Alan Weiss, author of Million Dollar Consulting, preaches that writing articles and books, as well as speaking in public, is the absolute best way to make millions, and that "hunter" methods, like cold-calling and cold-letter writing, simply will not work.

Anthony Parinello, author of Selling To VITO, says the surefire way to reach decision-makers is to send cold letters, then follow up with phone calls and voice-mail that mention your letters. He also says that cold-calling executives without first sending the letters is a colossal waste of time.

Jacques Werth, author of High Probability Selling, claims that cold-calling is the lifeblood of sales, that you are wasting your time leaving voice-mail messages and that you should never mention previously sent material when following up on the phone.

Each of these guys is a highly respected authority in his field. Each has achieved great levels of success using his methods. And some will be more than happy to tell you the other processes won't work.

So who is right?

Your Prospects Are Right

Your prospects hold the answer to the question above. And, just as the experts have a wide variety of opinions, so shall your prospects have a wide variety of answers.

From Fortune 100 decision-makers to one-horse entrepreneurs:

• Some of your prospects refuse to take unscreened phone calls, don't open their own mail, don't have time to attend speaking gigs and leave the reading of how-to stuff to their subordinates. (Try the country club golf course if you want to talk with these guys.)  
• Some of your prospects answer their own phones, don't open their own mail and haven't attended a speaking gig or read a how-to article in 30 years.  
• Some of your prospects have their gatekeepers screen all phone calls and voice-mail, enjoy opening their own mail and wouldn't attend a speaking gig or read a how-to article if you paid them.  
• Some of your prospects won't accept a phone call or letter from anyone they don't know, but read like maniacs and love listening to experts at association meetings, conferences and company events.  
• Some of your prospects love getting cold calls, love opening mail, read everything they can get their hands on and attend every expert speech they can find. (These guys are known as "tire kickers," and their one failing is they never actually buy anything.)

My point is, no one thing works with everyone. So the answer to the question above, and the most important thing you will ever learn about getting in, is this:

Weiss, Parinello and Werth are all three absolutely right, and absolutely wrong.

Getting in to see the highest number of decision-makers possible is not about choosing one method and brainlessly following it ad nauseam, it's about implementing multiple methods and figuring out which method works best for each prospect.

In fact, I guarantee you that each of these three could increase results by incorporating the tactics espoused by the other two into his overall marketing plan. (In fact, Parinello and Werth have done just that – they wrote books.)

Maximum Prospect Response

To achieve maximum prospect response, your marketing plan must incorporate strategies that appeal to the variety of prospects to whom you are trying to sell. I chose the three experts above, because, by combining the methods of all three into one integrated plan, anyone can achieve maximum prospect response.

Of course, you may not speak well in front of a group, or you may hate repetitive tasks like cold-calling, but that simply means you'll need to either outsource the activities you dislike, or create strategic partnerships to shore up your weaknesses.

Good luck solving your sales puzzles!

Gill