When it comes to the Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center, you really have to admire the steps they have taken as an organization within the blood bank industry. 
Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center has been operating since January 1st, 1975. They currently serve 170 hospitals and associated medical care facilities within a 26-county area amongst the Texas Gulf Coast, Brazos Valley and East Texas regions respectively. It is extremely convenient that Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center currently has 17 Neighborhood Donor Centers, as well as a plethora of mobile site blood drives going on almost daily to meet the scheduling needs of their donors. Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center actually set their blood unit collection goal to 335,000 units of blood for 2011, which means they must receive over 900 units daily!
If you take a look at their recent track record when it comes to getting blood donors through their donor center’s doors, they have actually exceeded their own collection goals in 2007 by 18,000 more donations than in 2006, and in 2009 as well with over 11,000 additional units! To help them along in their endeavor is the successful Commit For Life program that really acts as a relationship-building cornerstone between the Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center and its generous donors. Commit For Life goes beyond being a donor loyalty program and really encompasses the feeling of a partnership with the overall goal to save lives and continuously spread the word about Commit For Life and how donating blood can really make a positive impact, not just today, but in the future as well.
Donors relaxing at Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center's Sugarland Neighborhood Donor Center.
Incept and the Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center began a collaborative partnership in 2005. At the root of the overall goal of helping the blood center achieve their unit collection goals lies a conversational marketing strategy that our Conversational Marketing Experts (CMEs) use daily in their efforts of recruiting, retaining and even converting blood donors for different apheresis donations. By 2009, Incept’s strategy had resulted in an astounding 22.74% increase in the number of monthly blood donor appointments for the blood center within a four-year period.
What makes this business partnership feel like Incept and The Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center have developed a very positive relationship is easy. The blood center has taken many internal steps to make sure they (as an organization) are doing everything they can to bring in meaningful donations in a consistent manner and have made their annual goals crystal clear. Combining this with Incept’s industry-leading expertise of conversational marketing, and how to apply those strategies towards the blood center’s needs as our client, we are able to not only have meaningful conversations that produce positive results, but literally act as stand-in ambassadors and the human link between Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center and their donors.
At the end of the day, our relationship comes down to the realization of specific needs and goals. Rather than just taking a stab in the dark at addressing those things, taking a Lead by Listening stance on realistically obtaining those goals and letting our conversations make the results that speak for themselves is our mission.
Want to learn more about what Incept can do for your company or nonprofit organization? Find out more here!
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More often than not, when you need help with something, you need help with something specific.
In the case of blood banks and blood centers across America, that specific need is always changing and varying on a day-to-day basis. One day a blood center might be in critical need of A+ platelets, and the next day it might need as many B- red cell donors as possible.
This gentleman is doing a "Double Red Cell" donation.
When it comes to blood donor recruitment in the shoes of an Incept Conversational Marketing Expert (iCME), we don’t just recruit for whole blood donors, but also all the different kinds of apheretic donations. These donations include, plasma, platelets, and red cell donations or even “split” donations where half of the amount collected is platelets or plasma, and the other half is red cells.
But how do you go about converting a regular whole blood donor who has never attempted to try one of the above types of donations? Here are some of the methods that an Incept Conversational Marketing Expert (iCME) uses to convert whole blood donors to red cell or platelet donors as well.
- We help the donors understand the importance of red cells and platelets needed.
Sometimes people just need to understand why we are asking them as blood donors to do a different type of donation if the need arises. In the case of red cells, red blood cells carry oxygen through the body via the blood stream. In the event of trauma situations such as car accidents or surgeries, the oxygen from those red cells is what keeps your brain alive and functioning while you are treated. In the case of platelets, also known as white blood cells, their job is to fight off infections or sickness within your blood stream, and they play a vital role in a healthy immune system. When cancer patients go through chemotherapy, the radiation does not spare their platelets. Chemotherapy, while effective, can leave a patient very open to foreign illnesses and susceptible to getting sick.
