Posts tagged as:

CME

Lawrence Prather

The Vast and Varying World of Blood Donor Recruitment

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.

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ksharick

Kayleigh Sharick: The Life of a Conversational Marketing Expert and Program Results Coach

My name is Kayleigh Sharick, and I am a Conversational Marketing Expert (CME) and Program Results Coach here at Incept. I have been asked to write a blog post explaining what I do here at Incept and also a little about myself. Accordingly, I’ll be talking about my position here and what it entails, as well as some of my personal goals and hobbies.

I feel like I am am generally pretty busy, although that is not a bad thing. It keeps me from getting bored. At work, I make phone calls to blood donors, and coach employees in the rows of the call center or one-on-one, using the Postive Coach Approach (PCA) method. The least busy time of my week is my time on the phones. I spend about five to ten hours out of every week at Incept making calls to blood donors, tryinig to get them scheduled for their next donation. Through compassion, patience, listening and problem solving, I schedule people to come in and save lives in their local area by giving blood.

In addition to phone time, I work about twenty to twenty-five hours a week either coaching in the rows of the contact center or coaching one-on-one in the conference room or supervisor’s office. The purpose of my job is to help other Conversational Market Experts (CMEs) make the best phone calls they can. When I am in the rows with them, I spend time listening to their calls, taking notes on the things they do really well, as well as anything I hear that could be done differently, to have a positive impact on their results (the number of blood donation appointments scheduled). I write all of these things down in a clear, succinct fashion and then spend about five to ten minutes going over my notes with the Conversational Market Expert (CME). The purpose of this process is to direct their attention to anything they are doing really well in their calls that they should continue to do, and also to anything that we can do to improve their calls – whether that be stronger second attempts, more compassion, listening more carefully or something else that may have a positive impact.

I have about seventeen Conversational Marketing Experts (CMEs) that I work with one-on-one at a scheduled time every other week. The purpose of these one-hour sessions is to help them in any way that I can – from celebrating their successes to identifying challenges. Any challenges we identify may be set as a goal to work toward, and then we set up a deadline for each goal, as well as a detailed plan on how that goal will be achieved. I do my best to help them remember to follow through with their plans by making signs for them to hang in their cubicle or reminding them whenever I get a chance.

In addition, I also do some menial tasks around the office, like collecting paperwork from employees and turning it in to the correct offices, tracking revenue and making lots and lots of copies.

Outside of Incept, I always seem to have a lot going on too. I am a student at Kent State University and have attended a few other colleges between 2007 and the present, including Malone University and the University of Mount Union. I have recently decided to pursue a career as a Veterinary Technologist. I will be starting my classes toward the veterinary program in the fall. Animals have always been a huge part of my life, and I’ve had almost every pet you could imagine (hamster, lizard, rabbit, cat, dog, bird, frog, toad, guinea pig, etc.). It is going to be so rewarding to have a career that allows me to help others take care of the pets they have and love.

Aside from school and work, I have a wonderful boyfriend of three years, Kyle, who I live with and spend most of my free time with. So if I am not working or sitting through class, you can usually find me with Kyle, either disc-golfing at Arboretum Park, playing with our two wonderful cats, hula-hooping for exercise, listening to music, or enjoying nature on a nice hike. And if it’s Friday evening, I’m probably hanging out in a friend’s basement playing Dungeons and Dragons or Rockband. I’ve also recently taken up making jewelry and am hoping to be able to sell some in the near future.

Generally speaking, these are the things that sum up my life, both inside and outside of Incept. I spend the majority of my time working hard at Incept with a wonderful group of people who are determined to save lives all across the country. The rest of my time is dedicated to being with my boyfriend, enjoying the things we love (like music and nature), and going to school to work toward my dream of taking care of people’s animals. Until then, I’m definitely looking forward to a few more terrific years of saving lives and helping fellow Conversational Marketing Experts (CMEs) here at Incept!

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Stephen Smith

Reflections: Changing, Leadership, Values and Incept

In my almost three years at Incept, I’ve seen changes made to improve the quality of experience that comes from working at Incept. Such changes focused on everyone from our newest agent on the phones to the very top of our leadership team.

As I stood there filming our Let’s Talk…Results Launch Event on Saturday, January 15th, 2011, I realized that those changes weren’t individual milestones meant to fix one small problem at a time; they were a well-orchestrated evolution meant to improve the quality of everything involved in the Incept experience.

