The Charm Offensive Method - Jon Buchan

2019-06-17

Jon Buchan is the leader of a 11,000+ strong community dedicated to the "Charm Offensive" approach, a unique cold sales approach which is uniquely powerful and really works. His approach has led to booking meetings with the likes of Redbull, Pepsi, Hewlett Packard, Symantec, and countless other global brands and corporations. Jon now helps ambitious founders and sales teams stand out, book sales opportunities with their ideal clients, and build their influence online. Jon Buchan’s Accidental B...

Jon Buchan is the leader of a 11,000+ strong community dedicated to the "Charm Offensive" approach, a unique cold sales approach which is uniquely powerful and really works. His approach has led to booking meetings with the likes of Redbull, Pepsi, Hewlett Packard, Symantec, and countless other global brands and corporations.

Jon now helps ambitious founders and sales teams stand out, book sales opportunities with their ideal clients, and build their influence online.

Jon Buchan’s Accidental Breakthrough with Cold Emails

Jon’s story begins with a simple but daring experiment, crafting a cold email to total strangers in the hope of landing fresh business. What happened next was nothing short of serendipitous. That single email, written almost off-the-cuff, cut through the noise, lighting up inboxes and opening doors to impressive clients like Red Bull, Pepsi, and Hewlett Packard.

Jon realised he’d stumbled onto something special, a quirky, human approach to copywriting that didn’t just work for cold emails. This method turned out to be just as powerful in all corners of sales and marketing, whether that’s email marketing, Facebook ads, or sales pages. By mixing wit, honesty, and a bit of personality, Jon discovered a formula that truly gets results where others fall flat.

Harnessing Radical Candour and Humour in Cold Outreach

If you’ve ever shuddered at the thought of sending a cold email, you’re not alone. Most of us freeze up, terrified we'll sound desperate, or even worse, utterly forgettable. But what if you could actually enjoy the process and start real conversations that land you dream clients, just like Redbull, Pepsi, and HP?

Jon Buchan’s journey offers a refreshing twist: he discovered, practically by accident, that blending radical candour with humour gets attention in all the right ways. Instead of safe, robotic messages, he advocates for emails that stand out by being open, a bit cheeky, and 100% human. Think less “Dear Sir/Madam,” more “I’m writing to you because, frankly, you seem way too interesting to ignore, and I promise, no hard sells or boring pitches.”

Here’s how you can use this approach in your own campaigns:

Be honest, and bold: Forget corporate fluff. Acknowledge why you're reaching out and why it feels awkward, then shift into exactly how you can help.
Lighten up: Inject humour into your message. A clever subject line or witty opening sentence can work wonders to break the ice (Jon’s emails have opened doors at some of the world’s most recognized brands).
Short and sweet: Don’t ramble. Make your point quickly, just as you’d do if you were talking to a busy CEO at Starbucks.
Make it about them: Flattery can be irresistible, but be genuine. Mention something specific about their business or recent work that honestly caught your attention.

Done right, this mix of honesty and personality not only helps you avoid the spam folder, it makes the whole process far more enjoyable for everyone involved. And, as Jon shows, it can lead to the kind of responses (and meetings) that transform your pipeline.

During my interview with Jon we discuss:

How marketing is about repelling the wrong sorts of clients from our businesses as much as it is about attracting the right clients into our business – and if you’re going to do that at least let’s make it a fun process.
How imperfect action every day beats perfect action hands down.
Forget the platitudes and be mindful about how you utilise your time because life is too short.

Jon also mentioned Dave Trott’s YouTube Channel where he talks about 3 simple steps in marketing: