The blood donor recruitment business is a people business.
Maybe that was a sad attempt at some subtle humor, but the work Incept’s Conversational Marketing™ Experts (CMEs) do on an everyday basis is the result of our daily interactions with thousands of people.
The easiest way that I have found to recruit blood donors over the last three years is to convey on the phone that I am a real person who actually does believe and appreciate the act of donating blood. I can’t tell you how often I say this around the offices of Incept (especially to my own team) in an effort to develop them. And as long as you focus on making your interaction with the blood donor pleasant, professional, and even personal by interjecting your experiences or the occasional joke, you will see results. You will have people come in and donate for you, and you will get better and better at being able to hone in on finding the connection with your blood donors.
Easy Ways For Blood Donor Recruitment Professionals to Better Connect With Donors
I love when no matter who it is I am talking to, even if I am taking a “No”, the donor always seems to have a general respect for me and my requests. No matter if it is an old man, a stay-at-home mom, or a teenage donor, I can always tell I’ve leveled with them personally when they tell me to also have a good day.
Once again, people want to be talked to by real people. Here are some tips on what I personally do and have done to inspire thousands of blood donors to donate again.
- Appreciation is everything. I always love to let donors know that I am an avid blood donor, and I appreciate seeing how many times a blood donor has donated. For the most part, the schedulers I work with at Incept display a donor’s lifetime blood donation count. I love reciting this number back to them and making them feel important for their impact they have made. People love to be thanked for their kind deeds, especially for one that goes as unnoticed as a blood donation. Ask yourself, do you make sure to thank donors for their past support before pitching them? Example: “Sir, I see you’ve been to our downtown donor center and you’ve donated 15 times now. That is truly appreciated as well as noticed by us here at our organization. You’ve been an awesome help multiple times now, and we thank you.”
- Don’t be afraid to ask, “Why did you start donating blood?” If there is one thing that I know is true about humans and conversations, it is the fact that people absolutely love to talk about themselves. I’m guilty as charged. When I feel as though I’m reaching into an empty bag for ways to connect with a blood donor before the initial pitch to ask them to donate again, I always ask, “Why did you start donating blood, if you don’t mind me asking?” More often than not, this results in the donor literally reminiscing about their first donation and recounting the reasons why they started donating, whether that be for a friend, family member, or simply just to do a good deed. This little question can save you time when screens are loading and can give you a lot of personal insight into a donor’s reasoning to give blood. Example: “Ma’am, if you don’t mind, how long have you been donating blood?” “Sir, looks like you’ve been donating since 2001! What caused you to start giving blood?”
- Convey the fact that you are there to make everything convenient. People love when things are easy. People love it even more when intelligent people are there to assist them into making tasks even easier! This is true for a CME as well. To help a blood donor make an informed decision about signing up with me to donate, I verbally make them aware that I am there for their convenience, and the ball is in their court. I’m more than happy to work around any type of schedule. By verbally painting an image of how easy it is to sign up on the phone to donate blood and how much of a help that creates for the blood centers as well as for the donor, we truly create a revolving relationship where they understand why we are calling them. We have donors who specifically wait for us to call them just so they sign up with one of us. It’s great when you think about it. Example: “I’m here simply to help you and make sure you as a blood donor and our blood center have a good relationship. If there is a certain time or day that tends to work better for you, by all means just let me know, and I’m more than happy to assist you. If you have any questions once we get off the phone line or if you do find the need to reschedule, you can always give us a call at our main line and someone like myself will be happy to help you.”
The above examples really are all things I say on an everyday basis to my donors, so they do work. They make people feel good about what they are doing, and, ultimately, I can proudly say that I really am going the extra mile to make sure I am always strengthening the relationship.
In what other ways do you try to connect with donors?