Funded & Sent
Funded & Sent is a podcast designed to walk ministry leaders and staff through the support raising process. Hosted by long-time support raising coaches Jenn Fortner and Josh Sears, each episode breaks down an aspect of support raising practically and provides proven strategies for building a healthy support team – from creating your contact list to having effective appointments with individuals and pastors.
The podcast can be listened to from start to finish (beginning with Episode 1 at the bottom of your podcast feed) or you can pick and choose topics based on where you need guidance, help, and fresh ideas. The goal is equip ministry workers that are new to the process, feeling stuck, or needing a refresher as they begin a new season of raising support — and to prepare each worker to be funded and sent into the calling God has placed on their life!
Funded & Sent
The Individual Process (Step 3) Phone Calls and Text Messages
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How do you confidently make phone calls for support raising?
In this episode, Jenn Fortner and Josh Sears break down a simple, practical approach to partnership calls—from preparation and prayer to guiding the conversation with clarity and purpose.
They share how to start the call, transition naturally into your ask, and communicate clearly about both prayer and financial partnership. You’ll also learn what not to do, how to handle follow-up, and why persistence (without being pushy) matters.
If phone calls feel intimidating, this episode will give you the tools to approach them with confidence and turn them into meaningful conversations.
RESOURCES:
Ghosting and The Final Contact
Effective Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Tips for Gen Z
And welcome back, y'all, to the Funded Inscent podcast with Jen and Josh. You know, in the last episode, uh Jim, we talked about communication, right? Yeah. And then when before that, we talked about contact lists. So we're picking up from our contact list now. And now we're going to talk about the most procrastinated part of this process.
SPEAKER_01Oh my gosh, it's so loose.
SPEAKER_00It is the most, it can be, it can be the way it is not the most, but it can be the most stressed and anxiety inducing the process.
SPEAKER_01And honestly, probably the part where every I see whenever I teach this live, like everybody's eyelid, like everybody's face just drops, and they go, oh Right.
SPEAKER_00It sucks a lot. I have to make a phone call.
SPEAKER_01Oh, and it's like the most contested too. And we'll get into that with like text messages and yeah. Yep.
SPEAKER_00We're gonna talk about text messages. That's that's that's definitely a part of it. But the point of all of this is getting a face-to-face appointment. Yes. That's where we're going with this. The purpose of the call that we're outlining is not to ask for money. That's good. We're not doing that over the phone. Right. That's not what we're here for. Yep. We are here to get people to sit down face to face. Because if you remember back to one of the early episodes, the number one method and most effective method of connecting with people for financial partnership is one-on-one, face-to-face.
SPEAKER_01Face-to-face, yes.
SPEAKER_00So that's the purpose of the phone call, is getting them to that place of getting and establishing a meeting. So what we are going to talk about today, we're going to talk about making phone calls with individuals. We're not talking about pastors and churches. That's going to be in a future episode.
SPEAKER_01And that's a good delineation because, yeah, I think the the process for reaching a pastor on the phone in a in a church is much different. So this is specific to individuals.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. Yeah. So talking specifically about individuals today, talk about text messages as a tool for setting up phone calls and appointments. And then how to navigate this conversation and not accidentally, accidentally, you know, in quotation marks there, do a whole pitch on the phone. Because that's not what we're here for, right? Right. So what we're not talking about is how to ask for financial support. That's going to be in our next episode. Yes. We talk about the appointment. So the goal today, get that appointment on the books. Don't overcomplicate it.
SPEAKER_01And Josh, at the end of this, just so everybody is aware, Josh and I are going to practice one so you guys can hear it on each other's.
SPEAKER_00Now I'm nervous about it. So a couple of best practices, and then Jen's going to break down kind of a uh an overview of what a phone call would look like when you're doing this. But first and foremost, before you call, pray. Take a minute, get yourself, your head, and your heart into the right space, not just about our head, but about our heart as well, right? Because our heart and this is relationship. So asking God to go ahead of us, prepare that conversation, asking for some confidence and for some clarity. And most of all, remember that God is the one who provides. Ultimately in this season, and this is important to remember all throughout this season and in every aspect of partnership development, as we talk about this with uh financial partnership, is that all giving and receiving is vertical. It's not horizontal. They're not giving to me. They're giving to God. Amen. And I receive from God. I'm not receiving from individuals. And that clarifies relationship, takes the stress off of those relationships because everything is a vertical relationship with the Lord when it comes to my finances. And so remembering that they're not the one providing for you. God is the one who's providing for you. So having your materials ready, right? So have your calendar in front of you because you're gonna be actually put some actual dates and times on the calendar whenever you get them on the phone. Have your contact list because you should be organizing your contacts and keeping track of your conversations. Yeah. Right. So putting down then the notes of what you talked about, outline what you're gonna say. It is perfectly okay to write out a script.
