The need for blood is always high throughout the year.
That is why if you are a blood bank, it is always equally important to have a donor base that is loyally built, engaged and informed of your needs. But did you know that if only one more percent of current and eligible blood donors in America started donating then the issue of blood scarcity would almost vanish? That would help out a lot, considering in the United States and Canada about 43,000 units of blood are needed every day!
At Incept the role of the Conversational Marketing Expert (CME) goes far past that just an ordinary, run-of-the-mill phone representative. Collectively as an organization, not only do we care about our clients’ goals, but we voraciously believe in the healing power that even just one blood donation can bring to someone’s life and beyond. We literally do believe we are the human link between our clients and their donors, and that is why the quality of each conversation we have is so important to us.
Three tips any blood center can use towards setting strong and meaningful appointments.
Quite simply, when it comes to setting meaningful appointments and recruiting blood donors, it really all does lie in the conversations you have with them. Donors should always be recognized for the fact that they have previously donated! A blood donation isn’t just a pint of blood, it is that person’s time they gave up to come in and the consideration they had to even donate in the first place. That being said, here are three tips in guiding any blood center who is recruiting donors that can result in setting even more meaningful appointments that show up and ultimately help save lives.
- Try to schedule appointments for donors within ten days.
At Incept, we have conducted specific tests and have the data that shows that when a blood donor is scheduled within ten days of when we have spoken to them they are much more likely to donate than if they were scheduled past that time frame. Scheduling within ten days keeps the appointment fresh in the donor’s mind and encourages them to pick a feasible and realistic time that is convenient for them to fit into their own agendas in the short-term future.
- Recognize how often they have donated and show appreciation for past donations.
Isn’t it awesome when you get recognition for past good deeds? Everyone can always appreciate a friendly “thank you” and metaphorical pat on the back. Many Conversational Marketing Experts (CMEs) will incorporate a donor’s total number of donations into their calls to really emphasize the fact that each donation is appreciated and that they are an integral part of their local blood bank’s success. Simply showing appreciation like this makes the donor instantly feel good about what they are doing and gives them the drive and self-awareness of their role as a blood donor, making them more likely to donate.
Our results come directly from the quality of conversations we make an effort to have each and every day. Anyone can read a script, and anyone that is being read a script over the phone can usually tell. People like feeling like they are talking to another human being and not a salesperson or telemarketer. Before diving into asking a donor for a blood donation, genuinely ask them how their day is. Do you hear a dog barking in the background? Ask them what kind of dog they have. It all comes down to being professionally personable and finding quality common ground with the donor. It really does go a long way and makes the conversation and appointment setting process enjoyable for both the donor and the Conversational Marketing Expert (CME) or respective blood donor recruiter.
All of these tips can be used by any blood bank or center needing advice on recruiting. Please feel free to share and distribute this information.
What other helpful blood donor recruitment tips can you think of when it comes to setting appointments for donors to donate?
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At the beginning of the work week, how easy is it to find yourself in that “Office Space” kind of mindset?
Trudging into work with your personal autopilot switch already flipped to “on” is, without a doubt, all too easy of a routine to get into. But think outside the cubical in terms of what you really do on a day-to-day basis. Having a job – or even a career – at its roots is how most of us make a living. However, beyond the paycheck, what do you take away from your occupation?
The reason I say this is because, quite simply, life is too short to have a never-ending case of the Mondays.
At Incept, our Conversational Marketing Experts (CMEs) have a purpose that certainly goes beyond their paychecks. They save lives through conversations, and that fact is reinforced the very moment training starts. In one year’s worth of employment at Incept, a Conversational Marketing Expert (CME) can save more lives than any fireman or policeman will save in their entire careers of service – and I say that with the utmost respect. One whole blood donation has the amazing ability to save the lives of up to three people, or at the very least make the lives of those people better. It really is because of the many meaningful conversations that take place every day at Incept that we are able to accomplish not only our goals for our clients and our own company, but make a real-world difference for an individual in need.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve called someone, as a Conversational Marketing Expert (CME), and have had a genuinely great conversation with the donor I’m speaking with. The number is simply countless. But why? Because I believe in what I do. I believe in donating blood and the life-changing effects it can bring to someone’s life. I believe in giving our donors the best customer service experience possible. I believe in Incept’s drive and leading ingenuity within our industry. I believe in my fellow coworkers and value my comradeship with them. I believe that even if I only schedule one person to donate on a given day that I have still made the world a better place before I clock out for the night.
Now, granted, every employer is different. Every occupation brings its own challenges to the table, as well, but that doesn’t mean you cannot look for purpose in anything that you do. I implore you to literally take an approach to treat everyone as your customer in whatever it is you do. Remember, no matter what job you have, no matter if it is a Monday or not, search for the meaning and purpose in your job. Chances are you have a bigger purpose than you really think!
