A Lesson About Sales

[Listen to an audio version of this blog here.]

“She’s losing them,” I thought to myself. I was sitting beside one of my colleagues at a large boardroom table that overlooked the Pacific ocean. We were meeting with key decision makers at a company that had the capacity to give us a large sum of money. I was somewhat new to the world of fundraising, and I was mostly there to ascertain if the company’s grantmaking aligned with our organization’s mission. My colleague came prepared with a folder of handouts, talking points, business cards. I came with a tiny notepad and a years worth of organization data in my brain.

The meeting was set for an hour, and my colleague began by talking and talking and…talking. The executives across the table from us listened politely but I could tell that their interest was waning. I was nervous to step into the conversation; these weren’t my contacts after all. But after enduring her monologue for over 20 minutes, I butted in, “What do you hope to do with your philanthropic dollars?” I asked. It was a simple question, one we should have started with, but we hadn’t gotten around to it yet. The CEO, who was new and excited to make an impact, launched into his vision for the company. We listened, and through listening, were able to understand how our priorities aligned. They ended up cutting us a big check, and I learned something crucial about fundraising…