The Michael Cloud method for phoning membership. Documentation by Eli Israel, modified for NY State by Bonnie Scott . 1. How To Increase Convention Attendance By Phone Calling This document is a manual for volunteers who will be calling the New York Libertarian Party membership to ask them to attend the 2000 Convention. Using the information in this manual, you will learn how to make phone calls to invite people to attend, handle the pledges and other information you collect, and be an instant success at all of it. 1.1. Background Success at our statewide convention will come first and foremost from one thing: high attendance. Not only does a large attendance make the event feel more exciting and enjoyable, but it energizes the activists to want to do more, it energizes the donors to want to give more, and it energizes the press to want to cover us more. All of these benefits are important, but one of them is immediately quantifiable: the success of the fundraising dinner is directly proportional to the number of attendees. For each person who comes to dinner to hear John Lott speak, LPNY will receive somewhere between $50 and $75 donated dollars, if averages hold from similar events. That means that an attendance of 100 people could raise us an additional $5000 to $7500 to spend on petitioning and campaigning in 2000. (And breaking even on the event.) If we could get 150 people registered for the dinner event with John Lott, that could be $15,000 just from donations, or more. So, the great part in all of this is that even if you don't ask for money on these calls, you're actually going to be dialing up some pretty substantial dollars for LPNY for next year. (And that's *besides* all the other benefits.) Highlights of this year's convention: * The headlining speaker will be John R. Lott, Jr., the author of the compelling and controversial study on gun access: _More_Guns,_Less_Crime._ * We'll hold our annual business meeting, elect a new LPNY committee, hear status reports from 1999, elect delegates to the 2000 LP convention in California and electors for the 2000 Libertarian presidential nomination, and select a US Senate candidate for 2000. Not to be missed! Other speakers include: Audrey Capozzi-Pappaeliou, LPNY Vice-Chair & '99 candidate for Brookhaven Town Supervisor on school choice and separating school & state. Kanchan Limaye, arts critic written up in VANITY FAIR Nov. 99 in "Damsels in Dissent" by Sam Tanenhaus. Founder of www.theoccasional.com. will speak on "Multiculturalism and Political Correctness versus Interculturalism" Robert Schulz, 1994 LPNY candidate for Governor, engineer and founder of All-County Taxpayers Association on "Why New York's Government Is Out of Control" Lawrence Parks, is an economist and founder of Foundation for Monetary Education. He will speak on sound and honest money. Carol LaGrasse is a retired civil engineer and founder of the Property Rights Foundation of America. She will speak on property rights under assault in New York. Steven Landsburg is an economist, professor at the University of Rochester, and columnist for Salon. He is the author of THE ARMCHAIR ECONOMIST and FAIR PLAY. He will speak on "fair play", explaining economic issues such as free trade to the lay public. Richard Cooper, media director for the Libertarian Party of New York and caniddate for State Chair, will speak on "Making A Difference In New York." Any LPNY member may attend the business sessions for free, but a free pass does not include the meals or the special speakers at lunch and dinner. Q: Who are the lunch and dinner speakers? A: John Lott for dinner, and probably one of the above speakers for lunch. (Keep tabs on http://ny.lp.org/ for when it is announced.) Q: Who is the LPNY Senate candidate? A: At the convention, (voting LPNY members) will be selecting between William McMillen, Don Silberger, and others to be named there. What's the schedule? -------------------- 8-9 AM Registration 9-9:15 Welcome by the Chair 9:15-11:30 Speakers and Business Meeting 11:30-12:30 Lunch 12:30-5:45 PM Speakers 6:00 PM Dinner and Fundraiser Q: Where can people get info not listed here? A: For the most up-to-date convention info, call Audrey Capozzi (631) 286-7631 or 1 (800) 204-6209 option #2 How do you get to the Royal Regency Hotel in Yonkers? If a person you are calling asks, you can have them look at the web site, http://ny.lp.org/ The convention info is promenently featured and includes a link to Yahoo Maps so they can create their own personalized directions to Yonkers. If they do not have Web access, here are some basic directions: To get to the Royal Regency Hotel, take Exit 6 off of I-87 (NYS Thruway). It is West of I-87 and on the North side of the road. The address is 165 Tuckahoe Road Yonkers, NY 10710. For out-of-town libertarians: Rooms at the Royal Regency are approximately $109 plus tax, but attendees can obtain a 20% discount by mentioning the LPNY. You can call them at (914) 969-7500 for reservations. The Deadline: We need to fill up this event as fast as possible. Our deal with the hotel requires us to pay a minimum amount, whether the people show up for it or not. Therefore, in order to make sure we have a successful, profitable convention, we need to have as many people there as possible. 1.2. Phone Calling Process The calling process has three parts: 1. Preparation 2. The Calls Themselves 3. Reporting Your Results You must do each of these things every night that you do your calling. Every evening, you'll start out by making sure that you have the materials, the knowledge, and the mindset to do your calling. Every night, you'll make exactly the number of calls scheduled for that evening. And every night you must follow up by phoning in your results to the fundraising coordinator (or your local coordinator, who will phone in to the fundraising coordinator that same night). Each of these items is explained in detail below. Please be sure to read each of the following sections before you start calling. 