This “in-the-trenches handbook” on sales prospecting, written by best-selling author Tony Hughes, crackles with excitement and pep. The book introduces readers to Hughes’s “COMBO Prospecting” approach to sales prospecting: call, leave a message and send an email. Don’t miss an opportunity. He offers useful information about how to get in the door with prospects and how to sell once you’re there. Hughes provides down-to-earth tips and helpful suggestions. He says your first assignment is to make 30 combo calls to prospects every morning.
The first rule in sales is to “prospect every day.”
In boxing, you jab at your opponent with one hand and then deliver the knockout punch with the other. Sales is like boxing: You repeatedly jab (set up) your prospects with email, social media and text messages and then use the phone to break down resistance, eliminate apathy, secure appointments and win sales.
No one can succeed in sales using only social media with no phone calls or using only phone calls with no digital outreach. Embrace COMBO Prospecting: “The right activity, done the right way, with the right people, through the right channels and at the right time.”
Every day, spend at least one hour making calls to targeted prospects. Make these calls first thing in the morning, preferably from 7:45 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. Calling early gives you the best chance of connecting directly with important decision makers before they get tied up in meetings and before their assistants are in the office to block your calls.
Salespeople should do 30 “triples” – phone, message, email – a day, preferably first thing in the morning.
Use this combination of contact methods: “call, voice mail and email.” ...
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