Would prospects pay you to cold call them?

I really don’t believe that cold calling is dead. Frankly, anybody that just smiles & dials against a list of people hoping to launch right into their sales pitch isn’t going to be successful ever – now, in the future, 50 years ago, etc.

The idea that you can’t call someone out of the blue, unsolicited, and provide some value is where I quibble with others. If you’re waiting for every dream client to call you proactively, to seek you out, you’ll probably be waiting for a very long time and you certainly won’t have any chance to build a real business, or consistently hit your number.

Warm calling might be a better way for us all to describe this. You’re still calling someone unsolicited, but ideally doing so in a way that drives immediate value.

Here’s a rule of thumb to make sure you’re doing it right.

What if at the end of that “cold call”, the prospect would be willing to pay for the insights and value you just provided?

I realize that’s a high bar, but if you can strive for it, you’re eliminating the traditional and stereotypical downside of cold calling. You’re creating confidence in your sales team that could minimize or reduce call reluctance. And that same value could likely be translated throughout your lead nurture, marketing and other efforts to engage net-new prospects at the very top of the sales funnel.

This isn’t about gating your value, or charging for your time.  But it’s about setting a far higher bar for the cost of interrupting the prospect, and the value translation they should expect from you from the first call forward.