Hey There, Stranger. How Have You Been?

Try this today.

Walk up to a total stranger at the grocery store.

Smile big.

Say, “Hey there stranger. How have you been?”

Watch their face.

Confusion. Squinting.
A quick scan of their memory.
“Do I know this guy? Did we go to camp together?”

Now picture that same face on the other end of a phone when you make a cold call.

Because that’s what we do on cold calls.

“Hey Sarah, how’ve you been?”

Sarah has never been anything to us.
We met 4 seconds ago.

The stranger at the grocery store gets to walk away.

Sarah gets to hang up.

Fake familiarity doesn’t build trust.
It builds suspicion.

Try honesty instead.

Hey Sarah, this is Josh Braun. We’ve never spoken. I know you weren’t expecting my call. Could you help me out for a moment?

The one catch: the next line has to be a real, small ask. If “help me out” turns into a 2-minute pitch, it feels like a bait and switch.

Here’s what I say:

“Do your reps do a lot of cold calling, or is it mostly emails and LinkedIn DMs?”

Way less awkward than the produce aisle.