At my very roots of being an Incept employee, I am first and foremost a Conversational Marketing™ Expert (CME). I’ve done plenty of my own recruiting and after speaking with thousands of people, I pride myself on being able to make someone feel comfortable and having a very natural call flow to my conversations. No matter what type of calling you or your organization might do in the industry of telecommunications, sounding natural in your phone calls can help you to establish excellent customer rapport and provide high-quality service. Especially in the field of blood donor recruitment, it is essential to sound natural. I live by the mantra in my work that the appointments for which I schedule someone to donate blood are literal byproducts of the quality of the conversations that I have with them. My gift of gab and ability to let the conversation constructively build itself is what helps in those respective efforts.
When your donors start getting high-quality and natural sounding phone calls where your representatives are appreciative, knowledgeable, and friendly to boot, it becomes easy to set the high-quality standard. Let’s take a look at a few things to consider that can help your reps to sound natural and build on their conversational capabilities.
Easy things to do to sound natural in your recruitment calls
- Out with the nerves, and in with the confidence. One of your biggest allies in the battle to become more naturally conversational in your phone calls is going to be going into each phone call with confidence. Donors can hear it in your voice. When you think positively, each call tends to flow in a positive manner. Drop the apprehension you might have, and replace it with affirmation that you’ll do fine. Keep in mind that each call is a brand new start, as well. How refreshing is that?
- Be knowledgeable about the donation process. A good salesman knows his product. A good Conversational Marketing™ Expert (CME) knows the blood donation process like the back of his or her hand. Being knowledgeable about why you are calling your donor is bullet number one in your conversational arsenal. When you are fluent with the process, you can relay that information much more naturally than if you were reading every little bit of information off of a screen.
- Lay on the appreciation for your donor. Donating blood without a doubt takes a definite willingness to give. That is why before usually anything else, I tell my donor thank you for all the times they have donated. I can do this by utilizing the donor profile I work with to customize what I am going to say to them since I can see past information, such as where they’ve donated and how many times. This is crucial. For all I know, the donor I’m speaking with might get multiple solicitation calls a day, so I want to do my best to differentiate why I’m calling and make them feel good about donating with their local blood center.
- I make the script my own. No matter what program your reps are calling, there is likely some type of script to go along with it. After a period of time, however, as well as many repetitions) that script becomes memorized and much easier to say. Don’t be afraid to make that script your own. Say it in your own way. Use it as a guide of bullet points to lead you through the call and form your own call flow. At the same time, never be afraid to inject your own personality into the call. People want to feel like they are talking to a person and not an automated voice. On that same note, people also want to feel like they are talking to someone who is like them and not a game show host, so try to keep your voice inflection realistic.
Overall, these tips can help out any organization trying to cultivate productivity from their newer recruits. Remember to focus on improvement in a wider spectrum of the service you provide. Give your donors a taste of a quality conversation with a quality recruiter and see the difference in response rates and show rates.
How does your organization help develop natural-sounding conversations?