What is something meaningful you take away from your occupation?
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2011 has come and gone, and 2012 has just taken off!
If you are reading this, congratulations on making it through yet another year! Can I ask you a question? Do you have any plans in store for the big twenty-twelve? Is there something you’ve been meaning to do or improve upon, and that celebratory date of New Year’s Day just seem to ironically fit the bill for a starting point? Well you’ve come to the right blog!
As cliché as New Year’s resolutions are, I actually welcome them with open arms and have set a few for myself this year. However, how often in the past have Januarys gone by with you saying you are going to quit smoking, yet continue to cave in, in the form of a sneakily, delightful after-dinner puff? How many countless times have you thought to yourself, “I’m definitely going to start working out and lose these love handles after the new year hits,” yet still cannot break the grasp of binge-playing Skyrim for hours on end? No matter what your goal, resolution or desire to change might be, here are a few common sense tips to help keep you motivated and improving towards your goals:
If you don’t remember reading my blog about goal setting and the Harvard study about writing goals down, then trust me, you want to get in the practice of writing your goals down and keeping them visible! Can you believe that statistics show that only 3% of Americans actually write down their goals? When you do this, you enable yourself to clearly define what it is you want while being able to start thinking about different ways to accomplish it. Not only are you giving yourself a defined starting point, but you are able to creatively assess what will and will not work for you and what it takes to reach your goal.
- A failure is only a failure if you didn’t learn anything from it.
It is always too easy to look for the bad in something without seeing the good first. A good friend once told me, “Fighter pilots aren’t turned into aces without going through a few dog fights!” He was exactly right. Whenever you come up against adversity or something else that blocks your way in completing or living out one of your goals, look at it and use it as a learning experience. Keeping positive during times of affliction will only breed even more positivity. In fact it was Albert Einstein that once said, “In the middle of a difficulty lies opportunity.” To find that opportunity, sometimes we just need to take a step back from what we are doing and ask, “Why?”
- Short-term goals create steady progress toward long-term goals.
I can’t tell you how often I find myself in a daydream tangent on ideas about how to improve things at Incept or even in my own life really. I can’t help it, it’s just in my nature of being never satisfied. I’m someone who can formulate brilliant ideas, but I admit when it comes to getting these ideas off the ground I have a tough time executing my intentions. If you are like me, then start setting short-term goals accordingly (that are realistic in helping you accomplish your long-term goals).
So you already know what you want out of this year. What is stopping you from achieving it? Nine times out of ten we already have what we need to be successful right in front of us!
Tell me about what you want to accomplish this year either professionally or personally. What tips do you have for staying motivated and seeing your goals through?
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- Attitude is everything! It is very important to leave external stress outside of your phone calls. If you sound cheerful and upbeat in your calls you will see much better results. You may even turn someone else’s day around just by being nice to them.
- Use voice inflection. Choose a few key words in each pitch that you feel are the most important, and put emphasis on the word to really catch the donor’s attention.
- Ask the donor how they are doing. This will show the donor that you really care about them and make you sound less like a telemarketer and more like the Conversational Marketing Expert (CME) that you are! This also gives you time to pull up their profile to personalize the call.
- Personalize your calls. You can personalize your calls just by using the donor’s name throughout the call. This will capture their attention if they start to drift, and it makes them feel important. You can also personalize your calls by using their donation history to reference how many times they have donated in the past, and give them a sincere thank you for their impressive number of contributions.
- Take advantage of the loyalty programs offered. Many donors donate for the simple satisfaction of saving lives but this can be a really motivating factor for
those who do not. Once you study and understand how the loyalty programs work, you can tell the donors how many points they currently have and how many points they will have after they schedule with you and successful donate. This will create a tangible reward to entice the donor to come in. For the donors who aren’t interested in the gifts, remind them that they can donate their points to charity.
Congratulations! Now you have all of the tools you need to get the job done at Incept as a Conversational Marketing Expert (CME). Let’s see what you’ve got!
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There seems to be a whole slew of maxims and worldly ethical codes that accompany living in this world.
Most of us, without a doubt, have heard of The Golden Rule, in which we treat others the way that we would like to be treated. But when can a business fully harness that sense of ethics in a way that will produce productive results? There are many companies out there with great core values, and practicing these values usually isn’t an issue, until business seems to get in the way.
Today I’m going to be a little less verbose than usual and just dive right into how Incept uses our company value of Everyone’s a Customer in our everyday lives and roles at Incept.
