Selling Skills For Money Raisers
April 23, 2009 by admin
Filed under Bill Caskey, The Technical Sale
Have been getting calls from Universities and other non profit organizations recently. Seems there is a pressing need to be more effective at raising money–given the economy and the loss of state of revenue on some fronts. And most of them are now using the “s” word in their language (“Selling”).
Here are a few things I addressed when I recently spoke to the Dean of a university Science Department who feels the economic pinch and knows fundraising/development is necessary today. In fact he’s so committed, he’s training his seven department heads in the skill. Pretty enlightened, huh?
(By the way, I’m going to use the word fundraising occasionally, even though you may refer to it as “development.” )
1. Most fundraisers aren’t very skilled at the art. Most have lists of people they sort through–then call–then ask–then move on. It’s not a very strategic process. And they go to symposiums with a lot of other people who do it the same way–and thus, no new ideas come out. So they all sound the same.
2. Most non-fundraisers–when asked to do so, are even worse. That’s not their competency. And then we put them in a place where they have to summon very different skills–then we’re disappointed when it doesn’t work. The silver lining is that these people are valuable. Find their ‘skin in the game’ (what juices them about the cause) and have them tell their story. Stop teaching them closing skills and start teaching them story telling skills.
3. The plan is the thing. One must have a plan that includes many components. What is the message you’re sending? How will you contact them? What, exactly and precisely, will you say when the prospect answers the phone? (It’s amazing how few have thought through this). How will you land the large deal? How do you use your current assets? (Students, faculty, alumni, friends, past donors).
4. Change the thinking. I worked with University of Illinois Technology/Licensing department years ago. One of the things I recall about that is their reluctance to see how much value they had in the ask. Their prospects actually WANTED to donate, but the U of I people felt they had to “sell”. I don’t buy that. The more you try to convince someone to give, the less likely they are to do so.
5. Work exhaustively on the message you communicate, including, why do most people give? What does it do for them? What value are you bringing to the world by doing what you do–and why should they be a part of that?
6. Don’t buy in to market ‘lack.’ We call it the Theory of Abundance in our training. It dictates that there is plenty of money in the market. If it’s not showing up in the quantity you want it to then you must look in the mirror and figure out what you’re doing to cause the stoppage. (One clue is if your pitch is all about you–and not about them. That’s a show stopper!)
7. Have high intent. When you make the calls, make sure your intent is right. As we say in our sales training, high intent means you’re thinking about your prospect. Low intent means you’re thinking about yourself. Make everything you do about them and watch results change.
Bottom Line
Be prospect-focused!! You must understand that there IS something in it for them–the feeling they get when they help a cause bigger than themselves. But the message has to be created correctly. (Advertising agencies don’t usually do well at this. They come at it from the “pitch” angle).
So, if you’re in the development business, you’re in tough times. But if you follow the seven points above, you’ll at least be on the way to changing the game and increasing your results when those around you are crying ‘foul.’
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