Lead Desk, Asia edition
The lead desk for buyers who answer on WhatsApp, LINE or WeChat — and never to email. Drafts shaped for the app. You send. Nothing else does.
What it is
The same desk as entry 003 — score, what they want, a draft, a ledger line — rebuilt for the way buyers actually reply across Asia: on WhatsApp, LINE, KakaoTalk or WeChat, or not at all until someone introduces you. The drafts change shape. The rule doesn't: you send, it never does.
Drafts shaped for the app
Three lines, no subject, first line readable on a lock screen. No link in the first message. On WeChat, the first draft goes to whoever can introduce you, not to the buyer.
You reply, on their app
Typed by you, from your own account. Two follow-ups on chat, then stop — a third reads as pressure. One reply at a time, to someone who wrote first. Never outreach at volume.
Your day with it
- 9:30
- Paste what came in overnight — type out the screenshots if you have to. A score, what they want, a draft for the app, a ledger line.
- 9:35
- Type the good ones into the app yourself — never paste a draft that reads like a template. Under 3, one line and move on.
- 16:30
- Again. On chat, a lead that waits a day has usually gone somewhere else. Five minutes, twice, beats twenty once.
Good for
The WhatsApp that came at 11pm
Answered at 9am, in three lines, not a paragraph. That's the difference between a reply and a read receipt.
Getting introduced properly
Two lines your introducer can forward as-is. Most introductions die because nobody wrote those two lines.
Their language, your control
The message in Japanese, Korean or Chinese on request — with the English underneath, so you know exactly what you sent.
Seeing which app the real ones use
The ledger has a channel column. In a month you'll know where your buyers actually live.
The honest part: the market notes here are working etiquette, not rules of law — and messaging strangers at scale is regulated differently in every market on this list. This desk stays on the safe side of all of them by design: one reply at a time, to someone who wrote first or was introduced. If you want volume, this isn't it, and we'd say the same on a call.
Where do your buyers actually answer?
Which market, mostly?
What happens to a lead that isn't a fit?
Your desk. Do these in order.
What happens.
- Week 1
- The drafts feel short. That's the point. If your buyers write long, tell the desk in the instructions — they're yours to edit.
- Week 3
- You're replying within the hour. The channel column shows you where the real ones come from — it's usually not where you thought.
- Month 2
- An introduction you asked for properly turns into a meeting. That one pays for the whole thing.
What it won't do
- Add strangers on WeChat, or message anyone who didn't write first. That's not a limitation, it's the design.
- Send anything. Ever. You type it into the app yourself.
- Know local law. The market notes are etiquette. If you're going to message at any volume, ask someone who does know.
Prefer to read it? The whole kit in plain text, and what we changed in translation.
The kit, in plain sight
This is the general version. The tool above builds yours, for the app your buyers actually answer on.
The same lead desk as entry 003 — score, what they want, a draft, a ledger line, you send — rebuilt for markets where the buyer replies on WhatsApp, LINE, KakaoTalk or WeChat, or only through an introduction. The drafts change shape: three lines, no subject, no link in the first message, and on WeChat the first draft is the ask to whoever can introduce you. It runs twice a day because on chat a lead that waits a day has usually gone elsewhere. It still never sends.
Channel rules — pick the one that matches, paste it under the lead desk instructions: WhatsApp. No subject. Three lines at most, and the first line has to stand alone on a lock screen. One question, not two. No link in the first message — put it in the second, after they reply. Sound like a person typing, not a template. Never message before 9am or after 8pm their time. LINE or KakaoTalk. Short, polite, slightly more formal than WhatsApp — a greeting line, then the point, then one question. No link in the first message. A sticker or emoji is fine after they've used one first, never before. WeChat. Cold adds don't land — if we're not already connected, draft the ask to whoever can introduce us instead. Once connected: two or three short messages beat one long one; links in a first message often don't open, so describe and offer to send. Match their formality. Never message before 9am or after 8pm their time. Introductions. The first draft is never to the buyer — it's the ask to the person introducing us: two lines they can forward as-is, saying who I am, why this buyer specifically, and what I'd like. The draft to the buyer comes after the introducer says yes, and it opens by naming them. Rule that doesn't change: one reply at a time, to someone who wrote first or was introduced. This desk does not do outreach at volume — messaging strangers at scale is a different thing in every market here, and it isn't this.
Lead desk. Here's what came in on [WhatsApp / LINE / WeChat]. Score, what they want, draft for the channel, ledger line — for each. --- [paste the message(s) — screenshots transcribed, or the text]
Follow-up on [app] for [name]. No reply since [date]. Draft two, not three: day 2 (one line, adds something useful, no question), day 6 (one line, closes the loop kindly). After that we stop — on chat, a third nudge reads as pressure. My voice.
Same message, in the language they wrote in. Keep it as short as the English. Put the English underneath so I know exactly what I'm sending. If there's a formality choice, tell me which you picked and why. --- [paste the draft]
What changed in translation
| In entry 003 | Here | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Four lines with a subject | Three lines, no subject, first line stands alone | It's read on a lock screen, between other things. |
| Links are fine | No link in the first message | On WeChat they often don't open; everywhere else they read as spam. |
| Draft to the buyer | On WeChat and by introduction, draft to the introducer first | The relationship is theirs before it's yours. |
| Three follow-ups | Two, then stop | A third nudge on chat is pressure, and pressure is remembered. |
| Once a day | Twice | A lead that waits a day on chat has usually gone somewhere else. |
| English | Their language on request, English underneath | You should know exactly what you're sending. |
Adapted from entry 003, Lead Desk, which is adapted from the six-step pipeline of Explee's AutoGTM. Built for the markets Signal Collective works in, where the buyer answers on chat and outreach at volume is the wrong tool.