How to train volunteers to make high-quality calls 

Whether you’re working a state House campaign or a presidential race, phone calls will make up a large portion of your volunteers’ activity. Training them properly is directly tied to their success — and yours.

Moreover, preparing them to be representatives of your campaign will improve both volunteer morale and longevity, and you’ll reap better results from their efforts.

Phone banking, when used effectively, can be the difference between winning or losing an election. Make sure your volunteers are living up to their potential.

I asked the quality assurance manager from our firm’s national call center for some concise tips on how to successfully train volunteers to make high-quality calls. Here are three keys to success:

1. Make each call personal
Don’t let the volunteers sound like they’re reading a script. A caller needs to be confident and bring a lot of energy and enthusiasm to each call. Make sure they speak clearly.

While each call is personal, volunteers must stick to the campaign’s script. So make sure your script sounds like a real conversation and cover all of the information your audience needs. Even experienced volunteers perform better with a good script.

And don’t forget to smile, that can be heard through the telephone. 

2. Practice your script with volunteers before they pick up the phone
Roleplaying is also an excellent way to make sure the call has the correct feel and can help provide volunteers with basic information about the organization or candidate for whom they’re working. On the call, they must be able to answer general questions without delay or risk losing credibility.

3. Don’t neglect the sign-off
Be sure volunteers sign off with the complete legal close and don’t rush to get off the phone. Going off script is one of the easiest ways for a call to end in failure. 

Aaron Windeknecht is the new media manager for Campaign Headquarters and creator of “The Comical Conservative” Facebook page.