July 8, 2005
In this Issue:
Dear Friend,
By now, many of you have called our support line to be greeted by a very strange thing indeed - a new male voice. Yes, we've hired a new person to help out with customer support: Introducing Zach!
I know there's a comfort level involved in letting us help you with your questions, and many clients will continue to want to talk to Jessica (the same way many of you still wanted to Cheryl when Jessica first came on board, and to me when Cheryl first started.)
But we promise Zach is a really smart and helpful guy - and you can help us and him by letting him help solve your quandaries. But don't worry -- Jessica's not going away! Zach will help free up Jessica's time to expand our Continuing Education program (see below!)
Growing our company is one of the biggest challenges I face everyday. At one point not too long ago, I was our sales team, our entire support center, our entire development team, and I decided what changes to make in the software.
Now, we have 10 employees and the potential for much greater problems with sharing information and quickly responding clients. The challenge I face is ensuring that the larger staff translates into better service for our clients.
While I haven't figured out all the answers, I have found a few secrets:
- Lots of inter-office Communication (especially between support and development)
- An emphasis on client service, especially remembering that our clients are working on "campaign time."
- Taking advantage of the variable skills of my staff.
- Maximizing the economies of scale (how can this project we're doing for one client help out lots of clients?)
Most importantly, continuing to talk and work with our clients -- please keep the great ideas (and the praise, complaints and challenges) coming!
Jenny, I got your number.
I need to make you mine.
Jenny, don't change your number,
8-6-7-5-3-0-9...
Tommy Tutone made it easy for the whole world to remember Jenny’s number-- too bad he didn’t work for the FEC. With so many numbers to cram into your brain, what’s one more? We say it’s one more too many! That’s why we have the FEC ID # lookup.
Need the FEC ID number for that committee or candidate? It’s easy!
- Click on Help and select FEC ID# Lookup.
- You can search by committee name or candidate name. Fill in the appropriate field.
- Click Search.
You should see a list of all the committees or candidates with that name. Now you can add the FEC ID number to organization and individual records without the hassle of calling around trying to find their number.
If only finding a good pizza place was as easy.
First, the obvious: running a successful campaign is expensive. The legitimacy of a candidate is directly proportional to the size of his coffers. If you are the candidate, out of political necessity, fundraising is and should be your priority at the beginning, middle, and end of your campaign. And at every stage in between.
However, as most of us learn from our parents at a very young age, asking for money is not as easy as it sounds. When designing a fundraising strategy, a candidate must consider 1) who to ask, 2) who should be asking, and 3) how to ask.
WHO TO ASK
1. Friends and
Family: More likely than not, your friends and family are the
ones who most understand your vision and support your objectives. While
you will probably not depend on them for the majority of your financial backing,
your friends and family are a great resource to build your bank account, and by
extension, credibility. Because it takes money to make money, this group
operates as an effective springboard to sell yourself to the next group you want
to target.
2. Issues
People: There are many types of issues people—labor unions,
business groups, religious groups, women’s groups, ethnic groups, environmental
coalitions, etc. Start with the groups most aligned with your message—sell
to them that their concern is your concern. Then move to the groups
partially aligned with your message—remember, no group of people is completely
homogenous and politics often makes strange bedfellows. Examine your
campaign’s issues. There just might be people you have not considered as
potential supporters who share your concern on that one topic. And do not
forget one of the most important groups of people to target—the people who hate
your opponent. Whether they support your message or not, they very well
might support you financially only because you are not him (or her).
3. Influence Buyers: These are people who
like to win. Investing money into a campaign is just that—an
investment. People don’t want to bet on the wrong horse. This is
especially true of the big donors. They will wait and see if you have
established yourself, your campaign and your assets. If it appears you are
a credible candidate, one with a chance of forwarding their objectives, they
will put their money on you. Again, you must establish yourself first by
building your money with the first two groups so that when you decide to sell
your message to the deep pockets and other influence buyers, you represent a
winning commodity.
Read more in CompleteCampaigns.com's CampaignGuide.
Focus On is our new series of email tutorials. We will show you a few overlooked features in our system. We encourage you to print this document and keep it next to your computer, to follow along easily through the lesson.
In this edition, we show you all the nuts and bolts of the Broadcast Email - how to get set up, how to run it, and what your options are.
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