Ops Insights #008 Prospect Management Make the Case
May 26, 2023 | Read Time: 5 minutes | Written by Jenny Kleintop
In all situations we have discussed (limited time, limited staff, limited internal expertise, or limited budget to enlist external resources), you can and want to make the case. Otherwise, you will be burning the midnight oil way too much and burn out real quick. Remember, you are vital! And we need you to be present and strong.
Ways people try to make the case - they go to their leadership and say:
We need to free up time.
We need more staff.
We need professional development dollars.
We need to enlist external resources.
Raise your hand if you have tried any of those approaches? Keep your hand up if any of them have worked? Don’t worry, I’m with you. My hand would have been lowered early on before I learned how to really make the case.
Above states what you need. However, we need to add the why and the benefit.
Start with reminding yourself why you need any of this. You likely already know as this is what prompted you to ask in the first place. First write out what you need. Then add the why and benefit. When making the case, you want to make sure you are ready. Writing it out and then practicing on a few trusted people in your inner circle helps you get you comfortable.
Don’t have anyone in your inner circle, I’m here for you… schedule a time to chat and I will be your sounding board.
Which resonates with you?
Limited time: I do not have the time to train gift officers as I am getting pulled into too many meetings. If we are able to reduce the number of meetings, that could free me up to spend time training the gift officers so they get their moves activity into the CRM.
Limited staff: I am working overtime to get requests done because we have too many requests for one person (or your team) to handle. Having another team member will allow us to get to all the requests and be more proactive with surfacing newly identified prospects to pursue.
Limited internal expertise: We have come a long way, but only can get so far with our internal knowledge. I have attended webinars to learn best practices in the industry, but we really need professional development dollars so I can go to a conference or take a prospect management class. Investing like this will allow me to expand my knowledge which will allow me to strengthen our prospecting process and bring in best practices.
Limited budget to enlist external resources: We are trying to go quickly and with all the impending priorities, it would be best to invest in external resources. Bringing in an external expert will allow us to ramp up, strengthen, and bring best-practices into our efforts. It will also help me learn, grow, and accelerate my expertise for the long-term.
Now, use one of these and write it down. Or adjust, expand, or write a new one that covers what you are looking for. Remember, one ask at a time as you don’t want to ask for the world in one sitting.
Now, let’s help you articulate it.
Know the Data - Gather the Stats
Gather the data you have on hand around prospecting efforts.
Limited time: You are sitting through how many meetings a week? How many hours is that taking, which takes you away from doing prospecting efforts? What are they, do they have a purpose, and is it necessary for you to be in it? If you are able to free up time, what does that do? Perhaps give you time to train gift officers? Perhaps give you time to do portfolio review sessions so you can help ensure prospects are being moved?
Limited staff: You need more staff because you have X number of requests in the queue, and it takes you X amount of time on average to do those requests. Which means you cannot get to all the requests.
Internal/external resources: How many prospects do you have in the pipeline? How many gift officers are working those prospects? Show stats on how these names have moved through the prospect lifecycle.
Internal/external resources: What is your current prospect lifecycle structure? The coding in the CRM, your processes, workflows, and so on? What are they currently and what do you believe needs to change? And if you change those, what benefit does that bring to the table?
Use Visuals
It helps to have visuals, such as showing the stats.
# of data or prospect requests you are being asked to do.
# of new prospects identified.
# of prospects who moved into the qualify stage.
# of prospects who were qualified by gift officers, disqualified, or have not been moved yet.
# of prospects moved to the cultivate stage.
# of asks made (and dollar amount).
# of gifts closed (and dollar amount).
Show to Benefit
Here’s one way you can show the benefit, as in what will be the ROI of your ask?
Use the 1/2/3 Method
What do you need - one ask.
Why do you need it - two bullet points.
What is the benefit – three bullet points
Now, go make your case!
Then after you get what you asked for, make sure to assess and analyze the results of your efforts. It may just surprise you how a little shift can bring in a much higher ROI.
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