Looking Back

Only a few short months after I joined the Incept team, I was asked to become a part of what we then called the Employee Retention Committee. It was a group spearheaded by our Vice President, Dave Walter, with the sole purpose of seeking out weak points and strengthening them in order to make Incept a better place to work.

I was excited by the opportunity to work with veteran members of the team and jumped at the offer. The months that followed were filled with questions that were difficult to answer, but the result, for me, was a chance to improve my workplace and get an inside look into how our company was run.

After a while, Incept continued to grow, and it became eventually clear that the committee had fulfilled its role. Hence, we closed the book on that chapter of my Incept experience. I walked away with a deeper insight of the decisions that made Incept what it was, as well as a strong feeling of ownership for the role I played in making Incept something special.

In The Middle

Time kept turning, and Incept kept growing. By the time November 2009 had arrived, our company had almost doubled from when I first applied. There was still a feeling among the Teleservice Representatives (TSRs, as we were then called) that we worked for a company that had something special about it. The problem was not many of us knew what that special something was.

November 13th, 2009 changed that feeling completely. Incept hosted a huge launch event where a new logo, new mission and new values were introduced to every member of our company. Incept had become a Contact Center, specializing in Conversational Marketing and employing Conversational Marketing Experts (CMEs). Our leadership team explained their new titles and what role each played within the company to every employee face-to-face. Everyone walked away from that event knowing what everyone else did to contribute to the team effort.

More importantly, that day marked a change in Incept’s values. We were all introduced to our company values: Integrity, Never Satisfied, Compassion, Everyone’s A Customer, Present and Tenacious. Each value reinforced the others, and I think that was the moment when everyone knew exactly what made Incept special. It valued its employees just as much as it valued its customers. From that moment on, everyone was accountable for everyone else. Incept had become something completely different from the rest of its competitors… and it felt good.

At that moment, Incept stepped into the lead and set the pace for the new standard of customer service both internally and externally.

Everyone got a t-shirt with all of our new Service Standards on the back.

The Present

Saturday, January 15th, 2011, marked another step for our company culture and values. At the Let’s Talk…Results Launch Event there was food and fun, but most importantly there was education. Our leaders stood up and spoke in turn about our new Service Standards, which were based solely on feedback provided by our Conversational Marketing Experts (CMEs).

I think everyone walked into that event expecting to hear what changes our Live The Brand committee had made to our policies. Instead, we were all told that the changes were 100% up to us to make. Incept had just been handed to the employees to steer the company where we want to take it. Let me tell you, that felt good!

That some fabulous prizes were given out was a plus, but in order to put into perspective how exciting the event truly was you have to understand the schedule of events at the Launch Event. Dinner was served while the members of our Live The Brand committee spoke in front of the company. As dinner moved along, a few small prizes were given away here and there. After all the speakers had finished up, we were told that we would have a one-hour break, and that five committees of employees would be formed to take ownership of every one of our Service Standards. Each of those committees was represented at a table in the lobby, and interested parties were to go and apply, if interested. (But we needed to be back in one hour, because the four BIG prizes were going to be given away then.)

A few employees spend time at the event applying to join the Service Standards committees.

That hour went by quickly, and it came time for the big prizes (and I do mean BIG) to be given away. However, it seemed that everyone was still in the lobby applying for and talking about committees. Apparently, the excitement over getting to become an active part of rebuilding Incept from the ground up was more overwhelming than the excitement over winning an iPad or a 42″ plasma screen TV. Who knew?

The reality of what had just happened dawned on me at some point while the big prizes were being given away – Incept was now in the hands of the employees. Management had turned the company over to us. But now us even had new meaning. It was no longer the Management team and the Conversational Marketing Experts; now we all had equal control over where Incept was heading. The playing field had just been leveled in a big way!

The only way I can think to describe what Incept has become is this: “Something beyond special. Something innovative. Something incredible.”

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Stephen Smith

Inside Incept: Compassion & A Memory Shared By Stephanie Smith

Today, as I write this blog post, our latest Incept Employee Of the Month sits at her work booth making phone calls, like today is just another day at work.

Truthfully I think it’s that quality that makes Stephanie Smith one of my favorite people to spend time with at work. I’d like to give you a glimpse into why I think Steph is such a complete example of what we call “Living the Brand.”

