Short answer: your audience sits in three pools based on how much they trust you. A cold audience has just found you, a warm audience is getting to know you but isn't a "hell yes" yet, and a hot audience trusts you and is ready to buy. Sell to hot first with content, emails and direct outreach. Move warm people with a 60 to 90 minute masterclass or a no-brainer low priced offer. Give cold people much more time with you, like a multi-day challenge or a full strategy day. The colder they are and the higher the price, the more time they need.

One of the biggest missed opportunities I see is people trying to sell to everyone the same way. They post about a high ticket offer, a few people buy, and they think that's how it works. Then they try the same thing with a brand new audience and nothing happens.

That's because people in your audience are at different stages. Once you see your audience as Cold Warm Hot audience pools, you can sell to all of them, using the right strategy for each. Below: how to sort your audience, the exact scripts for each pool, the lead gap maths that tells you if you need a cold strategy, and a 30 day plan.

This is part of my ultimate guide to turning content into clients, which shows how your content moves people from cold to hot in the first place.

What do cold, warm and hot actually mean?

• Cold: they've just become aware of you. There's next to no trust yet.
• Warm: they've been following your content, maybe joined a freebie or a low priced offer. Trust is building, but they're not a hell yes yet.
• Hot: the trust is there and they're this close to buying, or ready right now. This includes people who've enquired but not bought, people on the edge, previous clients and current clients you could upsell.

One thing that confuses people: someone can be "hot to buy" without being hot to buy from you. Someone actively searching for a solution is ready to spend, but they're comparing lots of options. That's Buyer A. Buyer B has no idea they're about to buy until they find you, you nurture them and you make an offer. Most coaches sell to Buyer B, which is exactly why audience temperature matters so much.

The rule: the colder and pricier, the more time they need

The higher the price, the more trust and authority you need to build. The lower the price, the more impulsive the buy. Invite a cold audience to a 60 minute masterclass and ask for $15,000 at the end, and it's very rare anyone buys. They met you an hour ago. Give that same audience two or three full days with you and suddenly there's enough time to build real trust.

How to sell to every pool, step by step

Step 1: Sort your audience into three lists

Write down every hot person by name: anyone who's enquired, been on the edge, previous clients and current clients. Count your warm people: engaged followers, email subscribers, freebie and low priced buyers. You'll work out cold in Step 5.

Time: 45 minutes. Done when: you have a named hot list and a number for your warm audience.

Step 2: Sell to hot first (content, emails, outreach)

Keep it simple. The trust is already built, so you don't need a big launch. When I launch a high ticket offer, I always start here: social media, emails, and personal outreach to people who already know me. When I recently opened spots on my high ticket growth partnership, that's how I sold it. Honestly, it was the easiest thing I've sold.

This is also why you see people say "I made a big sale from three posts". It wasn't the three posts. It was all the trust built before them.

Time: 1 to 2 days. Done when: every person on your hot list has had a personal message and your list has had at least one email.

Step 3: Move warm people with a masterclass or a low priced offer

• A 60 to 90 minute masterclass. Enough time to show them why you're the one to help, then make your offer. Pitch with a clear value stack and a reason to act now.
• A low priced offer under $97 (think $27 or $47), so nobody has to think twice. It turns warm into hot, and someone who buys from you once is far more likely to buy again. Always upsell from it into the next thing.

If you want my exact masterclass structure, slides and pitch script, The 5-Figure Webinar Formula ($27) gives you the 10 step framework I use.

Time: 2 weeks of promotion, 90 minutes live. Done when: the masterclass is booked, promoted 3 times a week, and ends with a clear offer.

Step 4: Give cold people time

For a cold audience, especially at four or five figures, choose a conversion event that gives people lots of time with you:

• A three to five day challenge, so people spend days getting to know you.
• A full strategy day or a two to three day event, low priced and virtual. Putting it into one big day can reduce the drop off you get over five separate days.

Expect lower conversion rates from a cold audience than a warm one. That's normal. My full breakdown is in how to run a 5 day challenge that sells.

A challenge or strategy day is a lot of moving parts: emails, pages, reminders, the pitch and the cart close. The Launch Manager inside Ascendia OS plans your challenges, webinars and launches from first email to cart close, then sets them up so you can run them again on repeat.

