Archive for the ‘Raise money (execute on sales process)’ Category
I Screwed Up… Again
Posted by: Tom Suddes March 11, 2008
You’d think with well over 6,000 VISITS/PRESENTATIONS I would have figured out the right way to do this. For confidentiality sake, I will “genericize” the organization and prospect, but I know you’ll get my points.
Here’s the scenario:
• Large national organization, with a great Case for Support, Message, etc.
• Huge foundation prospect with previous investments in the organization.
• DISCOVERY and VISIT and PREDISPOSITION to a large request that happened three months ago.
• It’s the right idea and the right project.
What We Did RIGHT:
• Reviewed all previous discovery, call reports and knowledge base.
• Strategized and “prepped” for an hour and a half before the visit.
• Made it to the office on time.
• Agreed that our GOAL was to get $1M a year ON THE TABLE… in the TRAINING BUCKET.
How I SCREWED UP this Visit/Presentation:
• Did not PREDISPOSE to THIS VISIT!!!
• Did not have a clear “one page” SUMMARY of what we were trying to do.
• RAMBLED.
WHAT HAPPENED:
• The prospect did not remember very much from our previous visit.
• Said he was “very confused” about what we were asking them to do.
• And then proceeded to summarize and simplify for us what it was that “we” really wanted:
A leadership commitment from them to help create the model for this training program, which could then be scaled and replicated nationally.
THE RESULT:
• He asked us to put the request in writing… what we doing, how we were doing it, how we would measure it and how we would replicate.
• Became a $1M per year (for 3 years) proposal to create a TRAINING MODEL.
TAKEAWAYS:
There are so many lessons here that it would take me a gigabyte to write. Hope you get the ‘MORAL OF THE STORY’.
I screwed up. I didn’t do what I know needs to be done on every visit. It was not a perfect presentation in any way.
However…
• WE SHOWED UP.
• WE GOT THE DOLLARS ON THE TABLE AND IN THE BUCKET.
• HE HELPED US WITH WHAT HE WANTED IN THE PROPOSAL.
• WE ARE FOLLOWING UP.
JUST VISIT. JUST ASK. JUST FOLLOW UP.
The Only Measurement That Matters Is Money
Posted by: Tom Suddes January 25, 2008
I had a session with a wonderful Sales Team last week. They’re deep into a campaign and doing really well. Then I had a subsequent conversation (as prelude to a two-day Custom Sales Training) with a wonderful, young head of a large development operation that has just completed filling out his Sales Team and ready to begin a strong Sales/Major Gift effort.
In both case, we spent significant time talking about this concept of MEASUREMENT.
Three quick assumptions to help you understand what follows.
- You are in SALES. Great sales teams and great sales people know the need for MEASUREMENT.
- Successful achievement of any GOAL requires MEASUREMENT. MEASUREMENT is the means to determine success, accomplishment, and satisfaction.
- You get what you MEASURE. Cliché, truism, aphorism… don’t know (don’t care). I do know that everybody in the development field and in sales wants and needs to know HOW they are being MEASURED.
Here are some ideas and nuggets that might help you with this whole concept or strategy of MEASUREMENT. It’s a little long. You might want to print it out, read it later or share and discuss with your development staff/sales staff.
I’ve been being ‘measured’ and ‘measuring’ for almost 35 years. Here is the shorthand version of what I’ve learned:
- The only MEASUREMENT that really matters is MONEY (INCOME) raised to FUND THE VISION and SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASE YOUR IMPACT. Many of you want to argue/debate this with me. (You may be bringing a knife to a gun fight.) Yes, it’s about relationships. But, it’s about MAXIMIZING the RELATIONSHIP… AT THIS GIVEN MOMENT.I’m becoming more mellow with age, but the word/concept of “cultivation” still makes me gag. Even things like “stewardship” and “donor relations” don’t work as part of your model or strategy IF there is no GIFT… no INVESTMENT… no MONEY/INCOME!!!(And you can’t deliver on your SOLUTION or BUSINESS MODEL or VISION or IMPACT.)
