Determining your healthcare development strategy can be complex and challenging, and it’s therefore vital to establish a process in order to improve the quality and efficiency of your interactions with a prospect. Every week, we’ll cover a new phase in our program to becoming a top producer in healthcare philanthropy.
Our key steps refer to the process development officers go through when interacting with each prospect. These steps are intended to be used as a guide to improve the quality and efficiency of every interaction with a prospect or donor. While some may move more quickly or slowly than others, all prospects go through each of the steps in the process. By being prepared and utilizing these steps, development officers can effectively reduce any tension between the officer and the prospect, sharpen communication skills, and generate a sense of professionalism and confidence. In the following blog series, Tips to Becoming a Top Producer in Healthcare Philanthropy, we will touch briefly on each of the key stages in the Gobel Group program, including pre-visit checklists and suggestions for talking points during each interaction, in order to assist development officers in aligning their prospects to the next stage, every time.
#2: Introduction to Your Prospect
Once you’ve identified your prospects, the logical next step is to introduce yourself to them. Historically, development officers would often seek out patients on-site at the hospital or reach out to patients by phone after their discharge. However, we determined that development officers were successful less than ten percent of the time with these methods.
That’s why we developed a way to increase your conversion of getting appointments to forty percent or higher, namely by partnering with your physician champions so that they introduce you to their patients. If your physician partner is not comfortable with a face-to-face or phone conversation with their patients, we provide the tools for them to effectively reach out via letter or email (see below).
Although each interaction is unique, we find that having a pre-written letter can be immensely useful in maintaining tone and efficiency. Learn more about our widely applicable talk tracks and scripts by attending one of our gift officer trainings.
Want to know more about becoming a top producer in healthcare philanthropy? Click here to read about the next stage, Setting the Appointment, or click here to read the previous stage Identifying Your Prospect.