Time: 3 to 4 weeks including promotion. Done when: the event is chosen to match the price and temperature, with dates set.

Step 5: Do the lead gap maths

Here's how I work out whether I need a cold strategy at all.

Say my goal needs 100 sales of a $1,000 offer, and at my conversion rate that takes 2,000 leads. Could I generate 2,000 leads from my current audience? If I can only get 1,000, I have a gap of 1,000 leads that has to come from a cold audience. Those people don't know me, but I want them to spend $1,000 this month, so they need time with me. That's when I'd choose a challenge or a strategy day over a short masterclass.

If my whole goal could come from people who already know me, I'd skip the challenge and run a 90 minute masterclass instead. Less work, faster sales. The lead maths is in how to have a 6 figure launch.

If you'd rather not do the sums alone, the Strategist in Ascendia OS learns your business, sets the goal and maps what to sell, when, and how many sales you need.

Time: 20 minutes. Done when: you know your lead gap and which event you'll run.

Worked example: a $1,000 offer and a goal of 30 sales

Example: a consultant wants 30 sales of a $1,000 programme this month ($30,000).

• Hot: 25 named people. Personal DMs and two emails. If 6 say yes, that's $6,000 before any launch.
• Warm: 24 sales still needed. At 3%, that's 800 leads. Her list and followers can realistically give her 500 masterclass sign-ups, so the masterclass might bring 15.
• Lead gap: 9 sales still needed, so roughly 300 more leads from a cold audience. She runs a 3 day challenge promoted through guest spots and $5 a day ads.
• Result to aim for: 6 + 15 + 9 = 30 sales, using three strategies for one goal.

Example numbers to show the maths. Use your own conversion rates once you have them.

What offers do I need for each temperature?

• A first time conversion offer (low priced) to turn cold people into buyers quickly, or re-engage people who went quiet.
• A mid ticket offer, often around $997, that people can pay in full. I call it a cash in bank offer.
• An offer to retain your best clients with more support for longer, which also gives you recurring revenue.

Common mistakes (and the fix)

• Selling high ticket to cold people from a short masterclass. Fix: give cold audiences days, not an hour.
• Running a big launch when hot people would just buy. Fix: always start with hot outreach.
• Calling a launch a fail at 3 out of 10. Fix: bring in another strategy for the people who are now warm, like a masterclass, a low priced offer or personal outreach.
• No low priced offer. Fix: add a $27 to $47 try before you buy to warm people up.
• Not knowing your lead gap. Fix: run the calculator before you pick your event.

Your action plan

Today

• Write your hot list by name.
• Run the lead gap calculator for your next offer.

This week

• Message everyone on your hot list with the outreach DM.
• Send the hot audience email to your list.
• Choose your warm strategy: a masterclass or a low priced offer.

Next 30 days

• Run your masterclass (or launch your low priced offer) and pitch at the end.
• Plan a challenge or strategy day if your lead gap is bigger than zero.
• Track sales by pool so you know where your next launch should start.

For content that moves people from cold to hot, go back to the ultimate guide to turning content into clients. And if you'd like help mapping this for your business, take a look at working with me.

Frequently asked questions

What is a cold audience?

People who have only just found you and have little or no trust in you yet. They need more time with you before they'll buy, especially at higher prices.

What is the best way to sell to a warm audience?

A 60 to 90 minute masterclass or a no-brainer low priced offer under $97. Both give warm people the extra time or experience they need to become a hell yes.

Can I sell high ticket to a cold audience?

Yes, but give them much more time with you, such as a multi-day challenge or a full strategy day. A short masterclass rarely builds enough trust for a cold audience to invest at a high price.

Why do some people sell from just a few posts?

Because the buyers were already hot. The trust had been built over months of content and contact before those posts went out.

Should I always launch to my hot audience first?

Yes. They're the easiest people to sell to. Then move on to warm, and only build a cold strategy if your lead gap needs it.

Laurie Burrows is a UK-based marketing and sales strategist who has built a business that's generated multi-seven figures in sales through social media and digital marketing. Today, Laurie helps business owners use social media, content and digital marketing to get seen, attract more clients and make more sales. She's also the founder of Ascendia OS.