Posts tagged as:

phlebotomist

Stephen Smith

The Lighter Side of Donating Blood

“We could really use your help with a blood donation.”

“There’s an urgent need right now for your blood type.”

“Blood donations are always in need.”

“The need for blood never takes a vacation.”

Each of these sayings is true (at one point or another), and they emphasize the importance of being a blood donor. Furthermore, there is something else they all have in common: they sound so serious. Sometimes, as Conversational Marketing Experts (CMEs), we lose contact with the fact that there’s a much lighter side to donating blood.

As a blood donor recruiter my job ends when the phone hangs up. Once I’ve scheduled the donor, my part of the blood donation process is over. To be honest with you, it makes the entire process feel serious and business like. The other side of the story is that when a donor shows up to make a blood donation and don’t enjoy some part of the experience, they’re not likely to come back. Would you want the phlebotomist taking your blood to be stone-faced and serious looking? I sure wouldn’t!

The truth of the matter is that it did me a lot of good to get out in “the field” to see and appreciate the lighter side of donating blood. I got a chance to follow Dave Walter, Vice President of Contact Center Results here at Incept, on a trip down to the blood mobile to take a picture of him giving his first double red cell donation. The entire time I was sitting there with him he had a smile on his face. He even went so far as to joke with the phlebotomist, who shot right back with a joke of her own.

In a great vlog he filmed, Tim also shows that the staff onboard the blood mobile is anything but stone-faced and serious. In fact, they’re pleasant and lighthearted.

The point is people seem to think that donating blood is an overly serious affair – all business tactics and hidden agendas. That, however, is far from the truth. The blood donated goes to people who need it, as saving lives is the primary goal of a blood center. Of course, along the way, it ends up being fun. I mean, seriously, how many jokes could you make up right now about blood banks? If you still think that donating blood is all business and seriousness, then maybe this picture will lighten your view.

Do you have any stories about the lighter side of donating blood?

Let's talk... results

{ 2 comments }

tjohnson

On the Front Lines of Blood Donation

There are always hospitals constantly in need of blood.

Then you have suppliers, nonprofit organizations that schedule the outreach, donation locations, sites, promotions and awareness. From there, in order to expand your methods of outreach, you have contact centers who schedule blood donors. Some contact centers are filled with phone reps; some are filled with Conversational Marketing Experts (CMEs). By either method it’s up to these communicators to contact donors, inform them and help them schedule the blood donations so desperately needed by patients in hospitals.

Once the donor is scheduled and makes it into the blood center – which Incept has concluded is more likely to occur when scheduling a blood donation within 10 days of the conversation with the donor – it’s now up to the phlebotomists. These are the soldiers on the front lines. These are the individuals who initially determine whether or not a donor passes all the pre-screening requirements. They are also tasked with ensuring the donor is actually able to donate (during the donation process) and that the visit is a pleasant experience.

http://www.vimeo.com/14277570

This is but a small fraction of the amount of work these soldiers do every day to get blood from donors to recipients. This profession takes a concentrated degree or specialized training. Not only are these phlebotomists working to help keep blood on the shelves but also to get donors back in the door.

A lot can be said about the dedication and overwhelming commitment of these individuals who spend their time helping facilitate the flow of life. One can imagine such an impact would greatly increase the odds of people becoming donors. But, in a case like mine where I was born permanently deferred, there really is something just as special about our phlebotomists as there is about our donors. Perhaps there should be a phlebotomist appreciation day.

What do you think?

Let's talk... results

{ 2 comments }