The Deputation Process: Making Phone Calls Part 2

The Deputation Process: Making Phone Calls Part 2

The easiest way to get your calendar full is by working hard and making phone calls. Yes, you could email and Facebook message pastors, but in the time you take to do that, you can call pastors, talk with them, get your information out and then book meetings! If you make the phone calls you will see the meetings! So today we are going to talk about making phone calls, what you should do, and how to be successful when making calls!

Make the phone calls: I know this sounds really difficult, but in order to get meetings you have to make the calls! Don’t waste time looking at Facebook and online. Set the time and start making the phone calls!
Call by area, state or region: At the beginning, you will want to try to stay within a six-hour radius of what your home base would be. This means, I would only call states and areas that would fall within that six-hour radius so you are not traveling all across the country to meetings, especially when you first start out and finances are tighter! Pick a state and start making phone calls and call through the whole state. If you have a list of good leads, call through that as well.
Take good notes: As you call, make sure you are taking notes. If there is no answer, write that down and what time (this helps you when you call back to try at a different time), if you spoke to someone, write that down. If you sent your information, write that down. Write down the date you spoke with someone and/or sent your information. This is helpful when you followup down the road and they ask when you sent your information or called last! Make sure to take good notes so when you do call back, you know what you did and what was said!
Try to speak with the pastor: Your goal of every call should be to try to speak with the pastor. Most churches the pastor will be the one who schedules missionaries in, but if he doesn’t then you want to talk to whoever does. When you call make sure to ask to speak to the pastor. I would say, unless you are 100% sure that the name you have on your list is the pastor of your church, not to say names as you do not know if your list is outdated or not. Just ask to speak with the pastor and give what information they may ask you.
Ask for the meeting: I spent many years working in sales and the one big thing they always told us with every customer was to ask for the sale. If you don’t ask for the sale, you won’t get the sale. If you don’t ask for a meeting, you won’t get a meeting. Your goal of making phone calls is to fill your calendar with meetings and you will only get meetings if you ask for them. So don’t forget to ask for the meeting!
Set goals each day: Set a number of meetings you want to aim to book each day. That does not mean you will hit that target each day, but if you don’t have a target to aim for you won’t shoot for anything! Set a goal of how many churches you will call that day and how many packets you want to send out each day. Set goals and aim for them. Set big goals each day and ask God to help you reach your goals! Just because you reach your goal for that day doesn’t mean to stop calling! Keep calling and try to exceed your goals!
Keep calling! If you booked one meeting, keep calling. If you haven’t talked to anyone keep calling. Don’t get discouraged and don’t quit calling. Keep calling and trying to schedule and book meetings! Set how long you want to call each day and call, and keep calling and no matter how few or how many meetings you book call until you are supposed to be done for the day!

This week, we talked about some basics of making phone calls and things that will be beneficial. Next week, we will talk about responses you are going to receive when making phone calls and what you need to do when you get those responses! What are some tips you have for making phone calls as a missionary? We would love to hear your questions or your input if you are a missionary and have advice to give to those that are getting ready to be or are on deputation. Just leave a comment below!