SPEAKER_01It is. And I think in the the workbook, there's still a phone script available, or at least I have it on genfortner.com. So yeah, phone scripts are really helpful. And if you just write it out a little bit beforehand, if if phone calls just give you hives and make you nervous, when I was a kid, um, I have an identical twin sister. And she and I would and each my parents worked a lot, like they worked both full-time, and sometimes we would have to order pizza for ourselves for dinner when they were working. And this was like, you know, middle school or whatever. But my sister and I would fight over who had to call the pol the pizza delivery guy. And still I I remember just being terrified of making phone calls like a pizza guy. Even as the millennial 43-year-old that I am, still back in the day when text messages weren't a thing, I was still terrified to talk on the phone. So I understand, and I think Josh, you did too, why phone calls are a little bit of a hesitant feature in this process. Because I I don't I didn't grow up liking phone calls either. And I still, I actually do like talking on the phone a little bit, but um nowadays. But yeah, it terrifies some people and gives that makes them break out in a sweat, which totally makes sense.
SPEAKER_00It does. That's where com having a script really comes in handy. Very helpful. You can write it out. Nobody can see you on the phone. That's right. Nobody's looking at your paper with your sweaty palms, right? Like nobody's doing that. Yeah, but the beautiful thing is that eventually it becomes natural. You get better at it. Yep, absolutely. Right? You get better doing that. And having some pen and paper for some notes so you can take notes so you don't forget what you talked about. And then keep an eye on the timing. So being aware of when are good times to call people. We don't want to call early in the morning, right? Um, growing up, my grandmother used to always like to call us Saturday mornings at six o'clock in the morning and drinking.
SPEAKER_03No, and no, no, no, no.
SPEAKER_00Don't be that person, right?
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00But so calling, so calling between somewhere between 9 a.m. and don't call too late, like after 7 or 8 p.m., especially if they have kids. Um I try not to uh bother people during bedtime routines. Um so understanding their schedules, are they a parent with young kids? Think about that. Think about when the prime time is gonna be to call. Maybe it is after that bedtime. And that's we're gonna talk about text messages, maybe to help set up some of these phone calls and come in handy. Yeah, right. Um if it's a business person, think about lunchtime. What are they doing over lunch? That may be the best time or early in the evening right after they get off of work. So if you're not sure, mid-afternoon, mid-morning, during the weekdays, they're always safe best to try and reach out to people. Yep. Right? Yep. So let's talk about what the outline looks like. So when I make a phone call, Jen, what should I be saying?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so okay, so basic outline for a phone call. I'm gonna walk, walk us through it. Okay. So the first bit of a phone call, so say I am calling you and I'm going to ask you and Lisa to, you know, uh have a face-to-face appointment and share details of what I'll be doing in ministry and see if you guys be interested in joining some aspect of my team. So I'm calling you on the phone. First thing that I do is just set up a greeting. So, hey, this is Jen. How's it going, Josh? Hey, is do you is now an okay time to talk? So that would be something that I start off with and then maybe we get into small talk for a little bit. So you're like, oh, how's the weather? What's going on? What's going on with your kids? How's you know, how's everybody doing? How's Lisa? La la la, you know, and I we get into family work, life, and listen genuinely when you do that. So don't be afraid of asking genuine follow-up questions if they share something personal, that kind of stuff. So that all can lead in the first couple of minutes of um a uh phone call. But one of the golden things that I've learned that I like to say in a phone call pretty early, particularly if I'm batching my phone calls, which we uh we'll get into in a little bit, but is a really great way to, if you're working on trying to schedule a bunch of appointments with people, you might batch your phone calls where you're gonna try to reach out to like five to six to seven people within an hour or so. So you're just calling everybody all at once, kind of a thing, um, or back to back. And in that, you might not have a ton of time. So it the helpful thing to say right here, so say we get into a little bit of small talk, I I would like to say to you pretty quickly in the phone call is, hey, I don't want to take up too much of your time. That's the key phrase I like to say pretty early. So, hey, Josh, I don't want to take up too much of your time, but did you happen to get the letter that I sent in the mail if I send an invitation letter? If I didn't send an invitation letter, it might be like, Hey, Josh, I don't want to take up too much of your time, but I did want to share with you a little bit about the ministry that Zach and I are going um on in the next couple of months. Can I just uh tell you just for one or two minutes about that? So I like to use that phrase again, I don't want to take up too much of your. Um, and that's kind of the transition moment. And then um, you know, I share briefly, if I haven't done an invitation letter, which is backing up to an episode that we've talked about prior. So that's a letter that sets up this phone call, letting them know that you're gonna be calling them. Um, if you did send that, it becomes a little bit of a different phone call than if you do like if you did it.