- From an organizational perspective
Really when looking to utilize the value of Everyone’s a Customer, you must put yourself in the shoes of not only your clients but your employees. Additionally, you must push to think beyond the typical business-to-client relationship. I play the electric bass guitar in a band and always love grooving it up. My guitarist has said before, when we are writing new songs, that we all have our own sonic vision of how the song sounds and where different parts of it go in our own heads. Really apply that same type of thinking when you have identified your client’s needs and goals, and develop your own sonic vision of how you will assess their needs and plan to achieve their goals. This type of thinking not only brings together multiple people’s brightest ideas, depending on whatever it is you are trying to address, but it also places a certain sense of empathetic thought on what it is going to take to really please your client and treat them as your customer.
- From an employee perspective
When looking at the value of Everyone’s a Customer to an Incept Conversational Marketing Expert (iCME), not only does it refer back to the type of thinking above, but it also is a tool that we use to determine what we need to do to be successful. Conversational Marketing Experts (CMEs) – really everyone in the company of Incept, for that matter – view Everyone’s a Customer in the terms that, if someone needs your help or advice, they are your customer. If you don’t show up to work, keep that type of thing in mind because your fellow employees are your customers, as well as your bosses. When you are asked to go into a program to call that might be a little more difficult at the moment, keep in mind your shift supervisors are your customers just as much as the folks who we literally talk on the phones with. This type of thinking is highly efficient in that it gives employees self-empowerment to realize they are an important part of the team, it helps address schedule adherence issues and, on top of it, always makes sure Incept is aiming to continue to provide world-class level service to our clients. What isn’t to like or embrace?
It’s easy to see how simple company values really do go beyond being just words, becoming mentally sharpened tools that organizations can use to their advantage when providing excellent service or any type to any client. What are some other ways you can use Everyone’s A Customer in either the workplace or everyday life?
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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?
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When it comes to being unique, what is it that truly defines that quality within or about someone?
Is it a huge multicolored mohawk, adorned in liberty spike style that grabs your attention? Maybe it is an awesome pair of ultra-rare Dinosaur Jr. Nike SB Dunks just screaming for notoriety from their wearer’s feet. Could it possibly be a face full of piercings and ears that are gauged so big you can almost fit a soda can through them that command your eyes to gaze with wonder? And let us not forget the full assortment of tattoos to match. At this point I can only imagine the type of imagery you as a reader are envisioning! It’s almost humorous what our brains can determine to be unique when generating a first impression of someone. In all reality, I have used one of my friends for inspiration in writing the first paragraph of this blog.
What does it mean to you to be unique?
The thing about the term and quality of being unique is that it can come across in a rather superficial way – sadly enough – especially within the context of today’s society. Always remember that the way you made people feel within the interactions you share daily in your life will always be what makes you as a person unique rather than your looks, because, after all, with age your looks fade away.
When it comes to being an innovator within the Conversational Marketing field, as well as a philosophical zebra of a different set of stripes when it comes to company culture, Incept recognizes the fact that no matter what we do, we always strive to strengthen the relationships between ourselves and our customers and clientele. Here are three big reasons why Incept is currently leading the way in the field of blood donor recruitment and why we stand out above our competitors:
- We capitalize on one of the biggest things that makes Incept unique: our company culture.
The thing consistently noted about Incept is the atmosphere in which all of us work. It’s really a productive and friendly environment. Do you understand how encouraging it is to come to work and see so many different types of people getting along naturally? People aren’t just coworkers at Incept, they are friends. And that type of camaraderie not only has a positive effect on employee morale, but it has also created a team vibe where we always look to succeed as both a world-class organization and as a collective team of goal-focused individuals working towards our clients’ goals first and company goals second. This is what it really means to harness the energy of your own company culture.
- We always think about what it means to “Strengthen the Relationship” with out donors and clients in every call we have.
When it comes to our industry there is a big misunderstanding that one always has to be pushy and overly assumptive – almost to the point of being aggressive – with someone just to get a sale or appointment (or whatever the conversion might be). At Incept we do believe in being assumptive, but we believe that the way we end each call with our donors and customers is what is really important. Sometimes that doesn’t mean getting the appointment or getting that close; as long as we do what the donor or customer asks us to do and can manage to pull it off to where that person gets off the phone with a Conversational Marketing Expert (CME) and feels good about why we called (or even simply about talking to us), that is what it is really about. There are no instances of force-feeding anyone products or trying to push people into tentative appointments. The quality of our conversations speak for themselves when it’s time to check the results.
- We are a Conversational Marketing Firm, not a telecommunications agency.