These are just a few reasons why we ask donors to consider their donation choice:
- We thoroughly educate the donor about the process.
I remember when I ordered my newest bass guitar. I researched and learned about it all I could before ordering. The same kind of concept goes into when we convert whole blood donors to apheresis donors. We want to educate them about the process if they have never done it before. Really when it comes down to it, there are only a few differences when it comes to the donation process. You usually get a slightly smaller needle, so it’s generally more comfortable. With double reds you are only eligible to donate once every sixteen weeks, as opposed to once every eight weeks, so you also save time donating. You get saline placed back in your body during the “return” process when you get your other blood components back, so you are more hydrated and you are not leaving a full pint low. These are just a few of the benefits associated with a double red cell donation.
- We don’t just ask a donor to consider a red cell donation, we invite them to.
When recruiting blood donors, us Conversational Marketing Experts (CMEs) at Incept realize that most of these people have been asked consistently and constantly, over and over again to donate. We take a different approach by not asking them, but inviting them back to consider donating red cells or platelets. I know what you are thinking, “You’re still asking them. You are just phrasing it differently!” Yes and no. While we are still asking a blood donor to donate, by inviting rather than asking we are literally making them feel that they are more than just a blood donor. They are a valued individual whose time spent donating is appreciated just as much as the actual transfusable product. Inviting them back to donate, rather than just flat-out asking, also enables us to encompass the many great benefits of a blood center’s donor loyalty program or other special promotions as well!
Next time you donate blood, if you can, think about trying out a red cell donation or even a platelet donation. If you are still feeling a little unsure, no worries! We’ll help out in any way you can.
What questions do you have about red cell, platelet or plasma specific donations?
Image Credit: http://2.bp.blogspot.com
Ah yes, the holiday season is in full swing. This is easily one of my favorite times of the year.
No matter how old I get, I still love ripping into presents on Christmas morning. I always watch as much of A Christmas Story as I possibly can, and let’s just say don’t get between me and my honey baked ham if you want to keep all your limbs!
But no matter what time of year it is, the need for blood is always there. Each day in America, just to refresh your memories, about 38,000 blood donations are needed for patients, and currently about seventy-five percent of Americans will need a blood transfusion at one point in their lives. With those kind of statistics it is always important to remember to donate if you can during the holidays. Let’s take a brief second to review the reasons why blood donations are typically needed with more urgency during this awesome and festive time of year.
- Local high schools and colleges are typically on holiday break.
The American Red Cross receives about twenty percent of all of its blood donations from high school and college students! Needless to say, when high schools and colleges across the nation go on holiday or winter break it really doesn’t help the efforts of local blood banks and centers trying to keep their own respective blood supplies at safe levels.
- As holiday travel increases so do accidents.
Around the holidays from Thanksgiving through New Year’s in the United States, traffic increases on roads by anywhere from twenty-three to fifty-four percent! That is mind-boggling! Of course, when you put more people on the roadways together there are bound to be more accidents, and that is usually what happens. Blood is crucially needed for these types of situations, especially red cell donations for trauma situations and emergency surgeries.
- Many people feel they are too busy to donate!
We all know the holiday season is a very hectic time for many people – myself included. Many good folks, and even many regular blood donors, are trying the best they can to gear up for the in-laws, get the kids those special gifts and make sure the decorations are hung with care in anticipation of festivities. While all of this maybe true, once again, the need for blood never takes a holiday. That is why right now at Incept, as a Conversational Marketing Expert (CME) recruiting blood donors, we want to be as gentle (yet as assumptive) as we can to kindly get blood donors into their local donor centers to donate.
These are just a few of the main reasons why around this time of year your help is definitely needed. Just think of what one blood donation could do for someone else! Who knows, you could be helping someone’s family member be able to celebrate another year with them just from one whole blood donation. Plus, this is definitely a deed that is worthy of being put on a certain fat man’s nice list. So what is stopping you from donating if you’re eligible?
What are some other reasons that blood donations are slow during the holidays?
