Receiving spam really decreases my quality of life even at work. It also instantly puts you on my shit list and I won't do business with you even if I need the product.

I get a lot of spam from sales people at work (IT architect for a large Enterprise). A lot of them clearly never bothered to read my LinkedIn profile (offering solutions that have nothing to do with my field) but are really pushy, demanding a meeting and keep pinging me long after I've blacklisted them though their first email. Usually even including prearranged zoom meetings. I check my junk box once a month or so for legit emails and it's usually full of followups.

Of course I never respond as it will only cause them to follow up more and to demand names of more colleagues to harass.

If you really want me to be interested in what you have to offer, make sure I find it and hear great things about it when I go looking for something I need. It's a lot harder than just buying a list of emails and spamming but also a lot more ethical.

Can relate to your entire comment.

There's definitely a cadence of "followups", that tips into passive-aggressive. "Perhaps you missed my last email" or "if you're not the right person, please pass it along". The entire frame is that you owe them something or are somehow being rude by not replying, even when it's obviously automated spam. And they are positively relentless.

I find the approach especially grating and won't do business with these type, irrespective of what they're selling.

Emailing your audience, who has a legit interest in your products, is not spam.

You may assume your product will improve the QOL of your customers, but for most salespeople that reach me, that is not the case.

You also act like you have an entitlement to people's time just in case they may be a prospective customer - this is not the case.

Just don't open the message

I'd for one like to thank him for reconsidering, there's never been more ways in human history to advertise your business. Don't make a day worse for 800 people for a small edge. If your project is special you will find an audience by other means.

A lot of businesses and individuals give out a contact for business inquiries if they're interested in something like that.

Terrible straw man. The OP themselves explains why spam is much more than "doing regular business:"

> I was told that cold emails are just what B2B companies do and that it is widely accepted, [...] but it just doesn't feel right to me. For me personally, I hate cold emails. I associate it with spam. Do unto others, and all that. I actually hate spam emails so much that I made a custom email service to help combat it.

So there is no difference between "spam" and emailing someone information they've requested?

A better phrasing might be “how dare you cause me to expend time, effort, and attention in order for you to try to further your goals and those of your company”.

You are not qualified nor invited to asses your ability to improve mine or my customers’ quality of life, so it is all for you.

Cold contact in business is self interested, rude, and never justified. The only reasons not to reply to every one with “fuck off” are the time/effort, and that it confirms a working email address and that someone probably at least read the subject. (I suppose it might also look rude out of context if it came up in future, but it’s honestly the deserved response.)

Instead I add companies that cold email to the “do not use/work with” shit list for when I’m thinking about partnerships and service providers. (Actually the list manages itself - I just search for emails mentioning any provider we’re considering using and exclude those that have engaged in cold selling or similar.)

That's the same way I explained it when I had the CEO of my competition murdered, but people still got mad.

Can't we accept an apology for a small mistake without retroactively justifying it?