- ‘PRODUCTIVITY’ vs. ‘ACTIVITY’. The PRODUCTIVITY of your SALES TEAM, MAJOR GIFT OFFICERS, DEVELOPMENT OFFICERS, SENIOR STAFF or EXECUTIVE TEAM is a simple function of :HOW MUCH MONEY WAS RAISED/COMMITTED?
It is THE MEASURMENT.EVERYTHING else is an ‘ACTIVITY’. Letters. Phone calls. Visits. Presentations. Asks. Proposals. Pending Follow-Ups. - Begin with the end in mind. Covey at his finest. The application is pretty simple.How much MONEY/INCOME do you need to fund your vision and achieve your impact goals???
- MEASURE THE ‘TRIPLE NET’. [The $100,000 GUARANTEE.] I was talking on the phone with Kelly P., a former Suddes Group team member and now a development superstar with a children’s hospital. She reminded me of what I used to tell organizations 20 years ago. I guaranteed them a way to “raise $100,000″. Hire two Major Gift Officers/Development Officers. Pay them $50,000 each. I would train them in 10 minutes and guarantee that they would be able to go out and “raise” $50,000 each over the course of the year.I know this seems kind of silly because the net income is zero. (Actually, it’s a “negative number” since we did not factor in any of the “expenses” by the two development staff.)The point should be pretty obvious.
The goal of every Development Office should be to write a NET, NET, NET CHECK to the IMPACT side of the organization.
***Therefore, you need to MEASURE the entire COST OF FUNDRAISING to really be able to determine your IMPACT.
- DO THE MATH. One of the most important lessons around MEASUREMENT and GOALS, etc. is this concept of doing the MATH.
- How much MONEY (Income) do you need?
- What does your FUNDING PYRAMID (aka Gift Chart) look like?
- How many COMMITMENTS do you need?
- How many VISITS do you need to make?
- How many QUALIFIED PROSPECTS need to be in your pool/portfolio?
Special Note: If you want to look at the way we have MEASURED every campaign we have ever managed and the performance of each of our sales team members, check out the ‘GREEN SHEET’.
Turn A Presentation In To A Conversation
Posted by: Tom Suddes January 24, 2008
Nick just shared with you some pretty interesting stuff from his sessions with Tim out in the Northwest.
One really powerful word that struck me was ‘CONVERSATION’.
Tim indicated that Nick helped him see that this was much more about a ‘CONVERSATION’ than a ’scripted presentation’. I love this because:
- It re-frames the PURPOSE of the presentation (of the opportunity).
- It ties very well to whole concept of ‘VISIT’ vs. an appointment! Obviously, you would have a CONVERSATION on your VISIT.
- It’s really just another great way to understand the word DIALOGUE!If you’re a For Impact member or frequent reader, you’ll know that DIALOGUE is the centerpiece of our PRESENTATION FLOW. There’s always an OPEN… followed by DIALOGUE… and concluded with some type of PRESENTATION OF THE OPPORTUNITY.
Quick thanks to Nick and Tim for helping with a different view of PRESENTATION… CONVERSATION… and RELATIONSHIPS.
Be In A Position To Advance The Ball
Posted by: Nick Fellers January 15, 2008
You’re a development (our word ’sales’) professional in the relationship business. As professionals, it’s our responsibility to turn ‘pendings’ into ‘commits’. With that in mind, we need to avoid giving these kind of reports:
- “I haven’t heard back from [prospect] yet.”
- “I left a message.”
- “They said they would call us.”
Whether it be fundraising (sales), negotiations or life we need to take responsibility for ‘advancing the ball’. This begins by putting ourselves in the position to advance the ball.
At the end of a great presentation we get so excited. The prospect says something like, “Great, let me think it over and get back to you.” We say, “GREAT!” And then what?