Stephanie and I have had the pleasure of working closely (oftentimes referred to as Mr. & Mrs. Smith – there’s no relation) for a few years now. Over that time, I’ve had the chance to get to know her well, both professionally and personally. She is the proud mother of two brilliant daughters, Elizabeth and Samantha, who are just as much a part of the Incept family as Stephanie. In fact, they are so connected to our circle of friends that when the Incept Gives Foundation decided to take our Conversational Marketing Experts (CMEs) shopping for 38 children who were unlikely to have Christmas this year, the girls proudly came along.

The 38 kids we shopped for were part of the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree program. Children from less fortunate families write their names on cards, along with their wishlist, and selfless strangers (like the amazing people we have here at Incept) offer their time and money to purchase gifts for them, in order to brighten the holidays for these kids.

While we were waiting in a long line to check out, Stephanie and her daughters told me that they actually volunteered to do the “back-end” of the shopping we were doing. This meant that Stephanie and her daughters spent a fair amount of their time (8 hours per day for a full week) organizing, sorting and packing the gifts that came in to the Salvation Army location in Massillon, OH. They made sure that all children in multi-child homes received similar numbers of gifts, so as to prevent any negative feelings and ensure a fair and merry Christmas. After organizing the gifts for each of the families, they transported them by hand to the church across the street where they added boxes of food with the gifts. They did all of this for complete strangers.

Stephanie shared this story with me, about how the experience touched her daughter Elizabeth:

“One of the kids in Elizabeth’s class at school had said to her that Santa wasn’t coming to their house that year. Instead, they were going to go get gifts from the Salvation Army. She was so touched after volunteering at the Salvation Army that she took presents she and her sister had received at a Christmas party, delivered them to the captain at the Salvation Army and asked that they be donated to kids who were less fortunate.

I was very proud of her… It wasn’t something I told her to do. She took it on all on her own. She has a very big heart.”

Stephanie also asked that I include this short message from her:

“If anyone gets the chance to volunteer down there (at the Salvation Army), it’s a great opportunity! They do so many great things for the community.”

At first, the compassion demonstrated by Stephanie and her daughters left me at a loss for words to describe how I felt. However, after watching the video of our Incept family shopping for the Angel Tree children a few times, I think I found the proper word to describe them: angels.

I’d like to share with you one more example of how our employees (like Stephanie) “Live the Brand.” While waiting to check out at that night, Stephanie and her daughters encouraged me to ask Billie Johnson, one of my fellow members on the Incept Gives board, if it would be permissible for them to purchase some additional items (with their own money) and add them to the gifts for the child for whom they were shopping. Billie’s response still rings clearly in my mind, “Tell them to put the items in the cart and to not worry about it. Then tell them there is a special place in heaven for them.”

The holidays at Incept are unlike the holidays at any other company, because we understand that in giving we receive.

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Stephen Smith

Incept Gives: Making Christmas a Reality for Those in Need

On Friday, December 3rd, our the entire Incept family gathered to spend time with one another and celebrate another year gone by at our annual Holiday Party.

Photos were taken, toasts were made, speeches were given, and music was played. Then during dinner everyone’s attention was directed to the front of the hall where our Vice President of New Client Results and trustee on the board for of our Incept Gives Charitable Foundation Employee Fund, Billie Johnson, began to speak.

As Billie recapped just how grateful we were to be given the chance to make an impact in the lives of others -thanks to the hard work of our Conversational Marketing Experts (CMEs) – the rest of the board passed out an envelope personally addressed to each of the members of our staff. Inside was a personally signed card from all of the members of the board, as well as a gift certificate that would allow all of our employees to pick up some groceries without having to worry about the cost.

A sense of excitement and thankfulness filled the hall. Then came the second announcement: everyone was invited to help spread the love even further by making Christmas a reality for children less fortunate than ourselves. That Sunday a group of Incept staff and family members descended on a nearby Wal-Mart to play Santa’s little helpers. They each took a piece of paper with a child’s name, age, clothing sizes and wish list on it.

I had the opportunity to shop for a little, 7-year-old boy named Austin. To say that I was excited when I saw he wanted Nerf guns, Tech Deck skateboards and art supplies would be an understatement! Over the next hour or so I scurried about Wal-Mart, capturing as much of the magic on film as I could. I was touched so deeply by the pure joy on the faces of our employees while they shopped for these kids that I couldn’t stop smiling for almost two days.

