Charging a Small Cost to Improve Connections

Today, we are overloaded by unsolicited communication.

Every morning, we spend valuable time digging through email inboxes flooded with messages from people we don’t know. Our phones are swamped with robocalls. Many of us are besieged by unsolicited messages on LinkedIn. 

And this mass of communication isn’t helping sales teams and marketers, either.  

• Reply rates to outbound emails are a tepid 1-2%.
• Nobody picks up their phone anymore, and when they do, they often aren't receptive to cold calls.
• Top executives are giving up and going dark on LinkedIn.
  

Let’s face it: B2B marketing is broken.

At the root of this problem is the fact that the most abused channels are, effectively, free.

• There is no marginal cost to send email.
• There is no charge to call prospective buyers (aside from buying their info for pennies on the dollar).
• LinkedIn invites are free and InMail messages cost the same whether you’re emailing an executive or an intern.
  

Implementing a small cost at the right stage of the buying cycle will encourage sellers to consider if a message is truly relevant for a given potential buyer. Consequentially, it will encourage sales and marketing teams to invest more in the content of their messages and to send more messages from humans — instead of automated “blasts.”

Regardless of whether you are an email user, a seller, or a marketer, which of these worlds would you want to live in?

1. Marketing/sales team sends 100 emails and gets 2 replies.
2. Marketing team sends 10 emails and gets 5 replies.
   

We believe a shift in incentives will lead to higher quality connections for both email senders and users.  

• For Senders:
  
  ‍“I wish all my prospects had Gated. It helps filter out the auto-sequenced emails and lets the true personal touches get through. Better experience for buyers and sellers.” 
  – Edan Golomb, Account Executive @ Reprise

• For Email Users:
  ‍
  ‍“Using Gated allows me to look forward to the emails that do make it to the inbox-- I read every single one!” 
  – Dan Ahmadi, VP of Demand Gen @ Branch
  

“Charging unknown senders a cost leads to better connections” is just one part of our Gated Manifesto.‍

Read the entire Gated Manifesto to see how you can help shift the economics of email to be more effective, valuable, and human. And get Gated for your inbox to start charging unknown senders for your attention and time.

Originally published: September 16, 2021