Photo Credit: http://laughingsquid.com/
When it comes to a few things, I’m not a very picky guy.
I enjoy pizza either in plain cheese form or loaded sky-high with toppings. When it comes to my love for automobiles, I can appreciate a car with fine lines regardless of the origin of make or model. Even down to my music choices as of late, I don’t discriminate between Marvin Gaye, The Misfits or Armin Van Buuren; just let the track play and the grooving commence. But when it comes to the wide world of Hematology (the overall study of blood), blood type is something where a certain sense of fastidiousness is definitely needed!
Overall, there are eight different blood types: A+, A-, B+, B-, O+, O-, AB+, and finally AB-. Blood type is something almost like your eye or hair color. You quite literally inherit that type genetically from your parents. Blood type is something that is crucial in medical emergencies and other situations, due to the fact that administering the wrong type of blood during a transfusion can result in uncompromising effects on the immune system. Knowing your blood type isn’t only extremely helpful for medical reasons alone, but as a blood donor you will know if it would be more helpful for you to do a whole blood donation or possibly an apheresis style donation.
Let’s take a quick glance at a few cases where blood type matters!
- Soldiers on the battlefield have their blood type labeled on their identification tags.
I was watching an interesting show on the Science Channel called Oddities. It’s a show about an oddball and, dare I say, avant-garde kind of shop that specializes in all sorts of weird and interesting, time-period-specific collectables that you wouldn’t normally see in most antique shops. In this episode particularly, there was an artist interested in purchasing a blood transfusion kit from World War I. Whenever a solider was injured to the point that they needed to receive a blood transfusion, they could quickly identify the type needed and perform the transfusion – literally straight from the donating soldier into whoever would be receiving it! A lot of donors I talk to while on the phones at Incept, usually donate while out and about. But talk about donating on the go!
- Different ethnic cultures have varying percentages of certain blood types.
Depending on where you are from or what your cultural background is can have a lot to do with your blood type, believe it or not. 
Blood centers and blood banks during times of shortages will even gently request that people of certain ethnicity donate in order to stabilize supplies of specific blood types. In America, Caucasian donors make up the highest percent of donors with A+, while Hispanic donors usually make up the highest percent of O+ type donors. People of Asian dexcent have the highest percentage of B+ blood donors.
- What does it mean to be a Universal Donor or Universal Recipient?
You might know or have heard that the blood type O- is the type of blood that, regardless of the type of blood the recipient has, can be accepted by everyone during a transfusion therefore, making them the universal donors of donating. When it comes to individuals who have AB blood types, they are the only ones able to receive transfusions of AB blood successfully, yet can still receive all other blood types making them the only universal recipients. The deciding factor: antigens (anything capable of inducing a reaction to our immune systems), which are proteins found on our red cells tissue and membranes. Really it’s the kind of antigens (if you have any even) and antibodies in your plasma that will determine which blood type you can receive.
We’ve just scratched the surface of this topic, since Hematology is quite an intensive field of study in medicine. Regardless, what other cases can you think of in which blood type matters?
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Did you know that the United Nations (U.N.) projects a population increase from 6.8 billion people currently living in the world to a whopping 9.2 billion count by the time 2050 rolls around?
What is even more wild is the fact that the United States of America is to gain 117 million countrymen (and countrywomen) to add to its list of 321 million current residents, if the U.N.’s population prediction ends up coming true. When it comes to those involved in securing and supplying blood transfusable products, that can mean many things.
The need for blood only grows.
With the world population rising daily, not to mention the increasing need for blood donations and blood transfusable products, I have watched blood centers and blood bank organizations bend over backwards to keep with current trends and tie it all in with donating.
Social media is a term that I think is thrown around more loosely today than it even was a year ago. Additionally, social media is a phrase used to describe the many different facets and avenues of communicating online in a way that is continuously growing and not just used to share one type of information, but pretty much anything humanly possible. We log in to Facebook to update our status. We tweet from Twitter hoping to make an unknown connection out there with someone who is like-minded in thought. We make YouTube videos in a genuine effort to not only replicate the mainstream media we see, but to literally become the media itself. Blood banks and organizations are hip to the times too. Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center is active not only on 
Facebook, but Twitter (@commitforlife) as well. They use both as platforms to not only appreciate their donor base, but to educate, inform and simply stay connected.
