It seems that in 2025, spam is still an issue, whether it’s poorly personalised emails or those annoying LinkedIn people who connect with you just to send you their (not at all relevant) offer.

It makes me wonder… if all these people are still doing it, does it actually work?

There must be some kind of success rate, even if it’s 0.00001%. But I seriously doubt that these numbers make cold emails worthwhile for most businesses. Here’s why…

An Automatic No

If your potential customers get a lot of low quality emails they didn’t sign up for, they’re not going to read your cold email. They certainly won’t respond… unless they’re having a bad day and choose to direct their frustrations at you (you have been warned).

As for me, a cold email or message is an automatic no. In other words, I’ll delete it, block the sender, and/or mark it as spam. Why? I’ve got to keep my inbox (and brainpower) clear for the emails that matter.

No Door Knockers Thank You (Deliveries Accepted)

Upon reflection, I take a very similar approach when someone knocks on the front door.

In my house, we have a blanket rule for all door-to-door salespeople: we never sign up for anything at the door. 

Their goal is to sell us something. Our goal is to tell them “no” as politely and efficiently as possible, regardless of the offer. 

BYE: A Not-So-Polite Rejection

Not too long ago, we had someone knock at our front door. I could hear Stew struggling to get the message home that no, we were not interested, and a wicked idea came into my head. I connected Spotify to a speaker (conveniently near the door), cranked it up to full volume, and started playing “Bye Bye Bye” (NSYNC).

I was crying with laughter. The intruder left a few seconds later. Then Stew came to tell me that he’d just been telling the doorknocker that he was working from home and couldn’t talk right now 😂

Bet that salesperson wished that he too could work from home.

Anyway, it’s quite nice having a “no door-to-door sales” rule. I highly recommend it. We have enough decisions to make in life without having to make them on our own doorstep at an inconvenient time.

After all, we’re more than capable of Googling service providers and charities when we’re ready to buy/donate — and much prefer to compare the options at our leisure. Plus, ya never know when someone’s actually just casing your property or trying to steal your info. You can never be too careful these days.

I feel the same about cold emails and messages. 

Better Alternatives to Cold Emailing

Maybe this type of marketing works for some audiences and offers, but for the B2B space that I’m focused in, I reckon people prefer to seek out a product or service when the time is right.

At best they’re too busy to read your cold email; at worst, they’ll resent the interruption and gleefully mark you as spam (maybe that’s just me…).

Some better alternatives:

  • Know who you’re targeting: It’s much better to be find-able by your ideal audience 
  • Connect and engage: If you can, build a connection and stay on their radar (follow, subscribe, provide a free offer)
  • Build your brand: When your brand is associated with a product, service, or solution, you’ll be the one they think of when they’re ready to buy
  • Optimise for search: If you can, optimise your website and online profiles for the keywords your audience searches for you 
  • Trust the process: Wait for them to come to you when the time is right

Anyone else have a good method for dealing with unwanted door-to-door sales or cold emails? Or does anyone actually like receiving them!?