The prospecting hour

Martha Retallick, of Western Sky Communications, told Ilise recently about her daily "Prospecting Hour."   I don't know about the rest of this planet, but here in my studio, taking whatever comes along is a recipe for failure. I can't depend on business coming to me. I have to be a go-getter and go get it. That's why the first hour of every workday is The Prospecting Hour. That's when I make calls and send e-mails to cold and warm leads.    I've been in the design business for 15 years, and I've never had the luxury of depending on word of mouth. Instead, I've had to pick up the phone and ask strangers for their business. And, in my case, cold calling has led to the most lucrative clients I've ever had. When she spoke to Ilise in August, Martha had made an amazing 3081 phone calls, 80% of which went to voice mail. Of those, 99 prospects had expressed some level of interest (approximately 3% positive response).   In their 20-minute interview, Martha describes her target market and her simple process to find and reach them. She explains how she tracks her calls and actually recites her no-BS phone script. Listen in...