APPROACHING
I.E. step of the selection process where the student leader meets the prospect for the first time.
THE PHONE APPROACH:
MINDSET BEFORE CALLING
- I do not call to get them sell books right way BUT to invite them to an info session and see if the programme is a a good fit to them.
- I am looking for people who are like me: hard working with a good attitude.
- My goal is to help young people reach their potential and grow to become someone they want one day to become.
- I always use my 2nd-approach - people always make decisions based on new informations.
- Calls should not be longer than 4-8 minutes.
- I am always calm and slow when calling people
- Objections are good: it gives you the chance to give more information
- The better and the smoother I am covering objections, the more likely people are showing to the info sessions.
- I am calling University students, not CEOs…this is EASY!
- Do not get frustrated - keep it simple and FUN! The most important is to learn and grow! Let’s also record and listen to yourself to improve!
PROPOSED SCRIPT
Hi, can I speak to ________? My name’s __________, and the reason I’m calling is that I’m one of the people in charge of interviewing students at _______ university for summer work and you were recommended to me / you filled out a survey about summer work. Do you mind if I ask you a few quick questions? - What course do you study? Do you have any career plans? How many jobs do you have lined up for this summer? Great. That’s the same as most students I talk to. This is summer work with the Southwestern Advantage, have you heard of them before? (if yes, say “Who do you know that works with us? Great.”) We have a sales and management training program and we are selecting students from the University of (...). Last year the average profit was $8,000 and its something that a lot of companies like (...Unilever, Mars and Proctor and Gamble) are really interested in finding out about. Does that sound like something you’d like to find out a little more about? Well I have about another 20 students to call tonight so I won’t go into all the details, but I will be meeting students tomorrow for about 10 minutes to give a brief overview of the program. What’s your timetable like tomorrow? Do you have a pen and paper? (have the student write down your name, the time and exact location to meet). Ok cool write this down – My name is (…..), I will meet you at 10:15am in (……), I will be wearing a tie and will be at one of the tables on the left) Oh, one other thing, if you want to bring one or two of your sharper friends that’s o.k., but don’t bring your whole flat! See you tomorrow.
THE CLUB CAPTAIN/SOCIETY APPROACH:
There are many organizations, clubs, societies, groups... that regroups manu students and this could be a great way to be referred to a ton of shark, like minded students that would great prospects for your team. The idea is to approach the leader of that group/club/society so he/she will share his best contacts with you.
PROPOSED SCRIPT
Hi, is that __________________? Great, My name is ........ I’m calling from the Southwestern Advantage and I was calling to speak to you in your capacity as club captain/head of society/leader of the ..... The reason that I’m calling is that we run a summer work experience placement where we select students from universities across Europe and I am responsible for selecting students from Universities in _________________(e.g. Sofia/Brn/Prague). I am currently talking to (...club captains and heads of societies) in order to make sure that the sharp and ambitious students within their clubs get the chance to hear about the existence of a potentially worthwhile summer option. The first thing I should check is have you heard anything about our program before? (LISTEN) A basic overview is that last year we worked with 2,500 students selected from 57 countries and over 400 universities worldwide. The selected students last year had the chance to set up and run their own businesses, not exactly your average summer job, its very challenging and as such the rewards are a bit higher than students would usually expect. Our students receive 80- hours of professional training, develop an excellent CV to use in their career hunt on graduation and make some good money to fund their studies – the average student working with us for the first time last year made about $8,000. This year we have decided to make ... places available for .... students and we will be starting the selection process by running some information sessions in about 2 weeks. The reason that we are contacting club captains and heads of societies is to help target students of the right calibre who would appreciate hearing about a worthwhile way to spend their summer. We are arranging meetings to go through detail of the program as we have found that it is the best way to get information out to the right type of student rather than mass emails, posters etc. Some of the best people that we work with are referrals from lecturers, and students in positions of responsibility who can highlight people within their clubs who are hard working, good in teams and good with people. I’m sorry that I haven’t got more time available at the moment but the purpose of the call is to set up a time to meet for fifteen minutes tomorrow so that I can run through an outline of our programme and to explain the type of students that we are looking for, it would then give you the chance to put anyone that you think would definitely want info forward so that we can make sure that they get information. What does your schedule look like tomorrow? Great well why don’t we get together at .....? Oh one other thing, I have found from meeting other club captains that it can be really helpful to have your club list as it is a great memory jogger. Do you have anything like that? Brilliant well if you could bring that along it would definitely be worthwhile.
THE FRIEND APPROACH:
This can be done in person or over the phone. If you’re not sure how to transition into this conversation, simply say, “I know this is kind of random...” or “What’s your schedule like tomorrow?” then continue with:
Step 1 - “You know that internship I did this past summer...?”
If your friends already know a ton, jump to step 2 now.
If you’ve never talked about it with them before, then simply say, “I did an internship this past summer that was challenging...” and continue as below
Explain a little bit about the program—the WHY/how/what that your friend will relate to. For example: “…It’s actually the oldest internship in the country, really challenging and great experience... I went through training in Nashville and then was up in Colorado with some other BG/CZ/UK students selling a learning system to help their kids out with school...it was pretty cool...I got to travel, help families with education, made $…”
Step 2- “The reason I mention it is...”
Explain that your mentor/manager is coming into town and you get to invite a couple of friends
“But the reason I mention it is because my mentor, ________, is going to be in town this week running some small information meetings, and I get to invite a couple of my sharpest friends, so I thought of you.” [share with them why you thought of them. e.g. “You are adventurous and always up for a challenge.” “You were the most reliable and dedicated teammate for our group project.”
Step 3. “...I figured you’d want to check out what internships are out there if you had the chance”
Share that you don’t know if it’s something that will be a t for them, but that you thought they’d want to check it out
“I don’t know if it’ll appeal to you, and I can’t promise that you’d get an interview, but I figured you’d want to check it out if you had a chance!” OR “So are you still checking out work options for next summer? Great!' [and proceed as below]
Step 4. “The information meetings are at [4 and 6 pm] tomorrow. Which time works best for you?”
Prep them for what to expect, and let them know how important it is to actually be there:
- Verify time and location (give directions if needed);
- Ask them to bring a pen and paper to take notes
- If you can bring them to the meeting, then “Actually, where will you be at 3:45? How about I just walk over with you so I can introduce you to ________” [Bonus: brag on who is running the info]
- Be early. “These meetings are kept really small—usually 3-5 people so she can get to know each person, so can you make it 5-10 minutes early? Great!”
End the call with something non-business
Text them the next morning a reminder:
“Hey _____, I told _____ about you and he/she looks forward to meeting you today at (TIME) in room (ROOM#). See you there!”