SPEAKER_02It does.
SPEAKER_01Um, because with the invitation letter, then I say, I say pretty quickly, hey, did you happen to get the invitation letter that I send in the mail? And then Josh, you respond to me and say something along the lines of, um, no, oops, I forgot to uh sitting on my counter.
SPEAKER_00I I saw it, but I haven't read it yet.
SPEAKER_01And then at that point, I'll give a brief ministry synopsis really quickly. Oh, okay, no problem. So Zach and I are going on a two-year term with Assemblies of God World missions. We are so excited. We're going to Kyrgyzstan for two years with the kids, obviously, and Sloan America are pumped about it. And we are so excited. Um, but we wanted to reach out. You absolutely, you and Lisa absolutely came to mind as somebody that we would love to chat with about ministry details and what God's put in front of us and just grab some time with you before we move. Would you be able to grab some coffee with us? We'd love to buy you a cup of coffee and schedule something some sometime in the next couple of weeks. Um, what do you think? So I don't hesitate there. I make an ask and I'm direct with what the need is.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And here somewhere I want to use here we go, what I like to call the F-word.
SPEAKER_00No. It's just safe in the little there in the car, right?
SPEAKER_01We're gonna The F word is the word finances.
SPEAKER_00Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_01I'm trying to make you remember. Yeah, you can breathe.
SPEAKER_00I'm not yes, disconcerning for a minute. I know I understand. Back to microwaves.
SPEAKER_01Okay. Yeah. Um, but so I like to I I want to use the word finances somewhere here in the phone call. And it's so important because what we don't want is to make a phone call and for the other person on the other end to say, I have no idea what this meeting is about, and to not be prompted that you are going to be asking for finances. So that's why I make it so important that you say the word finances. So somewhere in here, I'm gonna say, Hey, Josh, we you absolutely came to mind as somebody that we would love to touch base with about our ministry, upcoming ministry. We're going to Kyrgyzstan for a two-year assignment. We're super pumped about it. But we were interested if you would come and join us for coffee sometime in the next couple of weeks, and we would love to get some time with you before we move, but also explain to you a little bit about what we're doing and see if you'd be interested in joining some aspect of our team, whether that's prayer, finances, getting our newsletter on a regular basis, whatever works for you, but we would just love some dedicated time for that. What do you think? So I said the word finances somewhere in there, but also, audience, I kept the the door very wide. Right. Which is very, very helpful there because I'm making sure that they feel comfortable just meeting and hearing what I'm doing. I'm also saying you're somebody that's important to me. I'm also saying to them, um, you came to mind. I'm also telling them that, yeah, that this is just a personalized time before we move. And that's what the the need is inside of the ask for finances for prayer support and for newsletters. So I'm keeping that door nice and wide for a lot of different uh reasons there. Okay, so that's sort of the ask. Um, and then uh yeah, and then if they hesitate, you know, say something like, I totally understand if your schedule is packed, what works best for you, I can flex. Um, even 30, 30 to 45 minutes would be great, or even 20 minutes, I can come to you, whatever works. But obviously don't be pushy in the midst of it. Right. So if they don't want to meet, that's okay, you know, and you can you can uh move into a different conversation where you say, Hey, I would love to give you our newsletter on a regular basis or whatever. But see if they'd just be interested in grabbing coffee. And it's okay if they say something along the lines of, well, we can't give right now, but you still want to move into trying to get an appointment with them because a lot can happen. The Holy Spirit can move. Um, yeah. So there's a lot that can happen that is great. Yeah. Uh, but you just have to keep that door wide open so that they feel comfortable engaging in whatever level they feel comfortable with. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Yep. And then yeah, so you know, you close the, I think you were any any details there too in the outline that get named. So say you say, Yeah, let's meet up two weeks from now, you know, March 17th at 2 p.m. on at Starbucks and we set all of that up. I'll provide the details on that that say, well, what works best for you? I know that you like, you know, the the coffee shop on Main Street. What what if we went there? Or s maybe make some suggestions of some different times or say, Hey, I'll see you on church at church. I'll be at church on Sunday. Can we grab lunch afterwards? Or, you know, you set a tone there and then see how you can flex to meet their needs. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. Yep. And follow up on it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I always like to follow up on my phone calls once I and we can do this once we have the appointment, but once I have that and I've written the date down, like I may say, Hey, so the day before I'm going to shoot you a text just to make sure that this still works. Is that okay? Right. That way we're still confirming before we actually sit down for the appointment.
