Newsletter: How to Get Prospects to Stop Ignoring You 😒 ; 20 Retailers That are Teetering on Ruin 😱 ; Science Nonprofit Newsjacks Squid Games to Talk About 🦑
There's an old saying that you can't hook a fish that won't open its mouth. That's certainly true in corporate partnerships when a potential prospect won't return your calls or emails.
The question is, what should you do? Should you keep calling, or should you move on?
That's the subject of an article Dan Cohen (aka the pleasantly persistent corporate partnership consultant) sent over to me: 5 Ways to Handle the Prospect Who Won’t Respond.
Dan wrote:
"I love this article because we focus so often on how to get through to and connect with people, but we rarely talk about when the best course of action is to move on from a prospect. (note: I didn’t say 'quit' or 'stop trying', I said 'move on')"
In addition to the timeless advice in the article, wicked smahht Dan shared three additional thoughts:
1. Radio silence from prospects can be reduced by good up-front prospecting. Don’t reach out to people/companies without a strong reason, connection or “hook”.
2. Always try multiple contacts within a company. I look for people in CSR, marketing, and public relations.
3. After 2-3 unanswered attempts, ask directly if you should keep following up, contact someone else or “cease and desist”. I like to use humorous multiple choice options to which someone can reply quickly and easily.
Thanks, Dan!
What are some of the ways YOU deal with prospects who won't respond?
✍️ Partnership Notes
1. Any of these retailers on your corporate partnerships pipeline? Or any your current partners? (via Maureen Carlson, Chief Programs & Marketing Officer at CMN)
2. Carol Cone (aka Mom 🥰) recently had Paul Polman, former Unilever CEO and pioneer of the stakeholder capitalism movement, on her Purpose 360 podcast. Paul talked about his new book, Net Positive: How Courageous Companies Thrive By Giving More Than They Take.
Jump right into the conversation with this roundup post on ten insights from Carol's interview with Paul.
3. A reader wrote to me this week with this suggestion on getting board members to help with partnership prospecting:
“Sure, I could ask them to look at their contacts and identify those who they feel comfortable introducing to the organization. But my sense is that leaving it up to Board/senior leadership results in almost nothing happening since people are busy, forgetful, etc.
So I am thinking of proposing doing the "homework" for them by...
1. Sending them LinkedIn invitations
2. Asking them to accept me into their network
3. Sifting through their contacts and make a list of folks who may be good prospects
4. Running this list by them to identify those they are confident in reaching out to.
I thought this was a good idea that's worth a try! Has anyone else tried it? Did it work? What obstacles did you run into?”
🤑 Marketing Your Cause
1. 11 Halloween promotions to use in your marketing this month.
2. Opinion: Effective fundraising is always emotional, and usually sad.
3. How to bring 'zombie subscribers' to your newsletter back to life.
😎 Cool Jobs in Cause
1. Associate, Strategic Partnerships, Team Rubicon, Los Angeles
2. Partnership Manager, KaBOOM!, Washington, DC ($67k - $95k)
Do you have a partnership position you are trying to fill? Hit reply and share the job posting with me! I'm happy to post it here for FREE.
🧠🍌 Brain Food
1. The thing I see most lacking in nonprofits is...🥁...curiosity. Here's how to train your brain to be more curious at work.
2. Have you watched Netflix's "Squid Games" and loved it like I did? Fingers crossed I can get my Halloween costume by the end of the month!
3. Speaking of Squid Games, this science nonprofit is newsjacking the show to teach people about 🦑
