Less and less is done on the phone, but it can still be a great way to deepen connections. If soliciting donations, first ensure you are calling people you have the right to call – most likely, past donors or volunteers who gave you this permission. If not for a telethon, sometimes you need to call a business to ask for support, a potential volunteer or even a grant-maker. These tips will help you warm up your “cold calls”, which nowadays should not actually be so cold anyway.
- Dress up when calling and try standing up. Take a confident posture.
- Try not to be too scripted – be personal, conversational, genuine.
- Practice makes perfect. If you don’t get the answer you want, think through what you could have done differently. Build your confidence and try different approaches.
- If you are calling a business make sure you have the name of the decision-maker.
- You do not want to bother people but you don’t have to ask do you have time to talk now. If they don’t have time, they will tell you.
- Focus on your voice. There is a lot of non-verbal communication that is missed on the phone, but you can still express a lot beyond just the words you are saying with your vocal tones.
- Ask open-ended questions. Use elephant ears – do more listening than talking.
In the end, enjoy the conversation. You are talking about a cause you care about and should be excited to share more. People will be inspired.