SPEAKER_01Yes, yes, yes. Yeah. And then you close it, thank them for the time, express excitement, looking forward to catching up and sharing what God's been doing, that kind of stuff.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Do you think that I think that's a decent explanation? Is there anything you forgot about?
SPEAKER_00I think that's a good breakdown. I think when you talk about, I think one of the key points there is we want to mention finances. Yes. That's an we get weird about our wallets. We just do. People are weird about money. Let's just be honest about it, right? And so if we're transparent about that, that's part of our conversation is finances. If we're transparent from the get-go, then nobody is going to be caught off guard. Right. Yeah. And that's important.
SPEAKER_01Yes. And I feel like too, I think where we get a lot of people get hung up, or people that are doing this for the first time, they get really hung up when it's somebody that they haven't talked to in a while.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01But Josh, say you and I, oh, you and I have been friends for a long time now, over 10 years. But say we haven't kept in touch, but we used to do ministry together, or we used to, you know, work together. And you're a Christian, and I know that in a lot of those, and that might not even be the scenario, but say that is the scenario. Okay. But it if you were if I I just want to put the person in the situation where oftentimes the individual is excited for us if we let them be. They are it's not, it doesn't have to be rejection. They don't have to give financially for it to be a win. Maybe this time they just pray for you. Maybe this time they just um are on your newsletter. But we so often get in our heads that it's just so scary to ask those questions of somebody. But it could be just an opportunity to reconnect and share with that the person really matters to you.
SPEAKER_03Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01And the fact that you're moving overseas with your family, you know, for years, a connection point before you go, mentioning that on the phone is very helpful as well. And I love to use the phrase on the phone, hey, I didn't want to assume. So for somebody that may not be a Christian or a nominal Christian, maybe it's a family member where you're a little uncertain of where they stand, I like to say the words, um, hey, Josh, I didn't want to assume that this wouldn't be something that you'd want to hear a little bit more about or get some time to understand a little bit more about what we're doing.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01So I love to use that phrase because again, it keeps that door nice and wide.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. We don't want to, we don't want to make it too narrow when we're going into that. So let's talk about a few tips and tricks here. A few, a few do's and don'ts if we want to get into some of that, right? It comes through. You can hear when somebody's smiling on the phone, you can hear when they're not smiling on the phone. I personally am a walker when I'm talking on there. So I'm gonna get some move around because it helps get out some of that nervous energy when I'm talking on the phone. Um, and so get up, move, get some energy, be enthusiastic. Listen, if you're excited about what you're doing, it's gonna naturally make them excited uh or lean towards being excited about what's going on. Um you mentioned the letter. That's important. If you sent the letter out, mention it because that's a key touch point there. They gave them some information that we we gave to them to put them in their hands. Right. Given the specific reason why you're you're reaching out to them. Hey, I'm reaching out to important people in my life. You know, we were thinking about this process and our partnership team, and we thought about you guys and would love to sit down. Um, specific about timing. So it's not just a, hey, we love it together sometime. Uh-huh. Like that's very vague. That's way out there. Who knows when or if it's ever going to happen. Uh-huh. Right. No, it's a, hey, in the next week or two, we'd love to sit down and talk with you.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you gotta be a little more proactive, a little bit more ball in your court. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00You have to own the responsibility as part of this process. Okay. And then taking notes, making sure you're writing that information so you don't forget. Because if you're making multiple phone calls in a day, which hopefully you will be, and it's setting up multiple meetings, you don't want to mix up details. Yeah. Make sure you're taking accurate notes when you're doing that.
