Archive for June, 2008

Fraternity Executives Association (FEA) 2008

Saturday, June 28th, 2008

by Matt Mattson

Phired Up Productions will partner again this year with the Fraternity
Executives Association (FEA) to provide several programs during their annual meeting — Miami, Florida July 8-12. The link above goes directly to this
year's schedule.

During the 2008 FEA Annual Meeting, Phired Up will deliver three programs,
network at an exhibit booth, and meet with executives of the inter/national
fraternity and sorority industry. Here are the workshops to be delivered by
Phired Up:

Implementing Values-Based Recruitment Strategies Throughout Your Fraternity Chapters and Colonies

Many inter/national fraternal organizations have struggled to implement an effective growth strategy that translates to undergraduate chapter success — so often our organizations are re-teaching mediocre recruitment strategies that re-deliver mediocre recruitment results. Does your organization want a consistent, repeatable, values-based recruitment system to teach everyone from new members to alumni? This session will introduce a results-driving system along with results-driving strategies for cultivating that system at all levels of your organization. You will learn from the creators of Dynamic Recruitment, and authors of Good Guys, the best strategies for driving a higher quantity of higher quality members into your fraternity.

Implementing Values-Based Recruitment Strategies Throughout Your Sorority Chapters and Colonies

Is your organization invested in the growth of your sorority on a chapter and inter/national level? If your answer is, “Yes”, then this session is for you. Dynamic sorority recruitment represents the future in organizational growth centered around values and the core purpose of sororities – friendship. Come learn from the author of I Heart Recruitment, the best-selling book on sorority recruitment, about the methods that are revolutionizing sorority recruitment around the country. You will learn the Dynamic Recruitment system and how you can implement results-driving practices into your organization and chapters across the country - regardless of size, recruitment structure, and campus rules.

From Recruitment Band-Aids to Recruitment COACHING — A Philosophy of Results

Recruitment manuals, recruitment trainings, recruitment brochures, and recruitment slogans from your inter/national organization are good, but do they go far enough? Is there another step for organizations that want to experience dramatic growth in the quantity of quality members it recruits? Yes — Recruitment Coaching. Organizations on the headquarters, alumni council, and chapter levels are seeking recruitment coaches who can provide accountability, knowledge, perspective, and support for dramatic growth initiatives. Come learn from providers of this level of service, Phired Up Productions, about how to create recruitment culture change within your organization through coaching techniques.

Posted in For Student Life Pros, Phired Up News | No Comments »

Closing a Recruit — Ben Franklin Style

Wednesday, June 18th, 2008

by Matt Mattson

You’d think we were major history buffs at Phired Up by the way we talk about Benjamin Franklin so much. You might remember our post about him here as well. And actually, Josh (our CEO) was a history major at Bethany College, so maybe that's why we're so prone to learning from the past. Anyway, here's another lesson from history to help with the way you recruit members into your organization.

So I was playing golf with my Father-In-Law yesterday. His name is Bob Gilbert, and he's the greatest (I'm going for Son-In-Law of the year, so I had to get that in). Anyway, he shared with me a way he used to close sales when he was working as a solar energy salesman. He called it the ”Benjamin Franklin Close,” and that got me thinking about how it might apply really well to college student organizations as they work to ”close the deal” on new recruits. 

Apparently, old Benny, one of our esteemed forefathers, was famous in his time for a few things. One of those things was using a simple “balance sheet” of sorts as a decision making tool. He’d draw a vertical line down the middle of a sheet of paper and write the “pros” of the decision on one side, and the “cons” on the other. In this day and age that doesn't seem terribly revolutionary, but keep in mind that vertical lines weren't invented until after the first World War.

Anyhoo… A lot of salesmen apparently use this technique to help a prospective client make a decision about a purchase. And it fits perfectly as a way to help potential members get past the small hurdles that often stand in the way of them joining.

Imagine a conversation that goes something like this…

First, you have been using the “Pre-Close” technique for a while to get a sense of where this prospect is. But for this scenario, let's imagine that the prospective member is just a little hesitant to make the leap into membership.

So there you sit with the prospect, and suddenly you pull out a piece of paper and a pencil. You say, “O.K., so we've been talking about you joining our organization for a while, would you mind if we thought together about the facts and realities of the situation?” 

(more…)

Posted in General Membership Orgs, Recruitment Tips | No Comments »

Learning from Door To Door Sales

Wednesday, June 4th, 2008

by Matt Mattson

As I was outside mowing my front lawn this afternoon, a woman walked past and got my attention. I shut off my Craftsman lawn mower and thought I’d find out what this well-dressed middle-aged lady wanted.

“My name's Cathy,” she said. “I live here in the neighborhood, own my own financial advising business, and am just walking around to get to know everyone.”

