The Prospect Process

When going through the prospect process, it is imperative for you to understand what a prospect is. To put it simply, a prospect is an individual who you think is a possible candidate to become an official member, volunteer, or donor at your Village!

When an individual applies to become a prospect, you as an ADMIN will receive an email immediately. This email will include the name of the prospect, which you can then search in your search bar.

NOTE:

The prospect will also automatically receive an email, thanking them for their application. A task will then be added in your "Prospects" as well as within your "Prospect TO-DO List" to contact the applicant within 7 days.

Search for your prospect in the search bar and click on your prospect's name.

Once you click on their name, you will be taken to their profile. Click on the "Prospect" tab.

You can now fill out the user's rating, stage, and source. So what do these terms mean?

- "Rating:" How interested you think the prospect is in your Village. 

NOTE:

This is 100% subjective! You are using your own opinion and judgement. When filling in this category, you will be given the choice to choose amongst the letters A+, A, B+, B, C+, and C. A+ represents that your prospect is HIGHLY interested, while C represents that you do not think they are very interested at all. This can further aid you in prioritizing certain prospects.

- "Stage" is where your Village is at in regards to recruiting the prospective member or volunteer. The "Stage" identification will help you, as the Village admin to understand where their prospect is at. Have they contacted you? Registered for the website?  

- "Source:" This is where your prospect heard about your Village. Did they find out about you on the web? Through a friend (3rd party recommend)? Or even through a file?

After you click "Edit," click on the "Prospect" tab. To make the user a prospect, click "Create Prospect for the User."

However, if the user is not yet a prospect, you will see the following screen:

In order to mark them as a prospect, click "Create Prospect for the User" and then you can fill out their rating, stage, and source.

After you input all of your "Prospect Interest" information, click "Save Prospect Info."

You will then see a yellow banner that says "Saved."

Now, you can begin working on your "Prospects To-Do List!"

Go to "ADMIN" --> "People Management" --> "Prospect TO-DO List"

After clicking "Prospect TO-DO List," you will see a list of all of your inputted prospects as well as their category, task, name, rating, source, due date, and comments. So now you may ask, what do these things mean? Here is a list of simplified definitions of a few of the key headings:

- "Category:" The broad category of where the prospect is/what the individual is interested in becoming. For example, the individual wants to become a prospective member or volunteer, the individual is considering renewing their membership, etc. In other words, you can think of the 
"Category" as the end goal for the prospective member or volunteer.

- "Task:" What activity you as an ADMIN needs to do for the prospect. Examples include contacting a recently expired member, sending a welcome email, etc.

After seeing your list, click "Edit" to the right of whichever prospect you would like to make changes for. 

You will then see the following page where you can edit the "Rating," "Stage," and/or "Source" by clicking the little arrows on the right of each dropdown bar:

You can also edit the task in the yellow rectangle upon typing in a task description, choosing a category, choosing when the task is scheduled for, and writing any notes you would like to make. Make sure to click "Save" after you make your edits!

NOTE:

A prospect task is not the same as a vetting step. Vetting steps are the steps you must follow to check an individual's background. The vetting steps are part of the volunteer screening process and needs to be accomplished for a prospective volunteer to become active. In contrast, prospect tasks are for you to personally use to keep track of your prospects. For example, a prospect task can be something like sending a brochure to a prospect. These tasks do not need to be accomplished for the prospect to become active.

After clicking "Save," you will see your updated Prospect information on the "Prospects TO-DO List," and the updated information will also appear on your "Prospects TO-DO List" Report like shown below:

As you can see, all of the data you have inputted into your "Prospect Interest Form" is now shown on your "Prospects To-do List Report!"

You will also now be able to find your Prospect within the user's respective group category. Go to "ADMIN" --> "People Management" --> "Groups." From there, you will want to click on the group that your prospect belongs to. In this specific example, Nicole Choi is in the "Prospective Members" group.

Once you click on the group, you will find your prospect in the "List of People."

After this step, we highly recommend that you scroll all the way down and click "Synchronize with Mailchimp" even if there is a checkmark showing that the prospect is synched with Mailchimp and their valid email. 

Once you click "Synchronize with Mailchimp", click "OK" to the confirmation pop-up.

You will then see a yellow banner that says that you have successfully synchronized your entire mailing list!

NOTE:

It is also possible for a prospect to be both a prospective member AND prospective volunteer. When you choose the category of the task, if you choose a category for volunteers, this person will be considered a prospective volunteer, if you choose a category for members, this same person will also be considered a prospective member.

Check out this live demo: https://support.helpfulvillage.com/hc/en-us/articles/5604973635479-Live-demo-The-prospect-process