SPEAKER_01Yep.
SPEAKER_00Don't leave a voicemail the first time.
SPEAKER_01Yep.
SPEAKER_00I say what I said. Call. They don't answer. Try calling again later.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, uh yes. Yes. Yeah. I think it's nice because it gives you permission to sort of call sooner. If you think about leaving somebody not leaving a voicemail for you, and then they call again sometime and you know uh later that evening or the day after, and then they leave a voicemail, it's it's pretty good etiquette. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So um do not do not do your presentation on the phone. We're not we're not presenting our whole ministry on the phone. We're gonna talk briefly, like a little 30-second elevator pitch about what it what it is that we're doing, and then going into asking for an appointment. We are not doing our whole presentation.
SPEAKER_01Even if your nosy aunt asks a bunch of questions.
SPEAKER_00Correct. Redirect.
SPEAKER_01Redirect, okay, but without being bossy, I don't know about it. Whatever, you know, without being like cagey, I guess.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01But just pointing back to the appointment whenever you can. Because there is a line there, and I've seen it done where people are like, I cannot tell you any details because holding that secret. My training said not to. Like I've done, I've heard that coach says no. Yeah, so I cannot talk to you right now. Like it's not that, it's not that far. But it is also like, if you know, you're saying, Well, where are you going? How do you feel about it? What got what called you? Then you can say, you know what? I would love to tell you that over a cup of coffee because it is a little bit more of a story. And I've got some things that I definitely want to touch base with you on. Could I have a cup of coffee? Instead of like, I cannot tell you that. And then leaving it that.
SPEAKER_00Jen and Josh said, do not do that.
SPEAKER_01They said no. No. Yeah. So, oh, and then I do also want to say, too, a caveat to that is also like, say somebody's really far away and you're not going to meet with them face to face, then what?
SPEAKER_00So, in that scenario, if I have someone on the on the on the the phone and they start asking questions, say, you know what, I would love to have a longer conversation about this. If now is a good time, we can do that. But if it's not, maybe we set up a time to chat via via phone or via Zoom. Right. We can talk a bit more about this um later when you have more time.
SPEAKER_01Unless it's like, again, it's like you don't want to get to the place where you're not being flexible in the moment.
SPEAKER_03Correct.
SPEAKER_01So if they're saying, you know, if there's no way you're gonna get them back on the phone and you know it. You know that. Or you if you know that they don't know anything about Zoom or they live in Alaska with bad cell phone roots, you know, whatever it is, and you know that this is the moment, then I would say briefly go for it if you have to. But that's like that should be the exception to the norm, not the norm.
SPEAKER_00Exactly.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So that's not a no all of the time. It's just a no most of the time.
SPEAKER_00No most of the time. Right. And that's like not letting people off the hook comes in handy, like, well, okay, well, yeah, maybe I'll call you back and we'll see what happens. Yeah. Hey, you know what? I know it, I know it can be hard to connect sometimes. And so it'd be great if we could just set something down. Yes. Um, and get it on the calendar. That way we we can make this happen.
SPEAKER_01Just with every step of the way with support raising, I feel like nuance is always going to be a part of it.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And being and I think the the the note to tell people that are new to this too is hey, you're not gonna you're not gonna know everything the first couple of times you do it. You're not gonna be great at it. It's a first time thing. So you'll get better at it as time goes on, and the nuance and accounting for that and figuring out, okay, when am I supposed to share details? When, you know, all of those things. It's just every step of the way, you'll get better at it as time goes on. But there is a lot of nuance because people are different. They are situations are always different. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00You can have a script, but it's not always gonna go according to script. Totally. So um, don't apologize when you're calling people, hey, I'm so sorry to bother you. You're just setting the whole wrong tone for the don't do that. Yep, don't be vague. We already mentioned that about sometime we'd like to potentially in the future, maybe at some point get together and have maybe a cup of hot or cold drink. I don't know.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, hesitant language. No, no, no.
