training alumni than all the other closes combined.It represents the EASIEST way to ask, especially if you have no idea what to ask for or you have some fear and need a go-to line to make the close.
Use the Clueless Close for visits where:
- You have great timing, but your lack of information lowers confidence; or
- You have a qualified prospect on a first visit.
One great way to do this is with an engagement tool that includes a funding plan or
traditional campaign pyramid (examples below).
Goal: 500 Families @ $1000/Family
1 @ 100 Families
2 @ 50 Families
4 @ 25 Families
10@ 10 Families
20 @ 5 Families
Hospice House: $5.0M
1 @ $1M
2 @ $500K
4 @ $250K
10 @ $100K
20 @ $50K
Example 1:
After you’ve walked through the vision and funding priorities, you come to the
funding plan and ask:
Based on everything we’ve talked about, I would love to ask you about being part of this plan. Mrs. X, I’m not really sure where to go. I don’t know much about your capacity but you’ve indicated you would ‘like to make a really big difference’.
We have several funders on board with us [checking off – with a pen – committed gifts]. I
would like to go this route and ask you, where do you see yourself?
(You can let the prospect think about it and respond. As with any question, it’s critical that
you LISTEN to the answer and PROCESS the response.)
The prospect responded by saying “I think I could only do this [pointing to $50,000] this year.” Key words: THIS. YEAR.
Be prepared for the answer.
Example 2:
On a different visit for the project, I tried to ask the same question, but that prospect started laughing before I even finished. “Nick, I’m not on your chart.”
I paused and said: Could you tell me more about what that means?
He responded, “My wife and I are committed to seven big projects right now.”
Key Words: RIGHT. NOW. These are big community philanthropists in the middle of some huge funding commitments. He was telling me that though he loved our project, it couldn’t be one of his top projects right now.
At the end of that visit, he committed to $10K. The goal of every visit is to maximize the relationship at this given moment. In this case, there was a lot of potential for the future as he and his wife finished up with other projects, and I now had more information about capacity than I had before.
The Takeaway: The Clueless Close is a great way to ask when you don’t know what to ask for. And you will no longer be ‘clueless’ after this close.
Click here for our teleseminar on on the Clueless Close + 19 more Closes.
