Phone Calls: The Art and Science of Contact

This article by Jill Young appears in the Distance Ministry Journal. This is a great intro to phone coaching. It is a bit long, but a great read.

The first time I gained an understanding of distance ministry was talking with a Southeast LINC staff woman at a regional staff gathering. I asked her more about what she did and I was ntrigued. She told me about all the students she brought to Christmas conference and how her contact with them was mostly by phone. I said, “How come we don’t hear more about this?!”

When my journey on staff found me at a desk on the Orlando Student LINC team in 1995, I felt like a freshman in college. I was excited but didn’t know anything. Even though I had been on the field six years, I was ignorant about how this distance ministry thing would work. I was put through the crash course on how someone goes through the process of contact to filtered leader.

Then came the first phone call. Ring, ring. Panicked, I looked at my LINC teammates and said, “What do I do?” Julie Stanikas said, “Pick it up, you know what to do.” Ring. My hand lifted the receiver. “Student LINC, this is Jill. How can I help you?” And believe it or not, I did know what to do. I went through the telephone interview sheet and informed the person of who we are and how we could help. Then I dropped our “first mailing” in the mail.

A campus ministry is born
Now, I can’t say whether that first phone call was Josh or not, but within my first week, Josh did call the 800 number. Our receptionist rang my phone, “Jill, there is young man named Josh on the line and he is interested in starting a ministry on his campus.” Yes, it was that straightforward.

Josh, a sophomore at the time, was a student at Jacksonville University. There are about 2,000 students at this private, liberal school. His voice let you know that this guy had a future in either radio or speaking. He was articulate as I asked him how he found out about us and asked him how Campus Crusade could help him.

He explained he was frustrated with the other ministries on campus because they didn’t reach out to the unbelievers. He also shared about his calling to be a pastor someday. He said a former staff member told him to give Campus Crusade a call to see if we would help. That’s where we began.

We set up a time for a weekly phone appointment immediately because I had a good feeling that Josh’s application would be fine. I scheduled Josh on Fridays because I knew that talking then would end my week on an encouraging note. He was familiar with the Four Spiritual Laws and already sharing his faith weekly so my training with him over the phone was brief in this respect. Next, I went through the Holy Spirit booklet over the phone. I told him to have a pen handy so he could draw lines in the booklet. He was so thankful to go through this booklet. The next Friday I asked him if he had a chance to look at it again and he said, “That booklet has really impacted me. I have read through it daily.” I was so jazzed!…

The Art
One thing I’ve learned about coaching key leaders over the phone is relearning what it means to listen. When I talk to someone in person, I pick up on visual cues as well as listen to what the person is saying. On the phone, I find I must pick up audible cues.

How does the person sound? Excited, down, encouraged or discouraged? Why is there silence? Is she distracted, thinking, or just not paying attention? What is the noise in the background? A TV, radio, people talking in the hall, interference? Why is there hesitation? Does he agree, isagree or have a better idea of what to do? If I don’t listen for the cues, I’m not building a relationship with my key leader. If I don’t ask questions based on the cues, I miss out on the character building moments that come from being in ministry together.

One time, I was talking with a student and heard the clicking of a keyboard in the background. I asked, “What’s that noise I hear?” He said, “Oh, I’m typing.” Wanting to believe the best, I said, “Are you taking notes on our conversation?” He said, “No, I’m doing my e-mail. I can listen and do e-mail at the same time.” I told him that I’m sure he could but that I’d appreciate him giving me his full attention because it was like him talking to two people at the same time. One of us would feel left out because his attention was elsewhere. He understood and has never done that since.

Another time, I was talking with a student and she was telling me about a difficult situation and then she stopped mid-sentence. I wasn’t sure what happened, so I asked, “Are you crying?” There was a muffled, “Mm-hmm,” on the other end of the line. I wanted to jump into the phone and put an arm around her shoulder and give her a big hug. Since I couldn’t do that, I told her my intentions and sent an e-mail later with some encouragement.

The Science
The appointment itself is similar to appointments I had on campus. I think through ahead of time what items to cover. It seems this is more crucial on the phone since I get one shot with not just a student, but the student leader. Another benefit is that the student or volunteer is usually excited to hear from me because they need direction, encouragement and training.

Generally, the first 10-15 minutes is devoted to seeing how they are doing and listening for clues for what could be beneath. Many times I find people are much more open on the phone than in person because of the safety of distance. This helps since I don’t have the “down time” to just hang out with them. The next 30-45 minutes I use to coach them in the next step of training for them personally and/or just talking about the next step for the movement on their campus…

My frequent outline for an appointment is using the critical path elements as a springboard for questions. How is prayer going? What’s happening with people sharing their faith? What material are the leaders using in cell groups? Who is the point-person for recruiting people to Christmas conference?…

The rest of the article where Jill explains benefits can be seen here.