Setting blood bank appointments with your donor is like dating. When you get the donor on the phone, you are really excited about creating that bond with them and getting them interested in coming in and donating blood. We need to make sure that we are smiling throughout the phone call, so they can hear it in our voice. During this time we can “wow” the donor and give them compliments. We get to make them feel good about their past decisions to donate with us. We want to get them as excited as we are about what they are doing!
The next step is setting the day and time of the appointment. We want to set the appointment as soon as possible. We don’t want someone else to come along and sweep him or her off their feet and woo them to another donor center (or have the appointment set with another rep). So offer the donor a date in the next day or two. Remember, we don’t want to wait to date someone. We want to date them now! The same premise exists in donating, as we want them to come in as soon as possible to make sure that we have a good blood supply and that they don’t get busy and forget about us. If they are busy on those two days, you can give another option further out, but make sure it’s within the next ten days. This provides a better chance of getting them in the doors.
And if that fails, you still have the option to give them a day and time within the next thirty days. Just remember to listen to the donor and respond accordingly. Be careful to not sound desperate – like you have not been on a date in months. Instead, we want to be assumptive in making our suggestions of other date options.
It is always important to second-attempt, because if you do not make a second attempt, you never know what opportunity you could be letting slip away. So try it out. You might find out that you are a stud blood bank “date” setter.
What tips do you have for setting blood bank appointments more frequently?