Getting a hold of your blood donors can be a tough job. Everyone seems to be a lot more busy these days, making it hard to reach them and let them know you need their blood donations. However, there is one terrific way you can leverage your blood donor recruitment process to help get a hold of your donors: segmenting your donor base.
Here are few examples we have used at Incept:
Segmenting By Donation Time Elapsed: Segmenting your database by the amount of time that has elapsed since a donor last donated—the “Donation Time Elapsed”—allows your script to present your tele-recruiter with the most important information to that donor. Best practices suggest classifying donors using the following categories:
- New Donors: No previous donations on file
- Current Donors: 0-24 months since last donation
- Lapsed Donors: 24-48 months since last donation
- Super-Lapsed Donors: 48+ months since last donation
Donors’ response rates and show rates are affected by the amount of time it’s been since they last donated. Current donors, for example, are typically the most responsive and have the highest show rates.
Segmenting by Phone Type: Segmenting your database by whether the phone number on record is a day, evening, or cell number allows your tele-recruiters or predictive dialer to choose the best time of day to place the call.
The past 30 years have seen the rise of the mobile phone and decline of the landline. This ongoing shift has significantly impacted people’s behavior. It has changed the way we carry out nearly every aspect of daily life. Calling mobile phones is a great way to help boost your contact rate with your donors.
Segmenting by Donor Site: Segmenting your database by the sites where donors have donated allows you to determine the best location to reschedule. After all, previous donation sites are likely to be convenient the next time as well.
Segmenting Donors by Prime Time Contact: Calling donors at the prime time is critical. Calling when they are sleeping, making dinner, or working will frustrate them as well as your tele-recruiters. It will also lower productivity rates and waste precious resources.
Your database needs to record the times when prior conversations with donors have taken place. This allows your dialer to call donors only at appropriate times. It also allows you to determine your area’s “prime time” for staffing purposes.
Implementing these strategies into your blood donor recruitment strategy will help your recuiters get a hold of more contacts and bring in more blood donors.
Try it, and watch your results increase!
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So we have been talking about the impact that live coaching with our Conversational Marketing™ Experts (CMEs) has on the quality of calls they produce along with their initial productivity.
Some people just seem made for this job. They have the gift of gab, their words flow smoothly, and they just have a naturally keen ability to deal with people. Others need some encouragement and development to reach that status (and that is OK) – your job as a coach (more so as a leader) is to identify the good things your Conversational Marketing Expert (CME) does and foster a sense of collaboration and desire to keep improving.
In my opinion, one of the most crucial parts of coaching a Conversational Marketing Expert (CME) is following up with them and checking on what you asked them to improve on in your initial coaching session.
Here are some of my own methods that help me develop my Conversational Marketing Experts:
High-impact Follow-up Coaching Tips
- At the end of your first coaching session, set a date and time to do a follow-up, and stick to it.
- Ask your rep to take ownership of their areas that need work, and ask for a date by which you can expect improvement to have taken place. Remember to be reasonable and S.M.A.R.T about goal setting, and hold them to it on their coaching form.
- Have a specific area of improvement that you are listening for based upon your initial coaching. Example: Second-attempting, rebutting, information verification, etc.
- Reinforce the good things your rep already does in his or her calls.
- Personally take a few calls for them, and have them listen to you doing what you want them to work on and how to do it correctly.
- Begin to pinpoint specific areas that need to be improved upon by focusing on metrics that directly affect back-end performance.
- Continue to listen in and do live monitoring specifically on actionable items that you and your rep have agreed needs improved on over the next day(s) following your follow-up.
There you have it. It is as easy as that. Coaching and training people to improve can be an expensive cost to any contact center, but what price do you put on creating high-quality calls? Do a majority of your reps make calls that you can show your clients without shame? If you want to be able to say yes to that question, consider how much of your coaching is actually followed up upon.
What are some ways that you make sure your reps are improving their call quality?
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Scheduling appointments only matters if donors show up for their appointments. Reminding donors of their responsibilities maximizes your show rate, which has obvious and direct impacts on your productive donor rate.
Reminder calls are important for several reasons:
- They ensure that donors remember appointments.
- They ensure that donors have correct details of where and when they are donating.
