How to Do Phone Banking: A Step-by-Step Process

Phone banking serves as an effective method of communication for political campaigns and advocacy groups. It involves volunteers or staff making calls to individuals to convey messages, gather information, and encourage specific actions. Its purpose is to facilitate broad outreach and engagement with potential supporters, voters, or constituents. It is a flexible tool for various campaign objectives, including voter identification, persuasion, and volunteer recruitment. This article outlines the step-by-step process for effective participation.

Getting Ready for Phone Banking

Preparation is key for a successful phone banking session. Individuals need a computer or tablet, a reliable internet connection, and a phone, often with a headset, to ensure clear communication. A quiet and organized workspace is beneficial, minimizing distractions for the caller and improving call quality.

Campaigns provide materials to their phone banking volunteers. These resources include a list of individuals to call, a script, and access to a data entry system or platform. Training covers the use of phone banking software, effective communication techniques, and common responses to anticipate. Campaigns often use web-based dialers or customer relationship management (CRM) systems to manage call lists and collect data.

Understanding the campaign’s goals for the phone banking session is important. Objectives can vary, from identifying supporters, persuading undecided voters, or recruiting new volunteers. For instance, a session might focus on a voter identification script to gauge support for a candidate or issue. Other sessions could prioritize getting out the vote (GOTV) efforts, mobilizing identified supporters to cast their ballots.

Engaging Callers

Making calls involves navigating the phone banking system and interacting with individuals on the call list. Upon logging into the system, volunteers access a dashboard displaying their assigned call list. The system automates dialing, connecting the volunteer only when a call is answered by a live person.

When a connection is made, the volunteer delivers the campaign’s message using the provided script. This script serves as a guide, outlining talking points, questions to ask, and potential responses. Active listening is important, allowing the volunteer to understand the respondent’s views and adapt the conversation while staying within the script’s framework. The goal is to facilitate a two-way conversation, not just to deliver a monologue.

Volunteers will encounter various responses, each requiring a specific approach. For supportive individuals, the conversation might involve confirming their commitment or asking for further engagement, such as volunteering. When speaking with undecided individuals, the focus shifts to providing relevant information and addressing concerns. Hostile or uncooperative callers should be handled politely, often by ending the call respectfully. Disconnected numbers or voicemails require specific actions, such as marking the number as “disconnected” in the system or leaving a concise, pre-approved message.

Accurate recording of interaction details and responses within the phone banking system is an important step. After each call, the volunteer selects a disposition code from a dropdown menu, indicating the outcome (e.g., “Supporter,” “Undecided,” “Wrong Number,” “Voicemail”). Additional notes, such as specific concerns raised by the individual or commitments made, are entered into designated text fields. This data collection is crucial for the campaign to track progress, refine strategies, and target future outreach efforts.

Concluding Your Phone Banking Session

After completing calls, submitting recorded data within the phone banking system is important. This often involves reviewing the entries for accuracy and ensuring all required fields are populated. The system may have a “submit” or “finalize” button to transfer the collected information to the campaign’s central database. This ensures that the data gathered is integrated for analysis and future use.

Once data submission is complete, volunteers should log out of the phone banking platform. This action secures access to the campaign’s sensitive information and prevents unauthorized use. Many systems have a clear “log out” button.

If any technical issues arose during the session, reporting them to the campaign organizers is important. This feedback helps the campaign troubleshoot system glitches and improve the phone banking experience for other volunteers. General feedback on the script, common caller questions, or session flow can also be valuable for campaign refinement.