My point is about attitude and less about tactics. You know how to handle a relationship. If you remember that it’s your responsibility to advance the ball then your will find yourself leaving voicemails like, “It’s Nick Fellers calling, I’m sorry I missed you. I can be reached at 614-352-2505 or I will try you again tomorrow.”
Two additional thoughts:
- You can also use Action Forcing Events to help you ‘advance the ball’.
- Embrace this term (’advancing the ball’) in your office as a way for your team to talk strategy. Eg. “What can you do to ‘advance the ball with Ms. Jones?”
Authenticity and Simplicity
Posted by: Tom Suddes January 7, 2008
AUTHENTICITY is one of the centerpieces of our FRAMEWORK for PRESENTATIONS.
As Nick is always telling our workshop and training participants, “You just can’t go wrong if you are AUTHENTIC (REAL).”
AUTHENTICITY means being REAL . HONEST. CANDID .
Simply put, it’s being SINCERE !
The people you’re with know right away whether you’re “selling snake oil” or SINCERELY PRESENTING AN OPPORTUNITY that has VALUE to both the GIVER and the RECEIVER!
I read somewhere 25 years ago (I think it might have been Dennis Waitley) that the word SINCERE means ” without wax” ( Latin sine = “without”, cera = “wax”) . It had something to do with marble and sculptors and the way they would “fix” any flaws or mistakes that they made by filling in the mistake with wax.
Create an Action Forcing Event
Posted by: Nick Fellers December 11, 2007
I’ve never worked for the State Department but I know someone who has. Last week I was on the road and spent an afternoon with a campaign champion in California. He introduced a piece of State Department lexicon: ‘The Action Forcing Event’.
The organization I’m working with has a number of pending commitments. We’re using the executive director’s scheduled retirement (March 2008) as a reason for investors to finalize their commitments. This reason, he explained to me, is called an Action Forcing Event (AFE).
He went on to explain that in the government you sometimes have to make up an AFE just to get stuff done.
We can all be using AFE’s as part of our case/rationale for support around WHY we need the commitment NOW. Applied, this could be:
- A ground breaking event
- Campaign timeline
- A symbolic date
Without an AFE you are at the ‘complete’ mercy of the prospect’s timeline. Without an AFE the pending process can (and often does) drag on indefinitely.
I would encourage you to create an Action Forcing Event as part of your strategy for every visit. It’s not often that a visit results in a check on-the-spot so think about ‘timing’ as part of your presentation.
The Need to See Prospects
Posted by: Tom Suddes November 16, 2007
I love the magazine Selling Power (mostly just because I love the idea of sales). Gerhard Gschwandtner is the founder and publisher of Selling Power and has had a tremendous influence on my thinking. The subtitle of the magazine is “Solutions for Sales Management”, and they provide a lot of solutions!
I was skimming an old issue (May 2005) looking for more stuff on PROSPECTS and I came across this article called
GET OVER IT!
Post-9/11 Everything Changed EXCEPT THE NEED TO SEE PROSPECTS!
(Those are my caps and my exclamation point.)
The article was by Geoffrey James.
Here are the guts of the article:
- “It’s never been more difficult to get through to an executive to make a FORMAL APPOINTMENT.” In our For Impact World, we deal with that in a number of ways. Most importantly, we don’t look for a “FORMAL APPOINTMENT”…
but rather a VISIT!!!’APPOINTMENT’ (especially a ‘FORMAL’ one) immediately triggers your synapses to think ‘DOCTOR’! Or, worse, ‘DENTIST’! - “You have to do a better job of making prospects want to see you.” The way we do that is making a big, big deal of PREDISPOSITION!!!
- The absolute best PREDISPOSITION for all of us in the For Impact World is to actually bring the ‘prospect’ to where you deliver your service. Let them SEE, TOUCH, HEAR, SMELL WHAT you do. Make it palpable. Make it memorable. Make it an experience.