- They decrease deferral rates by reminding donors to eat well and drink plenty of fluids.
- They provide another opportunity to share details of promotions and loyalty programs.
- They provide an opportunity to reschedule when donors can no longer keep appointments.
Reminder calls for most donations should be made the day before the appointment. The exception is for platelet donations. These reminder calls should be made 3 days in advance so that donors can be reminded to avoid aspirin-containing products.
Live conversations increase productive donor rates. Make reminder calls around the same time of day as when you originally spoke to set the appointment. If you reached a donor at 7:00 p.m. last time, there is a greater chance that he or she will be available for a reminder call at 7:00 p.m. If you do reach a donor’s voicemail, however, leave a brief message with all pertinent information.
In either case, you may also consider supplementing reminder calls with reminder emails and text messages.
Try implementing these tips into you blood donor recruitment strategy, and watch your results increase!
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Let’s take into consideration some simple facts before we start:
- People are not using landline telephones as often as in the past.
- The population of eligible blood donors in America is shrinking.
What is a blood center with an ailing current donor base to do? Prospect for new donors.
I consider Incept to be the “A-team” of recruiting brand new donors. This is not simply because I myself do a lot of prospecting recruitment, but because we have so much experience recruiting new blood donors through cold calling, especially over the last three years.
As many blood centers across the nation deal with the decline in donors due to age, illness, or other assorted reasons, the need for blood doesn’t diminish. In the field of blood donor recruitment, Incept has specialized in prospecting brand new donors for clients who desire to build up their current donor base, as well as reactivate lapsed donors who might not have donated in quite some time.
When prospecting for new blood donors, here are some things that Incept keeps in mind as an organization so that we can be realistically successful.
New Donors to Keep the Flow
- We train Conversational Marketing™ Experts (CMEs) who have strong back-end data, as well as personable conversational skills to be a prospecting program’s ambassadors.
- We become as familiar as we can with the area that we are calling so that we can sound credible and be able to give directions and guidance for new donors.
- We always shoot to schedule within 10 days. Data shows that a blood donor is much more likely to show up and actually donate if scheduled within this time frame.
- We always maximize the call records by appropriately rebutting, documenting information, and asking if anyone else in the house can donate.
- We specifically try to focus on appointments at donor centers for a more direct impact but also are able to incorporate mobile drives into our pitch at the client’s request.
With just the above points it is easy to see why prospecting campaigns for a blood center’s tele-recruitment efforts can be worthwhile. As long as you make sure you aren’t simply running through the phone records you have to call, and you are making an earnest effort with your scheduling abilities, your blood center will see some type of increase in relation to its current donor base.
Even though prospecting is a cold calling style of tele-recruitment campaign, its success lies directly in your representative’s delivery of the pitch, sense of education about donating blood, and ability to make each call personal!
How do you educate your representatives on how to take a “cold call”?
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Today is World Red Cross Day! World Red Cross Day is celebrated each year, in honor of Henry Dunant, who founded the International Red Cross Red Crescent Movement nearly 150 years ago.
How can you celebrate? By rolling up your sleeve and making a lifesaving blood donation! There is always a consistent need for blood, and your single donation can save up to three lives!
Make an impact today, and celebrate World Red Cross Day by donating blood!
When a blood donor donates blood, if they are doing a whole blood donation, their red blood cells can be stored up to six weeks. However, there are debates on how accurate that time frame really is and if red blood cells lose their ability to transport oxygen before those six weeks.
“Blaze has completed a preclinical study at the Mayo Clinic and an initial clinical study at Henry Ford Hospital and plans to release a research-only version of the device late this year, according to CEO David Weaver.”
While being stored, there are various changes that happen to red blood cells. This device will be able to inform the hospital if the the blood is suitable for transfusion. It is projected that this device will become available for initial sales in 2015.
Good coaching has to be developmental but can also be fun. When you approach a Conversational Marketing™ Expert (CME) and ask them to make themselves unavailable for calls so you can coach them and you see their posture sink, you know you are dealing with a CME that has had some bad coaching experiences! The good news, though, is that you have the chance to deliver a coaching experience to the CME that has the power to help them improve their performance, as well as their morale, by making it developmental and fun at the same time.