There has always been a big misconception of what we actually do here at Incept. Yes, at the very core of our business the telephone is one of our biggest tools when it comes to literal communication of the spoken kind, but that doesn’t mean we are telemarketers. When you think of the word conversation, do you think of two people talking? That is what it is all about. Communicating to create meaningful results through productive conversations is what we stand for. This doesn’t mean talking at someone, but rather with them – putting more of an emphasis on listening. By simply listening to our donors and engaging them in quality conversations is really how we have been so successful and helps to explain why Incept has catapulted to become a leader in the industry.
Many organizations seem to still have this cookie-cutter image of what they want to be, not what their customers need them to be. For Incept, being a unique organization doesn’t have to mean that, though. At the core of all that we do it is our clients and customers we put first – even before ourselves as a company – and that is the main attribute behind why Incept stands out from the pack.
What other examples do you have of companies that are unique within their own industries?
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Our very own Mike Jackson.
If there is one Conversational Marketing Expert (CME) at Incept that puts his performance where his mouth is – and quite literally, as he is part of a rap group – Michael Jackson (MJ) is the guy that comes to mind. When you meet Mike you can already tell by his mannerisms that he is as animated as a Looney Tunes’ charater and full of positivity. A great asset amongst our employees, Mike is the type of employee that really brings our company culture full circle. He is someone you can talk to about anything, and you instantly feel this type of friendliness in each conversation.
I remember recently I was having a pretty rough start to my morning. My heat wasn’t turned on yet in my apartment, so I woke up to find myself in an extremely cold daze. To make matters worse, I had overslept my alarm, and my brain had kicked itself into that “fight or flight” mode in an effort to make it to work on time. To top it off, my Z28 was thirsty for some 93 octane, but I just couldn’t afford to waste time stopping for gas. After slamming gears down I-77, crossing my fingers and coasting on fumes, I pulled into Incept’s parking lot and flew up the flight of stairs to the time clock to punch in. I found a slight glimmer of victory as I had managed to make it on time and could feel a relieved smirk grow across my face.
I found a seat right near the big screen so that I could watch the Cleveland Browns get destroyed that Sunday, and, sure enough, across the rows I caught a glimpse of my man, Mike Jackson. The thing is, he didn’t seem like himself. He seemed quieter than usual, but without a doubt was still on top of his call performance. I had to ask, “Mike, whats going on, man?” He then proceeded to tell me about how the night before he learned that one of his close cousins who he had grown up with had tragically died in an automobile accident. And I thought my day was going bad!
That put things into perspective for me really quickly. At Incept we have a bereavement policy that states you are allowed to take up to thirty days off work to grieve the death of a loved one, yet Mike was still sitting in the office making calls. I even tried to tell him he could go home, but he gently smiled and told me, “that would be the easy way out.”
Mike told me he’d rather try to come in and work than grieve for his cousin (who went by the name Sully) initially, because it was a more constructive way to deal with the situation rather than sit around. He knew he could have called off, as he had a very legitimate excuse to do so, but just the way he explained things to me really struck me hard. I was dealing with just another run-of-the-mill bad day while Mike was going through a life-changing ordeal in losing Sully. On top of it all, his call quality was excellent (as usual), and he was seemingly well above goal.
It isn’t until you put yourself in someone’s shoes that you get a real idea of how dismal and minuscule your problems are when compared to something like that. Mike received Incept’s R.A.V.E. award (Recognizing and Acknowledging Values in Employees) for being tenacious in the way he dealt with such a negative event and used it to fuel his drive. That is something I wanted to recognize and still can’t get over.
It really makes me question if Mike, a really happy-go-lucky kind of guy, can have life throw him a curve ball like that and still hit a home run, then what makes your bad day so bad that you can’t give it your all at work?
If you ask our employees “What is one thing you love about Incept?”, a lot will say the relationships they have developed here, or how Incept is like a family! As a member of the Relationships Matter Committee, we have are striving to keep that feeling going!
Our focus over the last few weeks has been how do we transition that to our trainees? How do we make our trainees feel welcome, feel like they have joined a family, not another company where they just get a paycheck! We want them to feel like Incept is more than just a job; it is a place they can call home. It is a place where they can have a career, not just a job!
That is where our Mentor Program comes in! We are still putting the final details together, but we are close to launching the program! The program is designed to place new trainees with veteran Conversational Marketing Experts (CMEs) that are calling similar programs and have similar interests. This gives the trainee someone else on the floor that is a familiar face – someone they can go to with questions who has been in the very spot they are.
The goal of the program is not only to make the trainee feel welcome and feel like they are family, but also to help keep the trainee here longer! We strive to show them the benefits of working at Incept and how they can grow and move up within the company.
Like how this is sounding? Want to join the mentor program? Talk with Brian Wells or Heather Porter, and they will get you involved!
