Increase the Number of Host Families by Using Sales Strategies and Closing the Deal Presenters: Melanie Moseley and Stephen Rutherford

Explore two different approaches for securing host families a.Mass b.Direct Contact Review strategies to “close the deal” and overcome “objections” Objectives

Participate and engage! Share your best practices with your peers. Be open to new ideas and STAY POSITIVE Please mute yourself for good sound quality Use the chat box to ask questions or raise your hand There will be more time at the end for questions Powerpoint will be shared as a resource Tips for this training

Focuses on building up base of potential hosts Less focus on relationships with potential hosts One phone call with host family Other staff focus relationship building with AR (not family) Frees up FD time for other tasks to “close the deal” Recruiter: Different Approaches

Find targeted schools (community) all teachers Of 32 teachers who respond that they want more information, ONE will host Best Practices Initial =short and simple Social media MUST be up to date Communications Web- Based

1. Research the school website; find the Superintendent's address 2. Look for the patterns- ex. Stephen Rutherford – 4. Find teachers’ names in EVERY school (do not include administrators) 5. Use excel to follow the pattern 6. Once the list is built, copy and paste into extractor Creating an address

Would your family be interested in hosting a high school foreign exchange student for the 2015/2016 school year? You can choose to host a boy or girl, and what country they come from. We also offer a Study Abroad Program for high school students and teachers. Initial Dear Melanie, Please remove me from the list. Thank you. Response: Thank you Amy, I won’t again. Have a good day. Melanie, No problem. I checked out your website, what a great organization and an awesome opportunity for students to expand their horizons! Glad an organization like this exists. Take care, Amy Follow up, even when rejected: Examples

From “…If you don’t mind, would you please keep me posted on Z. D.’s journey? I want to make sure she is placed somewhere and does not have to leave early. My husband and I have discussed if it would be possible for us to host at some point. We have a five month old baby (our first) at home though, so we don’t know if now would be a good time. We certainly do not want to see her leave Texas though, so we would like to keep track of the process. ” Keep an eye on clues to help you respond: Interpreting s

Know your target audience Short seconds Be yourself and be sincere 1 st - Create your “hook” 2 nd - Personal examples from your own experiences 3 rd - What can YFU offer to the person Last - Concrete next steps. WARNING- be careful of just directing people to website Direct Contact for HF Recruitment Elevator Speech

Questions to ask yourself to develop talking points Who am I and why do I love YFU? What does YFU offer? What are the benefits of joining our organization? What should the listener do as result of hearing this talk? What is the easy action step?

Practice your own Jot down some ideas to share: 1. A hook- making it local 2. Personal experiences and examples 3. What can YFU offer the person 4. Next steps to become a host family

Matching Students and Families Knowing the student in order to match to the family Knowing the family dynamic (outgoing, social, very relaxed, family oriented very controlling, etc) Be aware of ingrained biases gender ethnic racial age

Trust comes first Call -submitted application? Anticipate the normal fears Be ready to ask probing questions to find out the “objection” Validate the concern Identify and understand the Host Family’s TRUE objection Overcoming Objections

Our family is too busy Busy families are the best families. Our children are really young. Younger children are often the most enthusiastic about having an exchange student as an older “sibling.” Both parents work With most host families, both parents work. You mange to care for your own children by assigning chores and responsibilities. The same is true with an exchange student who becomes part of your family. Some Common Objections & Responses Responses

Smile in your voice Listen more, talk less Best Practices and Tips

??Questions?? Questions about Closing the Deal? Contact: Melanie Moseley Or Stephen Rutherford