I’ve also noticed a big increase in the practicality of donor loyalty programs. Donor loyalty programs aren’t just a way for a donor to earn a t-shirt or shiny pen for donating a gallon anymore. They are a way for a donor to donate blood, earn redeemable points to spend on multiple things – ranging from t-shirts and gift cards to gas cards and cards to other shopping locations. While I do hear a lot of people tell me they don’t donate for points or for rewards, it serves as a nice gesture towards a donor base, and it is one that LifeSource and Central Blood Bank have taken on with great intentions. Both organizations are a part of and support the Brighten Life donor rewards program with regards to their own donor base.
Let me tell you from firsthand experience being a Conversational Marketing Expert (CME), while we know many blood donors do not donate for the reward, it certainly does spike their interest when they know they are eligible to receive a $25 gift card with just one more donation. It is also fun to let loyal donors know they have a huge amount of points they can spend, and hearing their reaction to the news is generally a treat. Most of all, donor loyalty programs keep people interested in not only donating blood, but their personal donation history with an organization. And that is a valued point often missed.
Despite these technological and rewarding trends, the need for human interaction will always be there. That is why Incept really does take its prestige and level of experience within the field of blood donor recruiting extremely seriously. A Conversational Marketing Expert (CME) is more than just your run-of-the-mill telerecruiter. We are not here to sell anyone anything. We are not even here to beg people for blood donations. We are here to make donating blood easy, to inform people who might not know of a blood drive just right down the street from them. Most of all, we are here to strengthen the relationship of the donors on behalf of the clients we serve through high-quality and productive conversations.
We are able to do this because we are people who believe in the good that donating blood can really do in this world. Our Conversational Marketing Experts (CMEs) are blood donors themselves! Telerecruiting is not going away, by any means, but will continue to evolve. Incept and its services will continue to trend throughout the blood bank industry thanks to world-class service and the simple fact that we view ourselves as the human connection between a blood donor and a donation being made. It really is that important.
When it comes to trends in society, what do you think makes a successful trend? Why do you think other trends turn into dying fads?
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I wanted to take a moment to share several, quick coaching tips to help everyone in their calls this week. Hopefully you can implement them and see better results:
- Second Attempt: I understand that you may feel as if your coaches or supervisors sound like broken records with regard to second attempting, but it is for good reason. Second attempting is one change that will have the single biggest effect on your stats. Adam, one of our data analysts, found that those who second attempt consistently perform an average of 20% better than those who do not. I am sure many people would like to have their stats increased by 20%!
- Use empathy and understanding in your pitch. If you understand the donor and are conversational with them, rather than stilted or frustrated, you will see a better return from your efforts. Remember, the person on the other end of the phone is a human – just like you – and deserves treated with respect even if they are not treating you with respect. Rather than trying to force the donor to come in and give blood, try explaining the need and why their help is important!
- Use LAMA (Listen, Acknowledge, Make a statement, Ask). When you are stuck in a place where you are unsure of what to do, make sure you use LAMA. If you are not sure what to say, how to say it, or how to overcome an issue, start with the first step: Listen. What exactly is the donor saying? Then move on to the second step: Acknowledge. Acknowledge that you understand what the donor said. Try Making A Statment that starts with “I understand,” and agree with them. Next, you make a statement. This statement should explain how you can help them, what they can do, or contain a rebuttal for why they can still donate. Finally, follow up with Asking A Question. Ask a question to move the conversation forward such as: “What day is best for you?” or “Are you familiar with that?” Even if you are not rebutting, LAMA is an important way to move the conversation forward while letting the donor know that you hear and understand them.