In all, we purchased gifts for 38 children who would have had nothing to open for Christmas without the kindness and compassion shown by our team members. I’m proud to say that we shocked the employees of the McDonald’s store (where we picked up all the names), when we showed up with a carload of presents for them to send back to the Salvation Army.

I’m more proud to say that I now have a bond with Austin, even though I never have and never will meet him. I became a part of that young man’s Christmas holiday. On Christmas morning, he will be opening wrapped presents containing a Nerf gun with extra darts, more Tech Decks than I would know what to do with and a nice 86-piece art kit. And it’s all because of the compassion that we believe in showing to others.

On a side note, just typing this blog post for you to read has brought a smile to my face again! Austin, I hope you enjoy your gifts little buddy!

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tjohnson

Working Smarter, Not Harder

Taking the advice of my superiors has always been something etched into the very fabric of my being.

When I was able to shift up from a Conversational Marketing Expert (CME) to a Conversational Quality Coach, the need to pay careful attention to said advice grew exponentially. Creating an entire Online Conversational Results division has been a very rewarding challenge, as we continue to meet and chisel out different approaches and methods of our continued success. Now, as Dave said in his ‘How You Can Get Better‘ series, it’s time for our team to set the bar once again through improvements to our current processes.

Nate Riggs was the one who originally told me that “you don’t need to work harder, just work smarter.” There might not be an easy way to do something, but there is more often than not an easier way of doing something. For example, when producing the videos for Incept – be it a Highest Performer video, CME Spotlight, spontaneous video or highly produced project – the backbone of any video is the footage itself. Music beds and title slides are great for extra production enhancement, but, for content engineering, more video is better. People will not remember the music you had in the background as much as they will the message that was being delivered. Remember that. It will save you time without having to cut corners on what matters the most within video production.

This also holds true when it comes to our case study listening reports. As we avidly work toward documenting different analytics from tweetstats, Klout and Tap11 – to display how an organization uses their social networks and ways they could use them more effectively – we continue to sharpen our skills on applying the same concepts. Knowing what days have the most engagement, what content drives the most engagement and when to balance the delivery of that content will be able to save us the time of doing “everything,” instead allowing us to focus on delivering the best material at the best time. Essentially, we are going to be able to maintain the same steady increase in our active fan base, engagement, likes and content sharing while doing less work by weeding out the content that truly doesn’t drive a response and enhancing the content that does.

Many of our CMEs on the contact center floor are very eager to see what it is like on the inside of the “new marketing division” of Incept, where the reins of the company’s social media presence are held. So, by allowing them to become a part of our company and the presence our organization maintains in the online world, they not only help us continue to deliver new content but also embody “who we are.”

We always had our logo as the profile picture on our page, until two CMEs suggested we let other CMEs pose in front of the logo and have a new one each week. Now, we have the same logo, but it’s also tagged on that CME’s page so that their family and friends can now engage with them (and us). This is just another way we highlight the individuals that create content for Incept.

Also, many of our CMEs enjoy writing. So much so, that they have been volunteering to share stories and write their perspective of what it’s like being a blood donor recruiter. Jeff Wein has written a blog post for us on his experience as a CME in blood donor recruiting – even during code calling – that has given him the opportunity to become a contributor on our blog, have his picture taken and share his contribution with his family and friends. We can now use the time it would have taken to establish a guest post on any given day and utilize it in another area of content creation and management.

The thing about “working smarter, not harder” is that you will initially want to work harder at working smarter. This can become a rather confusing situation! However, continuously looking for ways to improve, listening carefully to the advice given, taking constructive criticism sincerely and engaging others in the work your doing has the ability to create a system of fluid content management.

So how do you plan on working smarter, not harder?

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meredith

The Social Media Department: Growth of an iCME

“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” ~ Theodore Roosevelt

In  “The Growth of a CME,” Brian Dodson’s post on Incept’s blog, he reviewed what he has learned since becoming a Conversational Marketing Expert (CME) at Incept. Along the same vein, I’m going to summarize my own experience since coming to Incept, specifically my growth as an iCME (Internet Conversational Marketing Expert).

