Building Trust in Cold Calls with Brent Long and Nick Massaro

 Prospecting Has Changed, But the Core Has Not (11:39)

Brent explains that prospecting keeps evolving every time a new technology shows up. What used to be a phone call or a conversation now gets replaced by content, LinkedIn, email, and other tools that promise to make outreach easier. But in his view, those channels do not change the core of the work.The real skill is still the same. Salespeople need to know how to start relationships with total strangers. Companies that lean too hard on tools without building that skill can end up further away from the fundamentals that actually create trust and open doors.

The Three Truths of a Cold Call (16:17)

Brent introduces what he calls the three truths of a cold call. If it is truly a cold call, then three things are true: you have never spoken before, you are probably interrupting the person, and you do not yet know whether what you offer has any value to them.Starting with those truths changes the tone of the conversation. Instead of sounding scripted or pushy, the caller sounds honest. That honesty creates trust faster and gives the salesperson a chance to ask a real question. For Nick, that mindset matters just as much as the wording itself. The goal is not to force a meeting, but to find out whether there is a real problem worth discussing and whether now is the right time to go further.

Better Cold Calls Lead to Better Next Steps (33:21)

A big theme in the conversation is that not every successful cold call should end with a meeting. Sometimes the best outcome is learning that the timing is wrong, that the fit is weak, or that a better next step is needed before a deeper conversation makes sense.Nick explains that the real win is building a bank of people you have already spoken with and can call again with more relevance and more trust. Brent reinforces that idea by showing how strong prospecting moves quickly toward voice-to-voice conversation and keeps picking up where the last discussion left off. That is what makes cold calling feel less like interruption and more like service.Listen to the full conversation with Brent Long and Nick Massaro to learn how cold calling has changed, why trust matters more than ever, and how to build better prospecting conversations in a low-trust world. 

About Brent Long:

For the past 30+ years, Brent wakes up each morning with a desire to see his clients grow revenues and increase their impact in the Marketplace. He brings over 35 years of experience in sales, sales management, marketing management, sales training, coaching, and consulting to the table. He loves to see people win! One of his former clients grew from $3.5M to $22M in 4.5 years. Another landed on the INC. 500 list (twice). Still another doubled its manufacturing business in 10 months, and then had 5 record years in a row. He has watched business owners write bonus checks to employees they never thought possible. Brent possesses a deep passion for helping people in the revenue generating business grow, flourish, and pursue excellence while leaving stereotypes behind. 

A former football coach, Brent is a frequent speaker for various organizations, and has been an approved Coach with Franklin University’s MBA Program, served as a Deacon in his church, president of the church board, and as a member of The Ohio State University Varsity "O" Football Alumni, Buckeye Student Athlete Support Network, The Eugene D. Smith Leadership Institute, Cedarville University Institute for Student Leadership, and multiple Chambers of Commerce. Brent is married to Kelley Joy, and together they have 14 adult children and seven grandchildren, and reside on Longhaven Retreat just outside of Lancaster, Ohio.

Brent has a gift at understanding the challenges that sales teams face, and willingly lives in the middle of the tension that Sales Leaders live with. He has been called upon many times to come in and elevate team performance by working alongside Owners, Presidents, VPs of Sales, Directors of Sales, Sales Managers, and Salespeople in small (start-ups) and large ($5B) organizations. He employs both group and individual coaching arrangements to help increase performance, specifically revenue generation. He is, after all, a (Sales) Coach!

Reach out to Brent: email / website