important than them. If you need to take notes, use a notebook, or say up front that you will type notes on your phone and why.
Before you start, confirm how much time they have. "I have us down until one o'clock. Does that still work for you?" It takes five seconds. It shows you respect their schedule, and it tells you whether to skip the small talk because they need to leave at 12.45. Then keep to it. If you are still talking at one o'clock, you have broken a promise in the first meeting.
A call interrupts someone, so the first few seconds need to answer three questions before you ask anything: who you are, why you are calling, and how long it will take. For example, from a mortgage broker: "Hi Mr Tan, this is Priya from the mortgage team. You filled in our form on Sunday about refinancing your HDB loan, and I'm calling to understand what you're looking for. It'll take about five minutes. Is now a good time?"
That opener does several things. It uses his name and hers. It gives a reason he will recognise, so he is not left wondering whether this is a scam. It names a time limit he can agree to. And it hands him a real choice, which most people find easier to say yes to.
Compare that with "Hi, how are you doing today?" from a stranger. The buyer spends the next ten seconds trying to work out who is calling, and suspicion builds the whole time.
In Singapore, WhatsApp is often the first contact, and it is where small mistakes show most. Three habits help.
Use full sentences. Message shorthand reads as casual between friends and careless from a seller. Introduce yourself with your name and your company in the first message, not after they ask "who's this?" State the reason for writing in the same message, so they can decide whether to reply without a back-and-forth.
Never send a voice note as a first message. A stranger's voice note asks the buyer to stop, find earphones and listen to something they did not request. Many people simply will not play it. Once the buyer has replied and seems comfortable with voice notes, you can follow their lead.
A first message that works might read: "Hi Mr Tan, this is Priya, a mortgage broker. You asked on our website about refinancing your HDB loan. I'd like to call you for about five minutes to understand your situation. Would tomorrow at 10am or 3pm suit you better?" It is four sentences, nothing in it needs explaining, and it ends with a question that is easy to answer.
Across all three channels, the same two things count most. Be on time, which includes replying when you said you would. And give a clear reason for getting in touch. Both are about the buyer's time and attention rather than about you, and that is why they lower self-orientation.
Charm is fine, but it does not make up for lateness or vagueness. A warm, funny seller who arrives fifteen minutes late has already told the buyer something about how they will handle the account. A plain, punctual one who explains exactly why they are there gives the buyer far fewer reasons for doubt.
Pick one lead you could realistically contact this week, a real name if you have one, and keep that person in mind as you start the activity below.
Write the first message you would send a new lead on WhatsApp and the first 20 seconds of a phone call to the same person.
Junxiong-WFG Organisation is an authorised representative of AIA Financial Advisers Private Limited (Reg. No. 201715016G).