- “Once you do get in, however, you’d better be prepared to build a LASTING RELATIONSHIP.” WOW! As most of you know, our GOAL with all of our PROSPECTS is to create a RELATIONSHIP… ideally a LIFETIME RELATIONSHIP… and, thenMAXIMIZE THAT RELATIONSHIP…
AT EVERY GIVEN MOMENT!
The article goes on to talk about working to get a ‘VISIT’.
I love their “warning”:
“Working this system requires PREPARATION and PERSISTENCE.”
I couldn’t have said it better myself.
BOTTOM LINE: Your goal should be to get a VISIT (with a QUALIFIED PROSPECT… to MAXIMIZE THE RELATIONSHIP… at THIS GIVEN MOMENT.) Doing so requires PREPARATION AND PERSISTENCE.
Talking Time: You v. Them
Posted by: Nick Fellers November 1, 2007
It’s a sales mantra: Selling is not telling.
We all talk too much on sales calls/visits/presentations.
Do whatever you need to in order to get the other person talking. The more time he/she is talking, the better.
In fact, often I will say, “I’m talking too much. Tell me what you think about…” [Then I shut up and listen - it’s harder than it appears.]
Note: Watch what happens to the other person’s body language when you be quiet and engage her in the presentation by letting her talk. Watch as it changes from ‘lost fog’ to ‘enthusiastic engagement’.
What You Say is Driven by Your Goal
Posted by: Nick Fellers November 1, 2007
Change say to ask.
You have to know what you want (clearly) as an outcome of the visit to know what questions to ask.
Example goals for a visit:
Goal: To leave [discovery] visit with clear understanding of whether or not this is a fit for prospect.
Q. What are your top giving priorities?
Q. (After outlining project) Is this something you would want to support?
Goal:Clear idea of project’s rating around capacity and relationship.
Q. Assuming we got you to the site and you loved the project, could we have a conversation around a lead commitment ? (Question asked after addressing what a lead commitment would mean)
Goal: Get a committment from strong relationship (eg. board member)
Q. What do we need to do to help you come to decision?
My questions are direct (but authentic) and driven by the goal. I will not leave a visit until I have what we need re: the goal. This could be a commitment/decline, interest/not interest or a clear road map for action. One of my goals for every visit is always tied to building and/or maximizing the relationship at that given moment and for the long term.
If you identify the goal of the visit you will ask the right questions.
See also: We’ve outlined 50 power questions and transition questions. These are available as part of the $1Million Dollar Ask - shared free with WOW Email Membership. If already a member, resubmit your info for link.
Just Visit
Posted by: Tom Suddes October 31, 2007
Nick and I have been doing some pretty intense training, teleseminars and coaching in the last few weeks. Plus, I just finished up the GUIDE/WORKBOOK called PROSPECTS. Subtitle: How to identify major gift prospects.
I said in the Intro that if you’re not going to go out and make VISITS… you’re wasting a lot of time and energy “worrying” about finding new prospects, rating prospects, figuring how much to ask for, etc.
Familiar followers and fellow evangelists of the For Impact Movement know that our 3rd Insight, battle cry and sales mantra is JUST ASK!!!
Before you can JUST ASK… BE AUTHENTIC… DO DISCOVERY… SHARE THE STORY… PRESENT THE OPPORTUNITY… you must
JUST VISIT!!!
A CHALLENGE:
If it were me, I would schedule VISITS with 3 of my absolute best CHAMPIONS (and current investors) as soon as possible.
On that VISIT, I would
- Say THANK YOU.
- SHARE THE VISION (THE PURPOSE, PRIORITY & PLAN) …
and get their FEEDBACK and COUNSEL. - PRESENT an OPPORTUNITY for them to HELP.
I’m willing to guarantee that ‘GOOD STUFF’ will result!!!
-
Just Added
Tom Suddes Video sharing the For Impact Point of View
