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Access our news feedDecide Needed Roles and Set Recruitment Goals
By Gary J. Stern
From Moblizing People for Marketing Success
With the scope, goals, and strategies of your effort already in place, you can now decide what roles are required and determine the number of marketing representatives you will recruit for each role.
Here are descriptions of the four roles.
Ambassadors:
The seed-scattering role. Can be taken on by large numbers
of people. Requires willingness to represent the organization,
both formally and informally, in the ambassadors' communities.
Asked to be alert as "scouts," identify prospects, and pass
names along for follow-up. High performers make the most of
networking, often exchange business cards, and leave an informative
and engaging impression whenever the subject of your organization
or cause pops up.
Door-Openers:
The in-the-wings role. Can be taken on by a fairly large
number of people. Requires willingness to provide names of and
information about prospects. Asked to allow use of their names
in making contacts and, in some cases, to sign introductory
letters, make phone calls, and accompany solicitors on calls
to smooth the way. High performers make the most of their address
books and prove the rule it's not what you know, but who.
Cultivators:
The warm-up role. Generally taken on by a limited number
of people. Requires willingness to make personal invitations.
Asked to host prospects for anything from elegant dinner parties
to rounds of golf to breakfast at the local greasy spoon. High
performers make the most of their social circles and are happy
to expand them on your behalf.
Solicitors:
The bring-it-home role. Often accepted once fears and concerns
are addressed. Requires willingness to gain commitments from
individual prospects. Asked to make personal contacts, take
the lead in a request, and participate in follow-up. High performers
make the most of every minute with a prospect, enjoy the role,
and play it somewhere between a sport and an art.
Now it is time to set goals for the number of marketing representatives you will recruit for each role.
Think it through as follows:
Ambassadors:
There is no limit to the number of Ambassadors you might
recruit. The more people who know your marketing goals and are
on the lookout for potential prospects, the better.
Door-Openers:
The number of Door-Openers depends on the number of doors
you need to open. Do you already have good access to your target
audiences? Or will you need a significant number of introductions
to get you inside?
Cultivators:
To decide how many cultivators you'll need, revisit your
target audiences and your communications strategy for reaching
them. The number and type of cultivation events planned dictate
the number of people you need in this role.
Solicitors:
The number of solicitors required depends on the number
of prospects to be reached one to one and how many calls you
plan to assign to each solicitor. Look back at your target audiences.
Approximately how many people will you solicit? How many prospects
per solicitor? What about additional solicitors who may be willing
to make just one or two calls? The overriding question is, "How
can we bring the greatest number of people into this effort?"
You can multiply your outreach when people take on more than
one marketing representative role.
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Permission is granted for organizations to download and reprint this article. Reprints must provide full acknowledgment of source, as provided:
Excerpted from Moblizing People for Marketing Success, by Gary J. Stern,© 1997, Amherst H. Wilder Foundation.Found in the Energize website library at: http://www.energizeinc.com/art.html
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