Engaging people's interest and enthusiasm via a phone call can be more difficult than via email (where there is no pressure for the other person to respond immediately) and than face-to-face (where you have the opportunity to use non-verbal rapport-building behaviours).
People's experience of unwanted phone-calls that are totally unconnected with your call, may also prejudice their reaction to your call.
Let's consider those bad cold-call experiences more. The bad experiences are often home-related and have two common elements:
1) the person on the phone is interrupting and demands time and attention
2) they typically assume total control of the call at just talk about whatever they're offering
An I We U approach to a cold call is very different:
"I'm sorry to call you without having been introduced but given your industry and your role, I thought you might find [our experience of] [our insights into] X of value. Do you have 2 or 3 minutes to spare so that I can outline what we see companies doing to adapt to [the changing market] [the new regulations] [the new opportunities in X]"
or
"I'm sorry to call you without having been introduced but given your industry and your role, I wanted to share with you what we see companies doing to adapt to [the changing market] [the new regulations] [the new opportunities in X]. After we talk, I'd hope that you take away some useful ideas and insights.
While there is no guarantee of success, feedback from our B2B clients suggests that this more considered and considerate approach can change a 20:80 success ratio to an 80:20 success ratio.