SPEAKER_00And then I know we said this at the beginning, talking about procrastination. Do not procrastinate this, right? The first call is always the hardest. Rip off the band-aid, hop into it, and just do it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. I always say too to people, it is a lot you uh I see people get more hung up on getting started, and that's the hardship. Like, so the the mental swell of emotions and energy is. Like when you're thinking about doing the thing, not necessarily as much whenever you're doing it. Right. So just get started. Just start it.
SPEAKER_00When I when I talk You're not going to be perfect. That's okay. So by coach too, I always tell them this. And you're going to talk about this in a minute about batch calling. But I always tell people like this when you sit down, you're going to sit down, you're going to call. You're going to have a a a few, you're going to call. And if you have a couple of phone calls that you're like, man, those just went really bad. Get up, walk away.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Go have a cup of coffee, get in a better headspace, and come back to it. Yep. If you have something to go really well, man, you just keep plugging away and keep doing it. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep.
SPEAKER_01Good. So yeah, with making uh calls like back to back, sort of like, okay, I'm going to reach out to a bunch of individuals. And you maybe on the the down the line, too, you're going to reach out to like five individuals and five churches. Like so you're you're working on this for like an hour or two and you're just seated or you know, in a quiet location, by the way, um, working on phone calls. So set aside one to two hours, something like that. Make 10 to 15 phone calls at a time because it gets you into a rhythm.
SPEAKER_03It does.
SPEAKER_01Um, it helps. Uh, and then some's gonna some are gonna be voicemails, some are gonna be quick, some are gonna be scheduling appointments. That's all okay and that all counts. Um, but before you know it, you're gonna be done with a chunk of your list and you're gonna be feeling better about it, and your mental load with it is going to feel a lot better once you get started. So just start. It does not have to be perfect. No. People are so much more gracious with with you than you know, with with what you are with yourself. So yeah. And after a good call, make another immediately. You're most effective right after success, and after a tough call, make another one immediately.
SPEAKER_00Back on the whole.
SPEAKER_01Don't let the fear build. The next one's probably gonna be better. Okay.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Okay, so I want to talk about text messages for a moment, and then we're gonna practice a phone call.
unknownYes.
SPEAKER_01Yes. Okay. Um, so when and how to use text messages. So I know for myself and for others, it is set a point, such a point of contention. Like, hey, do I use can I do all of this on text messages instead? And I would say my basic answer to that is no. Um, there's a lot of reasons with text only asking. Uh, I would say written forms of communication can be forgotten. If you, if you, Josh, get a text message from me that conveys everything that is going on with the phone call, it will read that word finances, will read like a billboard. And I'll, you'll look at that and go, uh, Jen's texting me a lot of stuff and I got a busy day. I'm not gonna look at that right now. And it could get forgotten. Because I mean, if it's if it's a huge long, long text message, sometimes that can get like a little intense for the the reader. So and then people can ignore and forget text messages easier than a voice conversation, and it doesn't denote the relational aspect. So whenever you use it, uh one of the best practices with text messages I can think of is starting off with a text message that says something like, Hey Josh, do you have time for a quick two to three minute phone call? And using that as a precursor to the phone call. So then you can get somebody on the phone whenever it's convenient for them as well, which is helpful. Um yeah. But so sometimes, you know, text messages can be necessary if they don't answer the phone after multiple attempts, then yeah, try to use a text message, um, see if that happens. And then if they specifically prefer text communication, which I will say it we say that, but also that's one of those nuanced things because a lot of Gen Z is going to prefer or they think they prefer a text message conversation.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01But in this context, again, it's a relational component. There are some conversations that are just better suited for the phone.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01And this is one of them.
SPEAKER_00It's gonna be a whole lot better.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Um, and then uh yeah, so for references, though, we're not gonna read off today a bunch of text messages that work, but I would say there's some things to be thankful of um, like thinking of and mindful of whenever you think through text messages. And in the show notes, we are gonna have a list of sample text messages messages that we've sort of thought, okay, these do work well. These are sort of tried and true. Like here's what to put in a text message, here's not what to put in a text message, that kind of thing, um, for the most part. So we'll put some of those in the show notes as well. But yeah, best use cases um is to set up for a phone call whenever you're using a text message when you can't reach some somebody by the phone, if you're very, very close friends and they already know what you're doing.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01So, and if it's feels too formal to call them, I can understand why a text message message would work there. And then as a reminder before an appointment. So, yeah. Yeah.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_00And as Jen said, we're gonna have some of those examples in the show notes um for sample good messages and things to avoid and what not to say in text. We're gonna get into some of those things in the show notes. And so let's really briefly before we hop into our practice here, Jen. Let's talk about ghosting. Yeah. I know we're I know you're gonna have some stuff in there in the show notes about ghosting as well, but so let's say, yeah, things just go radio silent.
