The purpose of a cold call or any other type of cold introduction is a meeting. Put in other terms, a cold call is asking for more of someones time.

Time is an asset.  It’s value is dependent upon the person and how much of their 24 hours isn’t already accounted for.  (Do you see the supply and demand component here?) If someone has less allocated available time the more precious their time is to them.  To someone with more free time, the less precious time is. Regardless of the amount of ones 24 hours that is available to them, getting people to give up their time is tough.  Today, more than ever, time is a valuable asset.

The only thing that’s going to get people to give you more of their time, is for them to feel as if they will benefit by doing so. People have to feel the time investment is for them and not you. The key to doing this is to be intriguing. If prospects become intrigued by you, your product, or your pitch, they will give you more time. When people become intrigued, they become selfish. They give their time to satisfy their desire to understand more. Intrigue creates an insatiable trigger, that makes us stop and say, give me more. When we become intrigued we re-prioritize our agendas to focus on the intrigue. Intrigue breaks our familiar thought patterns and drives us to want more. Intrigue happens when our belief systems are disrupted. To address this need to know, we give up our time.

PT Barnum was the king of intrigue. His side shows were all about intrigue. He would announce the Snake Woman, the Wolfboy, the Fat Lady, the Fire Swallower, etc. behind the curtain. He would give you just enough to intrigue you. But, you couldn’t see them until you paid. People paid, because his sideshows disrupted what they knew about women, little boys, people etc. Intrigue is a powerful tool. In Made to Stick the Heath brothers call this “Unexpectedness.”  It’s how you capture peoples attention and hold it. Attention is time, and time is something few of us give up easily.

Getting peoples attention and time depends on the level of intrigue you can create. The more intriguing the message, the more time you’ll get. If you want prospects to return you’re call, to schedule a meeting, to give you their valuable time, you have to disrupt their thinking; you have to be intriguing.

Are your messages intriguing?  Do they disrupt your prospects thinking?  Are they unexpected?  If not,try again.

Intrigue, the ONLY thing you need for a successful cold call . . . or anyother attempt at getting someone else’s attention.