There are some basic rules for good coaching that the CME will learn from, as well as enjoy:
- First, determine your intention before you even approach the CME. This is simple. Decide if you will be helping them set more appointments per hour, sound more conversational and natural, improve their conversational quality scores, etc.
- Second, create an environment that is not threatening or condescending. The best way to do this is to sit down beside the CME. Be able to talk to the CME eye to eye. Standing up while your CME is sitting creates a subliminal position of authority versus a subservient environment. The old looming-over-the-CME position creates a feeling of condescending communication or a one-sided conversation, and that is not the feeling you are going for. You want the CME to feel safe and relaxed. A safe relaxed CME is more open to feedback and naturally will have more of a feeling that you are there to help as opposed to criticize. Remember: you never want your CME to feel wrong or stupid. The minute you create that feeling, your CME will shut down on you, and your great advice will likely fall on deaf ears.
- Third, balance your feedback with positives as well as coaching opportunities. Think of it as a sandwich. Start with positives and compliments, move into coaching opportunities, and then wrap up with a couple more positives. This method starts out feeling great. It builds the CME’s confidence and allows them to relax when they realize you did not pull up a chair simply to tell them everything they do wrong or need to do better. The positives and compliments encourage them and tell them specific things they are doing great and equips them to duplicate them again for more positive reinforcement in the future. Now that they are open-minded and listening to you, transition into coaching opportunities. Never call coaching opportunities “negatives”! It’s human nature to want to avoid things that are negative. Instead, build off of the positives that you started with, and let the CME know that you heard some things in the calls that you think are great opportunities for the two of you to work together to make the CME even more awesome! Move into your coaching opportunities. Be clear and specific about why they are opportunities for improvement, tell them how they can make improvements, and then tell them the benefit of making the suggested improvements. From there, transition into the bottom bun of the sandwich: a couple more positives. Point out a couple more things that you think the CME does really well or that you really liked, and use them as a springboard to really strengthen the coaching opportunities and give them the confidence to work on the suggestions you gave them. It lets the CME know that you are there to help and that your intentions are to work with them and help them make the necessary adjustments.
- Lastly, create accountability. This is done by asking the CME if they have questions about anything you two just covered. Once the questions are answered, let them know that you are going to make a copy of the coaching form for them so they have something to refer to and that you will do a follow-up coaching in 5 days. Set a specific date for the follow up so that the CME is aware that there are expectations. Do it in a positive or encouraging way so that they look forward to it. Make sure to reinforce your confidence in them. Let them know you look forward to listening to their calls again and can’t wait to hear the great changes you discussed. This is a positive coaching style and typically gets very good results and great responses.
A few coaching experiences like this, and you will have CMEs actually asking you to coach them. Coaching does not have to be doom and gloom to get results. Give this approach a try, and you will see that you not only get better results but improved morale from your CMEs too. There’s not much better than happy CMEs that produce great results! In summary, if you want consistent performance improvements, let your coaching style Talk Results with this positive four-step process!
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In the moments prior to victory, we have all seen the scenes in the locker room where an athlete is doing his best to pump the team up and motivate them to take home the win. Sometimes I think I forget, as a person who uses spoken dialog as part of their job every day, how powerful, encouraging, and guiding such words can be in the development of a team or person.
I pride myself on being an Incept Saves Program Results Coach. Basically the job entails making sure that our Conversational Marketing™ Experts (CMEs) hit specific parts of their scripts, such as promotions, the need for certain blood types, and donation types as well as to make sure they truly are strengthening the relationship with the donor in the correct process. No matter what, you have to remember: there is no “i” in team, but there is in win! Needless to say, the process of coaching my Conversational Marketing™ Experts (CMEs) face-to-face after a live monitoring session results in real-time improvement.
Here is a breakdown of my specific coaching strategy. These techniques are widely applicable to many different contact centers as well.
How to Coach Towards Consistent Improvement
- Make notes about specific things you heard in the calls you listen to. Live monitoring is crucial to successful coaching in the rows of your contact center. When you hear your representative say something good, write it down and note why it was good (and vice versa). This helps the representative remember the call you were talking about and identify with a specific situation.