1.2.1. Preparation To be prepared to do telephone fundraising, you must first collect the materials that you'll need. You will need: 1. This instruction manual 2. A list of about 15 names to call, provided to you by the fundraising coordinator 3. A telephone 4. A calculator (for figuring registration fees) 5. A comfortable chair and your favorite non-alcoholic beverage 6. A total of 90 minutes without interruption Gather these things together and get comfortable. Once you have the materials that you need, sit down and read this manual. Read it over every time you get ready to make calls and don't skip over things. By reading these instructions again every time, you'll reinforce the messages that we want to convey and you'll improve your chances of success. 1.2.2. Making the Calls Once you have prepared the materials, selected a comfortable place to work, and gone over these instructions, begin making calls. Begin by simply dialing the numbers. Don't agonize over them. Don't think about them. Don't play the numbers in your head. Just Dial Them! Rush in immediately and any initial uneasiness that you feel will vanish right away. You Just Have To Dial Fifteen Numbers It's important to remember that your goal is simply to make 15 calls, not necessarily to talk to 15 people. If you get an answering machine, leave a message and move on. If you get a busy signal, put that number aside and call it again in few minutes after you've tried some others. If you get no answer, again put the number aside for a little while and try it again later or on another night. When To Call The evenings to call are Sunday through Thursday nights. Most people are out on Friday or Saturday evenings anyway. The best part of the evening to call is between 7:00 PM and 9:30 PM. Never start your calling before 7:00 PM and never make any calls after 9:30 PM. If you're scheduling your 90-minute slot, either start at 7 PM and go until 8:30, or start at 8 PM and go until 9:30, or some combination like that. What To Record For each call you make, record on your call sheet the date and time you made the initial call, whether you spoke to the person directly or left a message, whether they called back, whether they're attending, what they want for dinner, and their payment information. See the script below for how to collect this information. When To Stop Calling Your goal is to make 15 calls or work for 90 minutes, whichever comes first. If you finish with your 15 calls early, stop working. Don't punish yourself for doing your job. Reward yourself by knocking off for the evening and getting on with your life. This is volunteer work, not a prison sentence. Give Yourself Permission To Fail You have to give yourself permission to fail. If some idea of a "perfect" evening of calling keeps you from making the calls, we'll all be worse off than if you just make a few calls anyway and do the best that you can. It's OK if you aren't Dale Carnegie reincarnated and ready to sweet-talk your way into people's hearts. You don't have to be. All you need to be is a dedicated volunteer honestly trying to help get as many people to the convention as possible. Treat Everyone You Call with Respect This point is important enough to bear repeating, even though we all know it: please treat the people you call as courteously as possible. It's important to remember that no one was ever offended by receiving more respect than they felt they were owed. Some of the people on your calling lists are major donors. Some are party founders. Some are sitting Libertarian office holders. Some are major activists. Once in a while, you may even end up calling a celebrity. Our lists have some of the nicest and most generous people in the world. Please be sure to always treat them courteously. This may be especially hard to remember when someone gives you a hard time, as will happen now and then. But in the long run, we'll have a much better event and many more people will come to it if every contact they get from the party is a pleasant one. 1.2.3. Reporting Results After you complete your calling, you must call or email the phone calling coordinator to report your results. Report your results every night without exception. If you put it off, you're likely to forget some important piece of information or, worse yet, you may forget to report in entirely. This effort can't succeed without timely and complete information. If you do not have a local calling coordinator, please call Audrey Capozzi (631) 286-7631 or 1 (800) 204-6209 option #2 Call her every night immediately after you finish your phone calling and tell her (or her answering machine) the following things: 1. The name of every person you called. 2. Whether you spoke to them or left a message, etc. 3. Whether they said they would attend. 4. Whether they said they were sending a check now. 1.3. Anatomy Of A Successful Call This section outlines the information that you need in order to make the phone calls, ask people for help, and answer their questions. Section 1.3.1, "The Phone Calling Script," will provide you with the exact wording and pacing that you should use when speaking to members on the phone, and will provide you with step-by-step instructions for collecting the information that we need to track our progress. 