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Show Notes

Today on 7- Figure Fundraising,  host Trevor Bragdon interviews Joey Coleman.  Joey is the author of Never Lose a Customer Again, an award-winning speaker, and a recognized expert in customer experience design with a wide range of clients in both for-profit and nonprofit spaces.  

As the conversation begins, Trevor asks Joey about his background.  Joey took a non-traditional path into his current line of work, having held positions in many very different fields.  Through his diverse areas of experience, he found a common thread: he needed to understand the human condition and to master the art of persuasion.  After coming to this realization, Joey also determined that his central interest was in the work of retention.  While not necessarily very attention-grabbing and “cool,” retention is crucial and often under-valued and is one piece of the overall importance of customer experience. 

Moving forward, Joey and Trevor turn their attention squarely to the subject of customer experience.  Joey clarifies that his insight applies to listeners with both for-profit and nonprofit organizations and that he sees references to “customers” and “donors” as interchangeable because individuals in both groups are humans.  He then discusses where people can go wrong in relationships with donors/customers, focusing on the failure to build strong long-term relationships.  Addressing leaders of nonprofit organizations, he points out the need to sell the nonprofit itself, rather than the cause, and to focus not only on communities served but on donors.

Continuing along the same vein, Joey provides advice on bridging the gap between leader and donor experience.  Joey speaks about the importance of “the first 100 days,” mindset, and looking at the current donor journey.  Leaders should also be conscious of when donors will likely want to give or attend events, hold the right benchmarks, commit to creating a remarkable donor experience, and cut through the noise in a potential donor’s day by offering a transformational rather than transactional experience.     

Even right now, there are practical steps listeners can take to change the customer experience provided by their nonprofits.  Joey recommends mapping, having honest conversations with donors and would-be donors, and reexamining communication methods in light of the 6 tools he suggests.  As he describes these tools, Joey clarifies the dangers of an over-reliance on email communication, the value of a good email, and a thoughtful gift (see John Ruhlin’s Giftology for more on gifts), problems with thank-you messages, and the place of the texted selfie video.  

In fact, Joey’s final piece of advice to listeners - the thing he recommends they do today - is shoot the selfie video he has just described.  While he expects only 20% of listeners will do this, he promises that doing it will make a significant difference for that 20%!

Key Ideas 

• 5:06 - Joey dives into a discussion of customer experience, focuses on the failure to develop strong relationships and how to do better.

• 16:54 - What can nonprofit leaders do to bridge the gap?

• 30:49 - Joey shares specific advice for listeners to apply to their nonprofits.

• 48:30 - What is the one thing Joey recommends listeners do right now?