- Enable and foster collaboration by the way you deliver your coaching session. People are going to tune out what they consider condescending or abrasive. It’s just the mind’s natural psychological defense to associate negative feelings with negative interactions. Eliminate that right off the bat by considering the way you approach your representative and the way you deliver your coaching to them. Rather than stand over them, take a knee on the ground next to them. Ask them how their day is going. Make them feel like you actually care about their success and take a nod at proposing a more collaborative “coach to representative” relationship.
- Consider “the sandwich” technique of delivering your coaches. More often than not, people can get nervous during a coaching session. They aren’t too sure what you are going to say. I really enjoy using, “the sandwich” technique when I deliver my coaches. No matter what, I always recognize positive points to start out my coaching session. I deliver the things I thought I heard that were good in their calls, and then transition into what I think can be improved in a non-negative way. When I talk about what someone can improve upon, I use realistic examples of how I personally would handle a situation or how I implement what I am teaching in my own calls to them, so there are no questions about what they should do. I follow-up these improvement points with a final layer of something positive that representative does in their calls. It leaves them feeling good about what they are already doing while giving them a positive mental boost to focus on the improvements I’ve asked them to work on.
It truly is the front line management team that helps foster results and talent in a contact center environment. It’s like having a general in the trenches with the troops. If anything goes wrong, someone is there to coach them right back onto a positive track and keep the results rolling. Positive coaching that enables representatives and coaches to work together towards higher quality calls and increased client results is obviously one of the most important (and continual) investments your contact center can make.
What other coaching methods does your company have success with?
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I’ve been at Incept almost three years of my life now. I was hired on when I was 20, and now looking back at 23, even I feel old.
In my time at Incept, I’ve been able to accomplish a lot for someone my age, but I always seem to mentally remark at how this job as a Conversational Marketing™ Expert (CME) has changed me and the way I interact with people face to face. If you have been employed in the telecommunications industry for a period of time, you too can almost certainly relate to the points I’m about to make.
Here is a short list of how my job at Incept has rubbed off on the way I live:
It Rubs Off on You
- You always make sure to tell the people at the drive-thru, the checkout counter, or any other person that works with people all day to have a good shift.
- You don’t mind calling in to customer service centers for personal issues; you even fill out the customer service satisfaction surveys in your email.
- You find yourself talking louder among your friends and family.
- You know effective ways to initiate conversations with people, as well as how to gracefully bow out of a conversation.
- People tell you that you have a great speaking voice.
- You know how to deliver the perfect rebuttal to change a situation.
- You feel confident in yourself.
From the first time I walked in to the office at Incept to now, I never knew what possibilities an entry-level office job could deliver a young person like me. So far the ride has had much in store, and hopefully there will be many more opportunities for me to recognize.
If you work in the telecommunications industry, what else could be added to my list?
I have to clean my kitchen every day. If I forget, don’t have the time, or simply feel too lazy to do the work, my kitchen will continue to deteriorate to the point where it is no longer able to function with any efficiency. Employees, at any level, need constant maintenance just like kitchens.
Follow-up training for employees is just as important as the initial training (or new hire training) they receive. It is something often overlooked or dismissed due to cost. However, the investment in continued training will pay off in increased dividends in the bottom line, company growth, and reduced turnover.
There are three critical areas that are affected by follow-up training:
- Customer Service - New ideas and technology lead to constantly changing tactics. Keeping your employees well-trained and well-equipped provides competitiveness and strength. Re-teaching customer service techniques also helps to keep ideas fresh and employees ready.
- Product Knowledge - Your employees are better able to assist donors by improving efficiency and building a reputation for quality. Employee morale will also increase due to this reputation, building your employee satisfaction and loyalty.
- Employee productivity - Employees can often be stressed by the thought of trying new ideas or tactics due to fear of making a mistake. Employees may fear being fired for these mistakes, breaking expensive technology, or simply failing in front of their colleges. Training provides a safe place to make mistakes with little or no consequences, which allows us to step outside of our comfort zone and ultimately improve our skills.
Continued or ongoing training provides several advantages to both your company’s front-end numbers (in increased sales and profits), as well as your company‘s back-end numbers (in increased employee satisfaction and reduced turnover).
Try it and watch your results increase!
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