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The most successful people I know take a lot of shots on goal. They experiment a lot, driving up the number of times they interact with new experiences. They don’t go about this process in a reckless or rushed way, it’s more methodical. But they have a strong desire to try something new, constantly tinkering to find the right path to success.
I started thinking about this a few weeks ago when I received an email from Northeastern University asking me to make a donation. I went to Northeastern University for my undergrad and it’s an experience I constantly talk very highly about. The Coop Program is a distinguishing feature of the undergrad program that I believe was absolutely pivotal in helping me experiment with different roles, different life experiences and different people. I will always talk very highly of my experience there.
When I attended Northeastern, I was part of their work study program. This is a program that puts students to work, giving them a bit of cash to live off of. For one of my work study jobs, I was the one making calls to alumni asking them for money. It started off as a miserable experience. A group of 5 or 6 of us would begin around 5:00 pm, right around dinner time to drive max annoyance to people. I could hear pots and pans banging in the background most of the time.
We had a script we stuck to: Introduce ourselves, talk about why we were calling, ask them for 5 minutes of their time (which in hindsight, is a lot of time). 98% of the time I got the phone hung up on me. I was constantly yelled at, told never to call again, and one person even threatened to find me and hurt me. Seriously.
But the few calls that actually turned into donations made up for it. It felt like magic. It was an incredible feeling. I would thank the person on the other end of the phone call profusely. To the point where they were debating asking if I was alright. I just couldn’t help but get excited and it left me wanting more of those experiences.
So, I started playing with the script. How do I give myself more shots at goal? What will make this person not hang up on me immediately? How do I appeal to the emotional side of people, whether it was just making the donation because they felt sorry for me , or they genuinely wanted to make the donation. I had to make these phone calls either way so why not tinker with the script to get a better result. I started digging in.
Change 1: My mental state
Each time I rolled up to the room where I would make these calls, I went in thinking this is going to be a miserable few hours. I remember walking on Huntington Ave. before my shift wondering how many times I’ll get threatened today.
That was my first problem. I never started with a positive end state in mind. I always counted on failure. Of course, not all phone calls would get me a positive outcome, but I started with dread and it got me nowhere.
I began to flip the script. I started going into each discussion thinking this is my call. Yes, you’re busy but give me your money and here is why this is a smart decision. Being in the right mental state did a lot for me and it started to show up in how I spoke to people.
Change 2: I tinkered with how I opened each call
The script I would typically follow is “This is Dave, I’m calling from the Northeastern Alumni office and I’m calling as part of our fundraise campaign.”
I started changing this intro up. I tried to appeal to their lack of time, I tried appealing to the fact that we have something in common (both attended Northeastern), I tried changing the pace of how I got my intro out if I could sense something from the way someone picked up the phone and said “hello.” Was it a rushed hello? A slow meandering one? What could I hear in the background?
The point is, I needed to use all of the inputs I was taking in to change the order of what I said. This was a big unlock for me. If I couldnt get the person to remain on the phone for at least 20 seconds, I would have no shot at a donation.
Change 3: I experimented with what I gave in the call
I started to understand that most people liked talking about their experience when they attended undergrad. So, I needed to somehow bring this out by perhaps talking about one experience I had. Maybe that would give them space to relate to me on a more human level vs. just looking at me as a fundraiser.
Sometimes I would weave in a fun experience at the start of the call. Other times, if I sensed the person was in a real rush, I would shorten my experience to a few words and fit it in towards the end to help appeal to the person to close the donation. I tinkered with this aspect of the call the most and It was key to the overall experience the person left the call with.
What This Process Taught Me
In the beginning of my fundraising experience, it felt robotic. I didn’t have many shots to even raise money because of the high rate of hangups. I was pretty miserable. I was part of this workstudy program regardless and if I was going to be doing this for 6 months, I might as well experiment, refine, and let the cycle happen over and over again to see what results I could manage to produce.
Once I started experimenting, my results started to change. In fact, After getting the donation, there were calls I had to actively figure out how to end because the person kept talking and I had a quota to get through. Each successful donation fed the next. Success started to come through in my voice. The entire experience started to become….enjoyable. huh.
So now I experiment. When I can’t figure something out, or when I get subpar results from a process, I take a step back. I run through my process and start tinkering with it. What needs to be refined? What needs to go? How do I simplify? What is going to make this process hum?
As I go through my career, I’m realizing that experience taught me much more than I gave it credit for at the time.
Have a nice week.
Dave
