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Originally Posted by BaldwinNYRookie
I don't know about you... but fund raising to go to Atlanta has been extremely difficult for me. Today I walked around in the pouring rain for two hours with two other team members... and please understand, when I say pouring, I mean pouring! You'd have trouble finding weather like this in the Bible, okay. TWO HOURS almost, trying to get buisnesses to buy ad space in the team journal that is going to be printed... and we got nothing, not a dime. The $313 that each team member must have in by tomorrow to reserve a ticket to Atlanta is not easy to get. The three of us we have made $47... So my question is, how do you raise the dough for your team? And does anyone else have this kind of problem or is it just me?
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I thought about sending this in a private message, but I decided it might have general interest. After an 8-year career with Andersen Consulting as a programmer, project leader, and technical guru without portfolio, I switched to sales for a little while and then to technical marketing. I've made my share of cold sales calls.
I am not suggesting that you did anything wrong at all. You might even have been using better strategy than this. Think of this as an open letter to any high school student who wants to call on businesses. I'm also making this up as I go along here, so feel free to chime in with advice, admonitions, suggestions, and other bits of accumulated wisdom. The hivemind knows more than any one of us.
First, look neat and tidy. Wear the closest thing you have to the clothes your parents wear. Khaki Dockers instead of jeans, shirts with buttons instead of your 9-Inch Nails t-shirt, and, for the girls, something that covers your midriff. Pretend you are going on a job interview at an accounting firm. I wouldn't bother with sports coats, suits or ties. We know you're high school students, not new MBAs. Comb your hair. Make sure there's no food on your shirt. Leather shoes would be better than sneakers. Most small business owners are older and more conservative than you are. Play their game.
Second, act professional. Make eye contact and introduce yourself with confidence as you shake hands. If you haven't ever learned how to shake hands, ask an adult. There is a simple, straight-forward handshake that business people and most adults learn that you can learn in about 30 seconds. Be firm, but not crushing, shake the other person's hand up and down once or twice, then let go. Make sure your hands are clean. Few things are worse than a limp-fish handshake from someone who spent the morning squishing slugs with their fingers. I've taught 6-year-olds how to shake hands properly, it's not hard.
Third, speak confidently. No mumbling. Prepare a 10-second speech and practice it until you can say it in your sleep. My son did this raising money for his Boy Scout high adventure trips and earned about double what most other Scouts did. A sample speech for my son would be something like:
"Hi, my name is John Tyler and I'm a sophomore at Eastlake High School. May I speak to the owner or manager, please?"
When you get to the boss, he would say, "Hi, my name is John Tyler and I'm a sophomore at Eastlake High School. I'm a member of the robotics engineering program at Eastlake, and we have the opportunity to go to the national robotics team championships in Atlanta. To make this trip we are selling ads in our team program, and are asking local businesses to support us. Would you like a $250 full page ad, or the half-page ad for $150?"
This is called an "assumptive close." The business person will most likely be amused and impressed that you took such a hard-sell approach, and will think you are cute and aggressive. With any luck, you will remind them of what they were like when they were young. Remember that their business became successful because THEY looked someone in the eye and asked them to spend money on THEIR product or service. I guarantee that hardly any of them will get mad or throw you out. If they do, hey, there's another business right next door.
You will get MUCH farther with a direct, firm business approach than if you sort of shuffle in and approach them with a, "Hi, we're raising money for our club. You wanna buy an ad or something?"
Johns secret speech for raising money for Boy Scouts was even simpler, "Hi, my name is John and I am a Boy Scout here in Sammamish. We are raising money for a canoe trip in Minnesota by aerating lawns using that machine over there (points to machine). May I aerate your lawn for you?" Only one other Scout raised as much as John, and he memorized his speech, too.
Let us know how you approached businesses and maybe we can help you improve your approach. Good selling!