Prospecting: How Good is YOUR Narrative, with Tony Hughes

“If you deliver the right message, what will they think as alerts ding away on their cell phone…. Go beyond social selling and think digital selling. Harness all the tools available combined with your own value narrative and Wile. E Coyote determination and cunning.”

– Tony Hughes, Combo Prospecting, page 53-54

Prospecting

Prospecting is a vital part of the sales process as it is essentially getting your foot in the door, but what happens when you are in that first meeting with a potential client? The narrative you present is everything.

Joining us this week is the award-winning, international keynote speaker Tony Hughes, talking with us about his experience in both prospecting and creating the world’s leading sales blog on LinkedIn. With over 35 years in business and sales Tony has truly become a master of his craft and with the knowledge he shares, we can take another step on our journey to becoming true sales professionals.

Other places to find out more about Tony:

• https://www.tonyhughes.com.au/
• https://www.rsvpselling.com/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/hughestony/

Tony’s books:

• https://www.rsvpselling.com/sales-enablement/

If you have time to read (and you should always MAKE time for reading) checkout the article on six key prospecting tips I wrote to make sure you are getting the fundamentals right, then follow up this podcast and listen to a cracking episode featuring Mark Hunter.

Time Stamps:

[00:30] – Tony explains how he got into sales

[01:57] – The differences between sales in the US and Australia

[03:30] – Perceptions of a salesperson

[05:40] – How to change that perception

[07:20] – The importance of having the right narrative when trying to sell

[10:22] – Some elements that helped Tony become successful on LinkedIn

[11:20] – Why Tony started blogging

[13:50] – Cold calling vs Social selling

[14:30] – Luigi proves that people do pick up the phone

[15:30] – Tony reinforces the narrative is vital

[17:30] – Is Social selling a mechanism to help us prospect?

[20:00] – Trigger events

[21:45] – The motivation for writing combo prospecting

[25:40] – If people aren’t making calls how are they going to prospect?

[28:45] – The average contact attempts to engage a prospect

[33:20] – Who and what have been the biggest influences in Tony’s career

[33:55] – What to do if someone has a valid reason to say no

[39:20] – What Tony would do differently

[40:40] – One action you can do immediately to improve your sales ability

[42:30] – Tony tells us some places that you can find him

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