Hopefully these tips help you in your calls, and if you have questions about anything, make sure to see a coach or supervisor!
Today’s post is from Conversational Marketing Expert Jeff Wein.
Hi name is Jeff Wein, I am just a Conversational Marketing Expert here at Incept. In the last year that I have been with the company, I have luckily (and proudly) been able to hold the title of Top Lifesaver for four months. I was able to share one blog post back in January, and I just wanted to share a few more tips of the trade.
We all know when it comes down to phone calls, they can get monotonous. We have to strive to break up the monotony. There are several ways that one can do this. I try to make things less 
repetitious by ensuring each and every phone call is a personalized experience for the donor with whom I’m talking. I do this by actively listening, accompanied with good use of the tools. Really listen to what your donors are telling you; by doing so, it equips you with the ability to custom tailor your responses to the specific situation, which will also reassure your contact that you are listening to them and care about what they have to say.
When I’m touching on a good use of tools, I mean use the donor profiles to their maximum potential. You can really learn a lot about your contact and their habits – like how often, what time they like, and where they like to go. Even with some of the campaigns that offer the point system programs, you can see if they’ve ever gotten anything from the online web store, which can be a conversational piece in itself. For example: “Oh, I see you picked up the gift card to __________. That’s great! Your current point balance is __________. You’re already on your way to your next reward and/or eligible for another!” This is typically going to make the donor ecstatic. If they haven’t heard about it, they probably are going to have a couple of questions for you, so arm yourself with familiarity with the program (i.e., check your F10 screens for promos, program info).
Familiarity will pay off. Oftentimes you may have donors thanking you as you’re getting off the phone. Admit it, that’s a great feeling. If you run into a question you’re not familiar with or not sure of, don’t be afraid to refer them to a main number. They’ll be able to answer any questions they may have.
Another important factor is Tenacity. Without it, well, we’re not really doing our job like we should be, but almost everyone is indecisive. You almost always have to reason with a donor. I don’t think many people just like to say “yes” the first time, so it’s essential to second-attempt your contact because, I mean, just asking that second time may be enough to get them just to throw a time and date out that may be able to work in their schedule. I always try to throw something out there when my contact seems to be “on the fence,” so to speak. In this situation, I’ll just throw out a “It can really help out the center a great deal if we could get you down for a time and day you think will work. Then we’ll have a good handle on what kind of staffing needs we’ll have day for day. And, of course, we can always give you a call back the night before just to ensure that the time and day will work out for you.” I think you may just be surprised even how persuasive that little line can be. I mean, think about it. Your donors are people who already like to help people out or they wouldn’t be donors.
There are different tips and tricks, and all of us could probably go on about for days, but I just wanted a chance to share a few of them with the masses. If you have any questions on how you could/should approach something in a call, and think I could help, just ask or talk to your supervisor or coach! They’re always chock-full of great ideas.
The Annual AABB Meeting and CTTXPO 2011 Conference always proves to be a wonderful time. This year was no exception!
The convention center was decked out in grandeur, and the conference was well attended. Although I heard grumblings that overall attendance was down, I certainly didn’t notice it from within the Incept booth! We were busy!
This particular conference is always very interesting. Over 3,000 attendees from around the world, all looking to find ways to better enhance the lives of others through transfusion medicine. Sound boring? Guess again. From exhibitors to attendees, this industry is full of folks with passion. How much you ask? There were people wearing bug costumes to get your attention about the dangers of traveling abroad and the impact that travel has on our blood supply! While it is all done in fun, the topics are quite serious and in many cases life threatening.
At the Incept booth, I was joined by President and CEO, Sam Falletta, and Client Results Executive Jenna Patterson. The 3 of us made quite a team talking to and educating everyone on how Incept has turned “tele-recruitment” into a conversational marketing necessity.
Sights to see? Well, San Diego is full of fun things to see and do, but time was precious. For me, the highlight was watching the World Series AND Monday night football with a great group of blood bankers while staring out at the ocean. We don’t get much of that here in Ohio!
