I mean there's a legal definition of it. I personally don't think cold calling someone to make a sale is spam. The caveat being that if they tell me to not call again, I won't.
And LinkedIn messages don't bother me as long as they follow the rules of the site which don't prohibit cold outreach.
Strong disagree. My personal number has also leaked and I get 5-10 cold calls per day. They call during important work meetings. They call during dinner with my family. They call when I'm away on vacation. I will never, ever willingly buy any product from these calls.
Don't know when that will get here, but when it does (and better AI-powered spam filtering), I think a lot of these problems will disappear, and a lot of sales teams are going to have to rethink.
Based on the social contract that calling people unasked for to try and sell them stuff is unacceptable. Only assholes need this explained to them, normal people inherently understand it, the fact that you don't says something about your character or your intelligence.
For LinkedIn specifically, not only does it not prohibit cold outreach, but Sales Navigator, which is specifically set up to give you broader access to do cold outreach, is a major part of the product.
You're signing up to be sold to when you sign up to LinkedIn.
And LinkedIn messages don't bother me as long as they follow the rules of the site which don't prohibit cold outreach.