Another great tidbit in Jeffrey Fox’s “How to Become a Rainmaker”:
The Rainmaker always turns a customer objection into a mutual–customer/Rainmaker–objective.
Let’s say a donor says, “Gee, I’d love to make a $25,000 gift to the campaign but both my kids are in college right now.” A rainmaking fundraiser would restate that as, “So our objective is to schedule pledge payments that are smaller for you while your kids are in college, correct?”
Powerful, isn’t it? The tone is no longer adversarial, it’s now positive. Plus, the fundraiser can find out more information about the donor and how to best serve her. And, perhaps most importantly, you’re getting the donors agreement. Fox says “Rainmakers believe that objections are the way customers mask pleas for help and information.”
As I said in 5 Reasons to Love Objections (https://fundraisingcoach.com/2006/05/16/5-reasons-to-like-objections/), objections show interest. So seek out objections. And see how they can become mutual objectives.