The next conference is now months away, so I have put away the trade show booth for a bit and am focused on increasing the number of people who are donating blood this holiday season. Won’t you join me?
I always find it puzzling when people ask me what I do at Incept.
More often than not I feel like I’m a very gray-area kind of guy and I have the ability to change-up my guise depending on if I’m shooting a video, leading a brain storming session in a committee or going back to my roots and recruiting blood donors across America to donate once again. I always mentally refer to my cubical as “the trenches” because quite literally the phone lines can be considered the front lines.
According to the American Red Cross approximately 38,000 units of blood are needed each day and every two seconds someone in the United States needs blood. And even more shocking, while less than 38% of the nation is eligible to donate blood, almost 75% of the population will at least need one blood transfusion in their lifetimes. My role as a Conversational Marketing Expert (CME) isn’t just to come into work, mindlessly punch the time clock and then proceed to zombie along in my calls, but I am the proverbial bridge and human connection between blood centers and their valued, voluntary blood donors. It’s crazy because most of the time I am not even in the same state as the person I call, but they will use the word “you” to not only describe who they are talking with, but the organization they have quite literally gave a part of themselves to. That is when you know you are the link between someone thinking about donating and someone actually committing to do it.
My job is not to cleverly persuade people to donate blood like some sly salesman or to persistently plead and beg for them to donate, but to converse with them
to see what I can do to make it as easy and convenient as possible to encourage donors to be continuous lifetime donors. That is what being a Conversational Marketing Expert is all about. Being conversational is really just a small bit of the bigger picture. Anyone can talk, but there is a difference when you can apply your gift of gab in a productive manner. The marketing part really isn’t marketing at all, it is just using information, requests, and things you have heard in your conversations with the donor to tailor not only the conversation you are having with them, but the donor experience as well. Sometimes you can almost hear what a person is saying by listening to what they haven’t said and it takes a very third person mindset to comprehend that while you are actually engaged in a conversation. Finally being an expert really is the bow-tie that holds being a Conversational Marketing Expert together. So you can be conversational and think on your toes, you also can use that quick thinking to make convenient suggestions, but how much of your product or service do you know? For me to be a real Conversational Marketing Expert at Incept, I have to know what I’m talking about and know what impact I can make. That is where being an expert comes in handy. From being at Incept for a year and a half, I not only advocate donating blood and know most current statistics and information on the topic, but even when I’m not working I cannot help, but promote it amongst my own peer’s when the subject comes up.
What it comes down to is, I am someone who believes in what I do. Incept is just the type of company where we all realize our own individual roles make up a greater movement. To me, especially knowing that when I am talking with a blood donor, I’m not asking them to come donate blood, I’m inviting them to save lives in their community. That is something that doesn’t take a phone voice. It doesn’t take overly worked voice inflections either. All it takes is a simple conversation from human-to-human, and I am that connection.
How can having a different perspective on what you do change how you do it?
Photo Credit: http://prometheus.med.utah.edu
Recruiting blood donors can be a very challenging job, but the rewards save hundreds of lives every day.
I often think of what I could be doing with my education, experience and skills as a manager, if I was not working at Incept. I imagine that I could be working for a company that produces some sort of consumable product or provides a specific service. The main driver behind these types of companies would most likely be based on making money. I imagine that I would feel successful through creating more revenue for that company. Essentially, making more widgets than yesterday would impact the company’s worth.
However, my work at Incept has been completely different. Success is defined by reaching blood unit goals with community blood centers across the nation. Without the work we do at Incept, community blood centers that we work with would fall short in their efforts to supply blood to their area hospitals. Yes, it is true that many blood donors go in to donate on their own, but we encourage many more to schedule appointments and commit to saving the lives of patients in their local area.
When I leave work every day, I know I made a difference.
Everyone at Incept needs to think about that when leaving work for the day and when you come in for your next shift. Having an ultimate purpose is one of the most rewarding qualities you can gain in life.
Photo Credit: TopNews