I am kind of in the market for a financial advisor, but that's not why I wanted to continue the conversation. I figured if this Cathy person had the nerve enough to wander around the neighborhood on an 85 degree day in a nice blazer, I might be able to learn something from her. Plus, anytime someone is obviously trying to sell me something, I like to take their best practices and try to apply them to the world of organizational recruitment.

Cathy continued by asking me what I do (a common tactic, but classic). I told her, and she seemed interested, but she kept moving on to not waste my time. Then she gave me the pitch for the internationally known financial management company (and to be 100% honest, I couldn't tell you what company it is). It's amazing. I remember thinking that when she was talking about it she was focusing on features, not benefits (which I wasn't impressed by), but reflecting on it later I realized that even though SHE WANTED to talk about her business and how great it is, WHAT I CARED ABOUT is how interested she ended up being in my business.

After she gave me the pitch accompanied by the really glossy expensive brochure that I proceeded to throw away as soon as I got in the house, she went back to ME as the topic. “I'm really fascinated by what you do, and I hope to be able to learn more about it someday,” she said referring back to how I aloofly mentioned that I do professional speaking for college students. Then she got me… “Have you ever worked at Missouri or Arizona State? My kids go there.” 

Wow did I get unintentionally excited and start telling her all about the schools I’d visitied, how much I respected her kids' college choices, and which schools I like the most. She listened, asked a couple more authentic follow up questions with genuine curiosity, then shook my hand and took my contact information.

The way she got my phone number was another highlight from the conversation. She had a pen and a list with her, and was obviously writing phone numbers and notes about prospects she’d met on the sidewalk. I knew this, but couldn't help but give my contact information because she said, with her pen on the paper, “How do you spell your last name? O.K., and the best number to reach you at would be three zero three…” and I couldn't help but finish it. Well done, Cathy.

This may seem like a simple, odd story to you, but here are the top five lessons I learned or was reminded of from Cathy today…

1. Have the guts to walk up to strangers and introduce yourself — Cathy won a prospect because of her guts.

2. Dress like you want to be received. Cathy wanted me to know she meant business with her burgundy blazer and delightful slacks.

3. People join people, not organizations. I might use Cathy for my family's financial advice and management not because of her company's reputation or brochure. I’ll call Cathy because she was nice. People will join your organization because you're the person who was interested in them.

4. Be genuinely curious about others. We teach the “5 F’n Ways to Master a Conversation,” but it is much better to ask honest, open questions out of genuine curiosity.

5. You get contact information from prospects by expecting it, asking for it, and being honest about why you want it.

Well done, Cathy.

Posted in Random Thoughts, Recruitment Tips | No Comments »

Free Lunch

Monday, June 2nd, 2008

by Josh Orendi

A few days ago, a friend of mine was in town for a few days. We met for breakfast. He and I began talking about the work Phired Up does. Obviously, this is one of my favorite topics … so I got really excited. I started down the path of describing the best recruitment techniques I had seen in recent years. He listened politely then reminded me that great recruiters “keep it really simply.”

“Of course,” I shot back. Then I'm sure I started down the same path of describing some elaborate recruitment strategy…

“For example,” he interrupted, “there is a man at my church who has personally grown our congregation by over 25 families….” 

He had my attention. “How did he do it?” I asked.

He paused and said, “free lunch.”

I've heard that one before, I thought to myself. “Yeah, a lot of people and groups use free food as a way to get people to meetings, events, etc… This is the oldest trick in the Rush book.” I said.

“No, no, no. You don't understand. This guy personally invites anyone he meets during the week to attend church with him on Sunday. Then, he casually throws in the closing statement, “afterwards I’ll take you and your family out for lunch … my treat.” My friend continued, “In fact, he often goes a step further and offers to pick them up on Sunday morning. It's hard to say no to someone standing on your doorstep waiting for you.”

That's brilliant, I thought to myself. It's exactly what Directors of Expansion do when they're recruiting a Founding Father class to build a new fraternity. That makes perfect sense. You just ask anyone you know or meet that week to come join you at a fraternity meeting, event, study group, sporting activity, etc. The money line is simply saying, “afterward, I’ll take you out for lunch … my treat.” 

My friend added, “but to be fair, he also told me that he has over 100 invitations outstanding. Most people never take him up on the opportunity. You have to ask a lot of people out to lunch to get 25 new members.”

“Isn't that expensive,” I asked. 

“It's not FREE, that's for sure,” he said with a grin, “but according to this guy, it only costs a fraction of hosting a big church event and the results speak for themselves.”

That's when the light bulk went off for me. It's all about the personal relationships of People joining People. I'm a little embarrassed that it took a friend at breakfast to remind me how simple recruitment really is. I hope he reads this as a way for me to say “thanks” for the kick in the ass. :-)

Posted in Recruitment Tips | No Comments »