I used to think sales had to hurt. Pick up the phone. Make 100 calls. Get rejected 99 times. I called that “hard work”. Today, I call it: low leverage.
The problem with manual cold outreach:
It is one-to-one work.
If you want to reach 10 people, you have to repeat your pitch 10 times (and get rejected 11 times ;-)
It is a waste of time.
I changed my strategy. Away from “cold outreach”. Towards building a “warm audience”.
My new mantra:
“Give, give, give ... until they ask for more.”
Instead of interrupting complete strangers and making demands right away, I provide value upfront. My system (CompLeadly) handles the “giving” for me:
1. It builds the audience automatically
2. It delivers valuable content (builds trust) directly to their inbox, as a post, or without any outreach message at all
3. It warms up the contact until they are ready.
The difference is huge. When I pick up the phone today, it is no longer a cold call. The contact knows me. They have already received value or even booked a meeting proactively.
In recruiting, a warm audience is called a talent pool, and you build it before the role opens. Connect now with the backend developers you’ll need in the spring, and give them a reason to recognise your name in the meantime. In CompLeadly, you save a search for exactly this profile as a target audience. With your own Recruiter Lite licence, you can let the desktop app do the groundwork: visit profiles, send connection requests, share a first message that offers value, then follow up later. Job seekers can turn this approach around. If you’ve already connected with the hiring manager at a company you want to work for and sent them a message, you’re no longer a stranger when they read your application. Learn more: Build a talent pool with CompLeadly it and enter it Mistakes job seekers make on LinkedIn.
You have two options:
You can keep trying to persuade strangers (cold outreach). Or you can first turn them into acquaintances who are waiting for your call or book themselves (warm audience).
Are you still playing sales on “hard mode”, or are you already using leverage?
Which one are you? -> Write it in the comments
