A more than fair question, to be sure.
Because yes, how do you square having values and integrity, with interrupting strangers who weren’t expecting to hear from you?
In the end, we all have to live with ourselves – and the last thing we want to do is sacrifice our values on the altar of lead generation. But that way, you end up living with the good-egg-problem, and that’s no way to live. Good eggs shouldn't sell despite their values, but because of them.
So then how does Mr. Sales for Nice People justify doing cold outreach to unsuspecting recipients?
Here’s how:
First off: Cold outreach is actually more marketing, or advertising, than it is sales.
Marketing is the practice of making people aware. It’s putting up a flag with a message, inviting those who are interested to raise their hand.
Which is quite different from selling, where the game is helping people make a decision.
This is precisely why I can live with myself, doing cold outreach, because I don’t contact people looking for a sale. How would I even know that my recipient would need my stuff?
Instead, I’m looking for a reply, and if I get one, then I'm looking for a conversation. And if everything lines up and works out, that conversation can then become a sale.
Secondly, seeking a connection is not the same as spamming people.
Sure you can get an agency to scrape profiles and create ‘personalised’ messages. But I don’t consider that nice at all.
To interrupt 1000s of people at a time, when everyone is already flooded with advertisements and spam? And then you’re just going to spray even more spam at them? No. Get off their lawn.
So then how do I do outreach, and still sleep at night?
Here’s my rules:
1: I only reach out when I have spent time reviewing a person and their company.
I insist on having at least some certainty that what I do and say, might possibly be relevant to them.
2: I don’t send ‘personalised’ messages, with just some keywords stuffed in.
Instead, I write a personal message. One that is based on what I’ve seen on their website or social profile.
A message that proves, at the first point of contact, that I have invested time in this person, before ever hitting send.
And yes, that makes the process slow, and it means I can send only send a few dozen messages a week, not 1000s.
But guess what:
Because my targeting is so specific and calibrated, and my messaging so personal, people actually reply and buy. And they often thank me for the refreshingly sincere and personal approach as well.
So yes, nice people do indeed do cold outreach.
We just don’t use the AI-powered volume-based crap that burns dinosaur bones and that forces 1000’s of people at a time to furrow their brow and click delete.
I get to connect with strangers, I get the sales and the money, I get to serve my people, and I get to sleep at night too.
What about you?