1.3.1. The Phone Calling Script OK, you're in your comfortable chair. You've got your materials and your favorite non-alcoholic beverage, and you've gone over the materials. You're ready to make the calls. Here's the script that you should use: Introducing Yourself You: Hi, My name is [your name] and I'm calling to personally invite you to attend the 2000 New York Libertarian Convention. Notice that you're going to tell them what you're calling about right up front. Them: OK. If they fight you at this point, move on. Some people won't want to hear about it. Some will ask you to call at another time, and some will want to engage you in some other topic of conversation. End the call politely if they don't want to hear from you and move on. Schedule a time to talk to them if they don't have time now and write down the schedule time. Then end the call and move on. If they want to talk about some other thing, tell them you'd be happy to have one of the Convention Co-Chairs, or the Party Chair, or the Party Executive Director (whichever seems most appropriate) call them back at some other time to talk about it. Then go back to the topic you called for. Tell Them What's Going On This is the core of the "sales pitch" and here's how it goes: You: On April 29, we'll be kicking off the millenium in New York State for the Libertarian Party. We're going to select a Senate candidate and elect officers, but most of the day will be for speakers, such as John Lott, the author of a controversial new study called 'more guns, less crime.' In addition to all of the annual business and the election of new officers, you'll also get a chance to meet all of the speakers and celebrities at a cocktail reception before dinner. The full convention package will go up to $89 at the door. You can save ten dollars by sending in your registration now. A speakers-only package will be $49 now, $59 at the door. May I take your reservation tonight? Notice that we tell them about our real deadline and what they get for their money. Then we end by honestly asking for the sale. Close The Sale After telling them about the deadline and what they get, we end with "May I take your reservation tonight?" After you ask them "May I take your reservation tonight?" the next thing that you do is ***critically important.*** After you ask, what you have to do is SHUT UP. Don't say a thing, no matter how long the silence seems to stretch. Because after you've asked that question, ***the next person to speak is leaving money behind.**** They can do three things at this point: 1. Say yes (A) 2. Say no (B) 3. Say "maybe," or some variation of maybe or "I need to think about it" or some variation of that. (C) A. If they say "yes," proceed to the part of the script below where you'll take their reservation. B. If they really can't go or aren't interested, it should be reasonably clear. They may say "I'm not free that day," or "I can't drive that far." That's OK. Unless they are marked 'do not fundraise,' tell them that 2000 is a big year for us, and we could get more media than usual with the Senate race if we can get the ball rolling. Ask them if they would be interested in helping out financially now, since we won't see them at the convention. If they want to send money, have them make the check out to LPNY, and have them make the envelope out to LPNY P.O. Box 728 Bellport, New York 11713 (Tell them you'll wait while they get the envelope.) Thank them for their time and tell them that if they change their minds about attending the convention, they can always call Audrey Capozzi at: (631) 286-7631. Then politely end the call and move on. C. If they say "maybe," or some variation of "maybe," or their "no" doesn't sound very convincing, then you can remind them again about all of the great speakers who will be there, that this is going to be the biggest Massachusetts Libertarian convention ever (up to 300 people are expected! almost twice as many as last year!) and so on. And then ask for the sale again: "Can I take your reservation tonight?" If you can't get them to say yes or no, give them the 1-800 number and politely end the call and move on to the next person. Taking the Reservation If you get to this section, they've decided to come and are ready to give you the information you need to take their reservation. You: Great! I'm so glad we'll be seeing you there. Now, I just need to ask you a few questions and we'll be all set. First, besides yourself, may I have the names of all the people coming with you? You need to know this in order to know how much to charge them, and so that we know what to put on their badges. You: OK, and would you like to hear the luncheon and dinner speakers? Again, you need this information to know how much to charge them. Select the price from the chart, below, and add up one number for each member of their party. The Price: ---------- If mailed in: - with Lunch - $33 Dinner - $52 Both - $79 * speakers only - Lunch - $23 Dinner - $27 Both - $49 At the door: - with Lunch - $40 Dinner - $55 Both - $89 * speakers only - Lunch - $30 Dinner - $40 Both - $59 Examples: MEALS: Someone wants to have both meals, and send in the payment before the conference...$79 at the door: $89 NO MEALS: Someone wants to hear the speakers only, doesn't want to eat...$49 at the door: $59 Any LPNY member may attend the business sessions for free, but a free pass does not include the meals or the special speakers during lunch and dinner. Here's a table of the most common totals for mailed-in registration: Number of Attendees Lunch Only Dinner Only Both 1 $ 33 $ 52 $ 79 2 $ 66 $104 $158 3 $ 99 $156 $237 4 $132 $208 $316 You: That makes your total amount $xxx. We can accept personal checks, and I can tell you the address to mail it to--do you have an envelope and your checkbook handy? (Tell them you'll wait for them to get them) Proceed like this: You: OK, please make out the check to Audrey Cappozi, for ______ (remind them of their total) and please put the words "2000 Convention" in the memo area. Next, you're going to help them address an envelope. Make sure they've got an envelope or at least a place to write down the address. You: OK, would you please address your envelope as follows: LPNY P.O. Box 728 Bellport, New York 11713 Now, just ask them what they want for dinner. You: One last question: May I record your dinner choices? The selections for the dinner banquet are salmon, steak, or a vegetarian option. Record their dinner choices and then that's it, you're done with this caller. Thank them again and tell them that they'll get a confirmation of their reservation in the mail shortly. Then move on to the next person.