Here’s what I’ve learned in the past three months as an iCME:

  1. Incept values what we bring to the table. Whatever skill or ambition an iCME has, the staff at Incept wants to put it to use. The iCMEs are encouraged to come up with their own ideas instead of just waiting for orders. All of us are new to this type of work, but our ideas are taken seriously!
  2. The Internet is the ultimate tool for communication. Online, you can communicate in any way, shape or form. You can post status updates, blog posts, pictures and videos. You can chat with your roommate or someone on the opposite end of the Earth. Your voice is heard.
  3. People get paid to play with social media! Before I joined the department I didn’t realize what a big business social media is. I knew that the creator of Facebook was waist-deep in profit (as illustrated in the movie “The Social Network“) but had no clue there was such a thing as a social media consultant, like our own Nate Riggs. I also hadn’t put a lot of thought into how businesses can use social media to promote themselves. Many businesses communicate with their customers via Twitter, Facebook and blogs, and Incept is now in the game.
  4. Your reputation is just as important online as it is offline. Nowadays, there is no difference between yourself and your online identity. When I’m representing Incept as an iCME, I have to not only promote the company but also protect its reputation. Whatever I do on the internet, I do with my company’s well-being in mind.
  5. Goals need to be quantified. I’ve noticed this about my personal goals, as well as my goals at work. When my goal as an iCME is to post a minimum of five tweets per day on Twitter, I’m far more likely to do that amount than if I tell myself to tweet when I can. Having a specific goal helps me do my best work as an Internet Conversational Marketing Expert.
  6. Editing film is fun! Although I don’t necessarily enjoy the actual filming, I do love piecing together the final product (and adding nifty text effects and soundtracks). The social media department at Incept films video interviews of our highest performing CMEs every week!
  7. Identify what’s expected, then do 10% more. Tim Johnson touched on this in his post on Incept’s blog, Are You Waiting or Creating Your Opportunities. When I was in school, I always did extra credit when my teacher offered it. It’s important to do the same thing at work, to the best of your ability.
  8. Take risks. Calculated risks, of course, but risks nonetheless. It may seem like common sense but every life coach and mentor will say the same thing: you won’t accomplish anything unless you risk failing. It’s cliche but true that if you aren’t making mistakes, you aren’t trying hard enough. Be willing to make mistakes and have the guts to bounce back!

I look forward to the days when I get to do social media work at Incept. What do you enjoy about your job?

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Brian

The Growth of a CME

Ain't nothing like a Fall ride.

It was a beautiful fall day. I couldn’t have asked for more.

My motorcycle was fresh out of the shop and the sun’s rays melted upon the Earth. Even the faint scent of freshly applied road tar beckoned for me to do nothing but ride. Indulging in this moment of bonding between a man and his machine, I threw on my helmet and navigated towards my favorite rustic, rural county driving roads.

A mid-October temperature of about seventy degrees, combined with the picturesque reds, yellows and oranges of leaves abandoning their trees can make for a beautiful, mind-clearing motorcycle ride. Like a noble, steel steed, my old 1981 Suzuki café racer roared down the twisting back roads and howled down country straightaways. Gliding swiftly over the pavement below, I found myself in a place of zen and retreated into the recesses of my thoughts, contemplating my journey thus far as a Conversational Marketing Expert (CME) with Incept.

Being a CME doesn’t just mean recruiting blood donors or helping clients find solutions. It’s literally a title reserved for those who just “get” people and embrace all sides of being conversational.

As I continued to thunder along on my day trip, three things about my job at Incept stuck out in my mind:

  1. My conversation skills have increased. Naturally, talking to hundreds of people a week can have that effect, but conversation goes way beyond talking. My listening skills have improved tenfold, something for which I am deeply grateful. For me, it is easy to talk about myself, but it has always been a struggle listening to others. That is something I am challenged to work on each day, putting my own advice into practice when listening to the needs of a blood donor. This is also something I’ve learned to embrace in my personal life among my family and friends. Sharpening my conversation skills is an indefinite, ongoing process.
  2. I am proud of the results of my work. When it is time to leave Incept for the day, I am generally proud of what I have accomplished. I feel my superiors strive to give me the tools to succeed, and I feel like there is a purpose in what I do. Finding real purpose in an occupation is something that many people have a hard time doing. I am lucky because at Incept I feel my purpose fulfilled every day after I schedule a blood donor to donate. It is not a feeling of exasperation or relief when the day is over, but rather a sense of pride in that I actually affect the world positively.
  3. Incept is a Family. Growing as a human being is a lifelong process. Of course, when a caterpillar becomes a butterfly it does not happen in a day. The same can be said about growing as a CME. I can’t help that I am infatuated with people and glad to have found an company that supports that aspect of my personality. I no longer see myself as just another pawn of a corporation, but legitimately bettering who I am as a human with responsibility, camaraderie and purpose. I have grown very close with many of my coworkers and can honestly say I have legitimate respect for my bosses on both a professional and personal level. Coming to work is definitely awesome when I have a room full of friends greeting me at the start of every shift.

