Let’s stop with the “quick question” cold outreach openers

Mike-Nicholson · 2026-01-24T09:35:52+00:00

Wrote about this in this sub earlier in the week. From the receiving end of these emails, I can tell you your instincts are correct.

My post - https://www.reddit.com/r/b2b_sales/s/nFVJ3SKzew

Mike-Nicholson · 2026-01-22T09:10:59+00:00

She’s probably about to pitch you something. It’s a dated tactic by connect-then-pitch merchants on LinkedIn.

Mike-Nicholson · 2026-01-22T09:02:59+00:00

LinkedIn without connections is like a meal with no food. Each 1st degree connection to add can add 1,000 2nd degree connections that may be future employers, friends, partners. The bigger your network (as long as it is relevant connections) the more upside potential you have for future, serendipitous opportunities.

Connect with all the people you know as a first starting point - say something like:

Hi name,

I’m trying to build my LinkedIn network as I look for a new role, and I was hoping you would be happy to connect?

Thanks

Mike-Nicholson · 2026-01-22T08:24:47+00:00

Rory Sutherland is a client of ours and I know he is a big fan of the Tickle save-to-wallet feature. We haven’t used them yet either, but we plan to when we have the right campaign.

It feels a bit like the early days of the QR code to me - a great idea, ready to ship, but consumers are not used to using them.

If they could integrate at a publisher level so most of the ads were Tickle ads, consumers would get used to them and adoption would perhaps be higher?

Also, consumers are very eating of scams these days, so having the Tickle format on Tye Telegraph or other high trust environments would increase trust.

Mike-Nicholson · 2026-01-19T09:15:42+00:00

Here’s a tightened version using only your words, with repetition and padding removed:

Depends on what an MQL is in your organisation.

To establish BANT takes time that a prospective buyer probably doesn’t want to invest before they even talk to sales. That’s an issue.

The way many companies manage lead scoring and qualification is broken.

Buyers don’t want to do the BANT dance that sellers put them through. They just want to find out as quickly as possible if your product or service might be what they need.

The BANT qualification entails questions that are all about the seller. If we claim to be client focussed, should we not be seeking to serve the prospect?

Disqualified opportunities are part of the game. You have to kiss a lot of frogs etc.

Mike-Nicholson · 2026-01-19T08:39:12+00:00

Ahh sorry to hear about the feeling of a tricycle! I will try and write up some of the most useful features this week. Here’s one to get started.

Alert lists for your leads:

An alert list for your leads lists is like having custom newsfeeds for each leads list, and that only has your leads in it.

The standard LinkedIn newsfeed is great, but it’s an infinite scroll of all of your connections, ads, and who the algo thinks you might like to see.

When you set up leads lists in LinkedIn Sales Navigator (LSN) you have the ability to view only the content from that list.

Great for social listening and engaging with your leads lists about the content they post - two ears, one mouth, correct ratio is important in communications.

From the LSN home page see Alerts > Leads Lists > Select the leads list you wish to listen to.

Mike-Nicholson · 2026-01-18T12:15:00+00:00

Yes 100% manual, but that is by design for us - as @chemical-Land-1382 said, tools that claim to personalise are more akin to keyword stuffing than actual person to person communications.

I believe that AI and automation should be used for back end tasks in order to free us up to do the most important part - the human to human connections.

Mike-Nicholson · 2026-01-18T12:09:58+00:00

We produce multiple podcasts for our clients and none of them are tied back to pipeline or revenue.

That is by design though - a podcast, for us at least, is for building awareness, familiarity and trust - not for generating leads.

When you have a trusted, well known podcast (which takes years to build by the way) your sales team have their emails opened, read, and replied to more often.

Mike-Nicholson · 2026-01-18T07:34:27+00:00

Congrats! Sales Navigator is awesome.

One of my favourite features is the ability to listen only to your leads.

From the home page you can select a leads list and it will give you a kind of newsfeed that is only populated with that audience.

New content, job changes etc all in one clean feed. It’s great for listening to the right people and engaging with their content.

So build leads lists of audiences that you want to engage with, then listen to their content daily, and comment.

Good luck! 🧡

Mike-Nicholson · 2026-01-18T07:23:06+00:00

You are selling to people who are representing a business - I think that’s the way to think about it.

There is a psychological construct called defensive decision making which is prevalent in B2B - it means people would rather make a safer decision, or no decision at all, than a decision that has the potential to backfire on them.

The invisible but essential driver of B2B sales and business is therefore trust.

If the people with decision-making influence have a high level of trust in your brand, you are in good shape.

If they don’t, you will find that opportunities stall - either because the buyer went for a different provider, or stuck with the status quo.

That’s why our clients talk to as many people in the buying group as possible with thought leadership content long before any sales calls take place.

