UECF logoUnited Evangelical Christian Fellowship Church (UECF)130 Ferris Pl, Westfield, NJ
Chapter 16 of 40

Today’s Mission

Today’s Mission

smileyDay 14

Ridiculous Lines from the Chronically Ineffective Leader

“What Do I Say on the Fourth Message?”

Diligent follow-up and follow-through

will set you apart from the crowd

and communicate excellence.

JOHN C. MAXWELL

By now, if you’ve been working this process faithfully, you’re in one of two positions (maybe both):

  • You’re amazed by how many people have responded with an answer to the invitation to serve on your team, or
  • You’re wondering what in the world to say after being ignored despite multiple messages.

    • Good news! I’m including here on day fourteen eight different messages you can leave for those you’re still waiting to hear from. My thought is that a message every three or four days gives your prospective leaders enough time between your calls, emails, texts or Facebook messages.

    Here are the examples.

    Message one: Hi Jill. It’s Mark from church. I’m putting my team together to work with our seventh graders for next year, and I would love for you to think about being part of that group. Feel free to call me back with a “no” or a “maybe.” If it’s a maybe, let’s get together and talk about it. If it’s a no, I’ll just call you in six months or a year to see if you might have seen a burning bush. My cell number is 555-5555 and my email address is [email protected]. Hope to hear from you soon.

    Message two: Jill, it’s Mark from church. Hope all is well in your world. I’m just circling around to see what you’re thinking about the possibility of working with our seventh graders starting in the fall. You would be terrific! Feel free to call (555-5555) or email ([email protected]) any time. Have a great rest of the day!

    Message three: Hey Jill, let me tell you why I’m excited! I’m excited because you haven’t given me a “no” yet about working with our seventh graders. I’m thrilled you’re still thinking about it! Give me a call whenever it’s convenient for you (555-5555).

    Message four: Hi Jill, it’s your old friend Mark from church! You’ll be thrilled to know that _______ has agreed to work with our new seventh graders starting in the fall. I think you guys would work beautifully together. You can just call me back with a “no” or a “maybe.” If it’s a maybe, I’d love to buy you some coffee and talk further. If it’s a no, I’ll ask about something else another time! My email is [email protected].

    Message five: Jill, my friend! I know your life is crazy right now, but I’m encouraged that I haven’t heard a “no” from you yet! Our team really feels that you have the kind of gifts and personality and faith that we’d love for our seventh graders to be around. I look forward to hearing from you soon at 555-5555 or [email protected]. If I don’t hear back from you in a couple days, I’ll just call back.

    Message six: Jill, are you feeling the love? It’s Mark. Hopefully, you’ve heard in my previous messages how excited we’d be to have you on our team with our new seventh graders. I’m sure you’ve got a few questions. Just give me a call or an email, and you can give me a little clarity about what you’re thinking: 555-5555 or [email protected].

    Message seven: Hi Jill! It’s Mark. I’m here with our youth group right now. And they’ve got something to say to you [insert cacophony of kids yelling things like “You’ll be great!” “Thanks for thinking about us!” “We want you!” all at the same time]. Great to be wanted, isn’t it? Hope to hear from you soon. You’ve got my contact info, or you can just leave a message at the church on my voicemail at 222-2222.

    Message eight: Okay, Jill. I’m not beyond bribery. How about you let me buy you lunch and we talk about this whole seventh grade leader thing. Let me know a good time for you. [email protected]. Have a great day!

    You’ve probably noticed a pattern in these messages, a pattern that reveals three keys to great follow-up:

  • Consistency: They’ll soon realize that they’ll be hearing back from you in a few days.
  • Brevity: The messages need to be short. All you’re trying to do is to see if she’s interested in a conversation. If she is, you can give more detail at that point.
  • Enthusiasm: You gain nothing by being grumpy and complaining that you haven’t heard back.

    • With 90 percent of the folks you recruit, you won’t need to leave more than five messages. But for that other 10 percent, you’ve now got a starting point for all the messages you’ll be leaving.

    Today’s Mission

  • Confirm your next meeting with your prayer partners for this project.
  • Because you’ll be taking the next two days off from active recruitment and follow-up, today is the day to get your master recruiting list completely up to date.
    1. Add to your master recruiting list any additional names of potential volunteers that might have bubbled up in your sourcing process.
    2. Make sure everyone on your pool list is appropriately categorized:
      1. Those who have said no are taken out of the master list and put at the bottom of the list, each with a note indicating what roles they said no to.
      2. Those you’re still waiting to hear back from are highlighted in some way, with indications for each of how many messages you have left.
      3. Those who have said yes are written into your master needs list in big, black marker.
  • Continue your daily recruiting follow-up work:
    1. With your master recruiting documents (your needs list and your ranked pool list) in front of you, check your email to see if anyone has responded to your invitation and reply to those emails immediately.
    2. For those who have said yes, make sure their names are written in black ink on your master list.
    3. For those who have said maybe, send an email suggesting a meeting time and place for you to talk further about what you’re looking for.
    4. Hold any scheduled meetings with potential volunteers.
    5. For those who have said no,
      1. Move their names to the bottom of the pool list, under the section called “No.”
      2. Beside each name, write what role each person has said no to.
      3. Remove their names from the needs list.
      4. Place new names in the blanks left by those who have said no.
    6. Send your standard invitation email to the people you have added to your master recruiting list.
    7. Send a follow-up message to any potential volunteer who hasn’t responded to your last message in three days or more.

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