SPEAKER_01Which everybody's familiar with because it it that does happen from time to time, and that's okay. But that I just want to say off the off the bat that that is okay, and that is a feature of and you know, that happens in regular life where you're not asking for finances. Um, but it happens in in that those moments too. So there is, we're gonna put in the show notes too, um, uh an article on ghosting that will just align this out quite a bit. But you know, sometimes people don't respond to your calls, to your text messages. Maybe you call again and there's nothing. I think it's it usually means what it usually means is that people are busy. Your your thing is not their thing. So don't expect it to be. Is is kind of one of the things that I I teach on a regular basis. Like we always get in our heads thinking, okay, my thing is their thing, right? It's no, you have to keep the ball in your court, you have to be proactive.
SPEAKER_03You do.
SPEAKER_01So they may not be ignoring you, they may just genuinely be busy and your thing is not their thing. So um, yeah. And then it could mean that they're just anxious about the conversation and they don't know what to say. Maybe they saw your message but forgot to respond. That happens to me all the time. Totally. Yeah, and that's okay. It's just maybe they have they don't have the mental capacity to respond to you at that very moment. That's okay. Um, and then some of it, it could be they're ghosting because they know that you want money. And that's a fair assumption because if you put it in your invitation letter, you're not it's not an assumption, it's something that you're telling them that you're gonna talk about.
SPEAKER_03Put it out there.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so that's okay too. Um, but try different mode of communication. So say you've tried to call like three times. And uh we get a lot of questions as coaches, I think, about cadence in phone calls too. And with individuals, I think it's like if I called you on a Monday, Josh, you and Lisa, and I, you know, I didn't leave a voicemail the first time, then I might try to call you again on a Tuesday, and maybe it's a lunch hour this time. And then say I leave a voicemail and I don't hear anything from you, then I might change into a text message a couple days later, or I might try one more time and then change to a text message. But say if texted twice, I might have texted you and say, Hey, just trying to reach out to you and Lisa on the phone. You probably heard we're you're we're going to Estonia with Assemblies of God World Missions. We're building our partnership team and you definitely came to mind. Could we grab coffee this week, maybe sometime next? That's all in a text message. And then say you don't answer that one, right? Then I might text you again and say something like, Hey, I didn't know if you got a chance to see the text message that I sent you. Let me know either way. Uh, hope you guys are doing great. And then I leave that text message alone for a couple of days and then I might try email. So change up mode of communication is really, really helpful. And cadence, I would say don't go into stalker mode, but also don't stick, don't go. I've I've talked to mine line. Yeah, but I've talked to machineries that literally try the phone like once and then they feel like they're done because they feel like they've already been rejected and ghosted. I'm like, no, no, no, that's not it. You have to go a little bit above and beyond that. Because again, their thing, your thing is not their thing. So you stay proactive in the midst of it. You space it out, you don't call daily. Um, but maybe every three or four days, three or you know, four days, five days.
SPEAKER_00That's where the stalker mode comes in. You're calling every single day.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's too much.
SPEAKER_00Uh yeah, people are gonna they're they're starting creeped out by that.
SPEAKER_01Yes. So think about what you would want to see from somebody that was reaching out to you that was serious about what they were doing, that was being a professional. Um, and then go go for that. But yeah, make it easy. Hey, no, in in any voicemails you leave or any communication, no pressure at all. Just wanted to give you a chance to hear what we're doing, what we're up to. We love you guys. No, no obligations, but we'd love to just hear either way if you're interested, something like that. And then know when to pause. After five to six uh attempts over a couple of weeks, you know, give a break. You can always, I like to create a list of people to circle back with. And I cannot tell you the amount of times as a coach I have heard missionaries say, I circled back with people that I was trying to reach out to in February and now it's July or now it's August or something. And for whatever reason, they're all interested in meeting now. Or I've just met with two of those people and they gave large amounts. So don't give up on anyone. Always be willing to circle back, put it on a list, let it breathe for a while, and then maybe reach out to them in a different mode of communication or maybe a different season. Maybe they've got a lot going on. Yeah. Maybe they're stressed out at work or they just had a baby or something like that. You know, whatever it is. You would probably know if they just had a baby, but you know what I mean. So we are gonna put in the show notes just a little bit more information on that, but yeah. But um All right, Jen.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, my anxiety has been building prior episode here. So uh here we did a little phone call. Okay, real quick. Okay, all right. We're gonna do this the old school style. So ring ring, ring ring. Hello. Hey Jin, this is Josh Sears. How are you?