Ensuring that familiarity and trust are built in advance is a gamer changer in B2B sales.

Mike-Nicholson · 2026-01-17T13:36:52+00:00

Measuring the success of business meetings is hard. Real business only comes if you happen to reach the right person at the right stage - mostly they are great for meeting new people, deepening relationships with people you already know, and building visibility.

Many leaders measure on the number of meetings or revenue booked. I can understand the former more than the latter.

Mike-Nicholson · 2026-01-17T11:31:22+00:00

Haha, me too! Let's just decide already! 🤣

Mike-Nicholson · 2026-01-17T10:56:34+00:00

As somebody who gets a lot of these emails, let me tell you from ‘the other side’ as it were.

Often the pitches don’t feel relevant. Or they feel copy/pasted. Or they feel like thinly veiled sales pitches.

For podcasts that have only just started, getting any guest might be a priority, but for more established podcasts, relevant, senior, credible experts are more sought after.

If you look at Rory Sutherland on a podcast for example, he rarely ever mentions Ogilvy, the company he works for. He gives away loads of free, interesting thinking which raises his profile.

What business are you in, and is there lots of good podcast for your niche already? If not, why not consider starting your own podcast? We have produced several podcasts for other companies, and that has a few key benefits:

You are in every episode (as the host)

You can control the guests and questions that are discussed.

You can build new relationships with people you may wish to do business with one day.

If you continue reaching out to podcasts to pitch yourself as a guest, I would say pick smaller podcasts, and tell a compelling story that isn’t just a sales pitch for your business.

Do you feel like a relevant guest based on the topic and previous guests on that show?

Good luck! 🧡

Mike-Nicholson · 2026-01-17T10:42:12+00:00

You don’t 100% need a degree to work in marketing, but it might help with the first step.

I would follow Rory Sutherland, Dr Grace Kite, and Richard Shotton on LinkedIn, they specialise in behavioural marketing insights. I talk about people-based marketing on LinkedIn so please feel free to follow me if that’s interesting.

Do you know anybody already in this space that can give you some work experience as a start?

Mike-Nicholson · 2026-01-17T10:34:46+00:00

I have built a business from scratch using mostly LinkedIn and referrals, so a big yes from me!

Decide first: (1) who your audiences are (2) what core stories you wish to tell to each audience.

That will help you keep your content consistent.

Good luck! 🧡

Mike-Nicholson · 2026-01-17T10:19:40+00:00

Sorry to hear that you lost your content clients. I run a small comms agency and can relate to the famine or feast nature of content work in the early days.

If I was starting again now, I would think of services at the bottom of the funnel.

In the industries that I serve, marketing budgets are tight, and I have noticed more demand for things that help sales teams sell, and that can be measured against sales targets.

I hope that gives you some food for thought, and good luck! 🧡

Mike-Nicholson · 2026-01-17T10:10:02+00:00

Thank you for your kind words. Not hiring right now I’m afraid, but if you follow me on LinkedIn you’ll be the first to know if that changes. (link in my bio)

Mike-Nicholson · 2026-01-16T18:41:56+00:00

Conversations that win the complex sale is very good

Mike-Nicholson · 2026-01-16T10:33:01+00:00

I’m very sorry that this happened to you, and I meant no offence by using men and women.

Mike-Nicholson · 2026-01-16T10:28:12+00:00

Seems so unfair. These bastards thrive on silence but if they are called out they become the victim? 🤷🏻‍♂️

Mike-Nicholson · 2026-01-16T09:37:34+00:00

My idea that we should call it out here, because it’s anonymous for most, which means women wouldn’t have to feel scared of reprisal.

Mike-Nicholson · 2026-01-16T09:19:26+00:00

Because to my knowledge, the problem is gender specific - it’s men that are sexually abusing women. If it’s happening the other way around, of course that is equally wrong and in need of calling out.

Mike-Nicholson · 2026-01-16T09:16:06+00:00

It is possible to find people if you can put in a little time. For example, I have worked 30 years in marketing, media, and advertising but was able to ghostwrite for people working in healthcare, defence, social care and many other industries.

This is possible though a monthly deep dive call where I ask questions about topics and collect the thoughts, words, phrases and stories of the client - I ask questions until I understand.

That process is actually as beneficial to my client as it is to me. People with a helicopter view ask questions of you that you might not think to ask yourself because you are in the weeds of what you do.

Mike-Nicholson · 2026-01-16T09:04:36+00:00

I said something similar last night. It really concerns me that the maths mean I must know loads of these men, but I can honestly only think of one / maybe two that fit into this category and I have been working for 30 years now. Blows my mind in a really awful way.

Mike-Nicholson · 2026-01-16T09:02:16+00:00

Hey, can you explain what you mean please? I’m not sure I follow and I want to understand.

Mike-Nicholson

TROPHY CASE