PUTT-PUTT-PUTT!

As my motorcycle proceeded to let me know it needed gas, I pulled into the near by service station. As I took off my helmet, I couldn’t help but smile. I felt inside that I finally had found a place where I can picture myself sticking around for a long time. It goes along with the old saying, “Find a job you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life.” What can I say? It’s growing on me!

Do you have an employer you’re proud to work for? Looking for employment opportunities in the area of Canton, Ohio? Drop us a line in the comments!

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meredith

Donor Recruitment: How Can One Pint of Blood Save Three Lives?

When I speak with blood donors, as a Conversational Marketing Expert (CME) at Incept, I tell them that their blood donation can potentially save not just one life, but three!

What a motivating statistic! When you give blood, you can help save the life of a teenager injured in a car accident, a mom battling breast cancer and a firefighter suffering from severe burns. But how is that possible? How is one pint of blood capable of saving three different people?

Human blood can be separated into three main components for transfusion: red cells, platelets and plasma. When you give a whole blood donation, you’re giving all three components. After the blood is tested, the blood components are separated, and when patients receive a blood transfusion, they receive a certain number of units (depending on their condition). According to www.bloodbook.com, the average liver transplant requires 40 units of red blood cells and 30 units of platelets.

When you donate whole blood, about 45% of that donation is red blood cells, roughly 55% is plasma and less than 1% is platelets. Because some donors aren’t able to give the same amount of blood as others – and because there are other fluids in the blood that also make up the volume – it is difficult to standardize how many donations equal one unit of transfusional blood.

Generally speaking, though, to obtain one unit of transfusional red cells, you need that component from two whole blood donations. So those 40 units of red cells used in a liver transplant could have come from 80 different people, all pitching in to save one life (and all the same blood type, of course). Several whole blood components of platelets are needed to equal one dose, but a single aphresis (platelets only) donation yields the same amount. One unit of platelets for the liver transplant could have come from one person electing for an aphresis donation or as many as five or six whole blood donors. So as many as 180 donors (30 units multiplied by 6 donors) may have contributed to the platelets needed for the liver transplant.

When you donate whole blood, your red cells go to a trauma victim, your platelets to a cancer patient and your plasma to a burn victim. Three lives from one pint of blood, and one of those lives could be someone you love!

What type of blood donation do you give? Whole blood? Red cells? Platelets? Plasma?

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melissa

Single Mom/Conversational Marketing Expert

I recently celebrated my one-year anniversary with Incept.

I began as a CME, but now I’m an iCME. However, I’ve been a single mom for the majority of my adult life. In this role as a single mom, I have not only had to be the nurturer but also the disciplinarian and the bread winner. I’ve done it all – from working at fast food restaurants and call centers to eight years of working as a temp at various locations throughout Canton, OH.

Being the sole provider can sometimes get in the way of all the other parental responsibilities I need to focus on – like spending time with my kids and helping them develop into productive citizens. But here at Incept, things are different!

I am very fortunate (as we all are) to work for a company that not only values me as an employee but also as a member of their “family.” Our company culture focus is on being present – both in our work and home lives. We have found a place to thrive and grow, as individuals and as a corporate entity. My Incept family has been there for me – and my kids – through the good times and the bad. They’ve encouraged me, supported me, been my transportation to and from work, and valued my opinions and my skills/abilities. I can’t help but be thankful for such a phenomenal family/workplace combination!

I also know I’m not the only single mom/CME here at Incept. So, firstly, I wanted to “raise a glass” to all my sisters! Great job, ladies! Keep up the good work, both here and at home!

Being a member of the Social Media Department, I plan to follow up this blog post with a video presentation, spotlighting as many single moms as possible. I think, as part of the Incept company culture focus, we should be recognized! We carry on two full-time jobs: parent and Incept employee. Some of us are even attending college! Balance is essential!

That being said, are you one of the single moms who’d like to be in my “Single Mom/CME” spotlight video?

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