Union Organizing Tips

Insights for union organizers on the move.

About

Union Organizing Tips .Com is here to help with ideas and insights of interest to union organizers like yourself. Created by award-winning author Bob Oedy, it’s a space to share field experience, and best practices, accumulated over nearly two decades. The industry has changed a great deal in that short time. We’ll need to stay on top of things in order to be effective. Let’s connect online @unionorganizer . Together we can leave a legacy of worker solidarity and justice that lasts.

""Prosperity belongs to those who learn new things the fastest."

Paul Zane Pilzer

Economist

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Union Organizer Online Training

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Phone Call Exercises to Build Instant Rapport

Have you ever noticed how easy it is to tell if a person is excited to speak with you on the phone? Even without the benefit of body language 9 out of 10 times you can tell if the person on the other end is smiling or not. Now you can use that knowledge for your own benefit when speaking with contractors and candidates on the phone. Try these 3 simple exercises to help you connect and create instant rapport in 60 seconds or less.

Exercise 1: Smile when answering the phone.

Try it and see if it makes a difference. Having read about this technique a friend decided to give it a try. People immediately noticed the change and complimented him on his uplifting attitude. It’s especially good for deflecting negative energy when making cold calls. You’ll find you will be less affected by frustrated callers and you might even cheer people up.

Exercise 2: Use the person’s name.

People love to hear their name because it demonstrates that you are listening and personalizes the conversation. It shows a certain amount of respect and admiration and also shows that you have above average people skills. Go ahead; use the persons name during a phone call.

Exercise 3: Tell the person you are glad they called.

Let the other person know how much you appreciate what they did whether they took your call or called you back. Little things make a big difference. If you don’t say it they may never know. There’s no need to go overboard, just remind the person you care.

Working the phones is like delivering any professional business presentation. It takes practice to master the techniques needed to gain instant rapport. The more you do it the more comfortable you will become. Soon you will be making great first impressions, connecting on a whole new level with contractors and candidates alike. Add these exercises to your routine and you should see results within a few days.

Organizing Quiz: Are You Following Up with Candidates?

It’s easy to get distracted as an organizer. Every day brings more fires to put out so to speak. We get pushed and pulled in different directions and this creates the possibility for a candidate to fall through the cracks. Are you doing enough to follow up with candidates?

My guess is that there are opportunities for greater communication.

Take This Simple 3-Question Construction Organizing Quiz to Discover How Good Your Follow Up Is

1) Do you return all your calls?

People expect to be contacted in a short period of time. If you don’t it won’t take long before you get a bad reputation. By not returning calls you are sending a message that says, “you really aren’t that important to me.” This may not be the case, but there’s an assumption. Imagine the opportunities you could be missing out on. Return every call and you will gain the respect of your candidates.

2) Do you mail out follow up letters?

People will forget most of what you said on the phone. They will get lost on the way to your office. Some won’t bring the documentation you require. Others will feel confused or neglected, not sure what you expected them to do next. Here’s an opportunity to set the record straight by highlighting what was said in your telephone conversation. Provide a checklist of needed paperwork, an explanation of how you intend to help the person. You might even provide a map to your location with office hours and major cross streets. This will help to reinforce your instructions.

3) Do you gather enough information?

So, you have the persons first and last name, but do you have their address, phone number and email address? How about knowing what contractors the person has worked for, their level of education and how much is being earned? Think how much better you will be able to serve the person if you had more ways to keep in touch. Give yourself plenty of options for contacting the person and give them options for contacting you.

There are some great reasons for doing this. For example; when things get busy you will rely on your database to fill positions or seek referrals of friends and coworkers. If a question comes up about a certain employer you will know just who to contact to get the answer. You will have a better understanding of who the players in your industry are and better communication with those affected.

If you found yourself not taking advantage of follow up opportunities in my quiz, you’re not alone. If you want the benefit of more members, improved satisfaction and, higher percentage of retention then you need to take action today.

Favorite Labor Quotes

“Business Agents and Shop Stewards are the unacknowledged legislators of the World.” – Thomas Geoghegan

“The fight is never about grapes or lettuce. It is always about people.” – Cesar Chavez

“In our glorious fight for civil rights, we must guard against being fooled by false slogans, as ‘right-to-work.’ It provides no ‘rights’ and no ‘works.’ Its purpose is to destroy labor unions and the freedom of collective bargaining… We demand this fraud be stopped.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

“The important role of union organizations must be admitted: their object is the representation of the various categories of workers, their lawful collaboration in the economic advance of society, and the development of the sense of their responsibility for the realization of the common good.” – Pope Paul VI

“The essence of trade unionism is social uplift. The labor movement has been the haven for the dispossessed, the despised, the neglected, the downtrodden, the poor.” – A. Phillup Randolph

“What does labor want? We want more schoolhouses and less jails; more books and less arsenals; more learning and less vice; more leisure and less greed; more justice and less revenge; in fact, more of the opportunities to cultivate our better natures, to make manhood more noble, womanhood more beautiful, and childhood more happy and bright.” – Samuel Gompers

Union Organizing Books

The Million Dollar Organizer

Get these 365 tips for professional union organizers and kick things into high gear. This book was written for organizers intent on mastering the subject of union organizing. It’s a little intense, a bit controversial, and it might save your career.

BIGGER LABOR

A true crash course for construction union organizers that will have you up and running fast. Full of innovative tips specifically written with construction union organizers in mind.