Why is cold marketing OK, but cold calling evil?

Aren’t they the same thing?

The prospect doesn’t know you.  They’re not expecting your call.  They have their own priorities for how to spend their time today.  And you’re not part of it.

Your email is distracting them from something else.  Your direct mail piece is (at least initially) keeping them from focusing on what they otherwise should be doing.

By definition, every relationship starts that way.  Even introductions from trusted members of your network are often a surprise, something that may be welcome but wasn’t expected when you woke up this morning.

Of course, the introduction in this case is welcome because it comes with the implied endorsement of your friend.  Or because what that referral offers to you (personally or professionally) aligns with something you were trying to get done today (or this week, or this month) anyway.

It’s quite popular to declare these days that cold calling is dead.  Yet we apparently still have no problem buying email lists, sending out reams of direct mail, accosting prospects at trade shows, interrupting their social channels and more.  Apparently, cold calling is taboo but cold marketing is OK.

Ironically, the argument that should now ensue from well-intentioned marketers is exactly why cold calling is not dead.

Your email recipient may not be expecting you, but that doesn’t mean they don’t need you.  It doesn’t mean you can’t immediately provide value to their life, their job, their day.  Sure, it’s still hard to get their attention the first time.  They may need to see your name and offer a couple times before warming up to it.

But if you’re smart about precisely matching your message or offer with the specific audience you’re targeting, you can provide immediate value in that first “cold” interaction.

Whether you do this via email, direct mail, social – or over the phone – doesn’t really matter.

Cold vs. warm still matters.  Which channel you use may dictate how you execute.  But what’s critically important across all efforts, at all stages of the relationship, is to provide value.  Make it worth their time.  That’s the equalizer.