SPEAKER_01Hey, buddy. It's been a minute. What's up, guy? How you doing?
SPEAKER_00You're doing well, doing well. You got a couple minutes to talk?
SPEAKER_01Yes, my guy, I do.
SPEAKER_00Good. How's the kiddos doing?
SPEAKER_01Oh my gosh, they're good. They're growing like weeds too fast. And Merrick still, even though it's been a minute, still says 6'7.
SPEAKER_00Still uses that? Yeah, he's still using it. I thought that was a good one.
SPEAKER_01I know, it was done, but not to my nine-year-old. So he's still saying it. So what's up? How are you?
SPEAKER_00We're doing really well. We're doing really well. Things are going well, you know, really, really busy. Um, that's actually kind of the reason I was calling you today. We did we sent you a letter about a week ago. Did you get a chance to see that?
SPEAKER_01I did. I read it briefly. Um, I yes. Tell me, uh tell me again what what I know you guys are going somewhere.
SPEAKER_00Yes, absolutely. That's kind of why we're busy so much right now. So we're about to make a major transition.
SPEAKER_01Oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_00Um, we're actually gonna be moving our family to Brazil. Um, we're taking an assignment with the Semasagal World Missions as as career missionaries to work in in Brazil and work along the Amazon River. And we were thinking about that, thinking about our partnership team for finances, for prayer, uh, and people that we really value. We would love to be have be a part of that team. And you and Zach actually were some of the first ones that came to mind.
SPEAKER_03Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_00And uh, we wanted to sit down and see if you guys had some time to get together over coffee. Maybe we can go to Chick-fil-A, the kids can play in the play place, and we can sit there and chat or whatever that looks like. Yeah. Um, and talk about financial and prayer partnership. Would you guys have time for that?
SPEAKER_01I think so. We, you know, we would love to have you guys over for dinner or something. I know. So here's the deal. This coming week is spring break, and then the week after that, Zach starts up the we are our business is very seasonal. Okay. So it is a very busy um month for us. Okay. So the the answer is not no, it's just not yet. Um, because we need to wait until our schedules clear out a little bit. But and I don't know that we'd be and we'd be able to give right now, but we would love to just have you guys over for dinner and hear about what you're doing.
SPEAKER_00No, we would absolutely love to get together for dinner and talk about this some more because like I said, it's it's not just the finances, it's the prayer as well. Yeah. And so having you guys be able to pray for us and know how to pray for us is so important and have you guys part of our team is is incredibly valuable. So um, could I maybe shoot you a text in a couple of weeks and we'll see how the schedule looks once things are kind of starting to slow down, hopefully.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So we will be in the throes of craziness like around the 25th, which is in a couple of of weeks. So if you maybe wait until that first week of April or maybe even the second, and just throw me a text message, and then maybe we can get something on the calendar once we've caught our breath. Okay. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I'll I'll shoot for right after Easter then. Okay. Right after Easter, I'll shoot you a text message and we'll get something on the calendar.
SPEAKER_01I love that. Thanks, Jash.
SPEAKER_00Hey, thanks, Jen. I appreciate your time. All right. See ya. Bye.
SPEAKER_01You did it. You did it. You did it.
SPEAKER_00I didn't die.
SPEAKER_01Good job. Good job.
SPEAKER_00All right, guys. Well, this has been um, I think one of the really important episodes here talking about the phone call. Really, the bottom line is these phone calls and text messages are just tools to get that face-to-face appointment, right? Where the ask and the partnership actually happen. So please don't shortcut the process as we go through this. Yep. So, the next episode we're going to do is we're going to talk about doing the appointment. Woo woo. Where we actually get down to the face to face conversation about sharing your vision and making the ask. And 75 to 90% of the people say that that is the way to go. So make sure you tune in next time. We appreciate you listening to the Funded Inscent podcast with Jen and Josh. Thanks, guys.