True conversational marketing™ is nothing like the old-school, one-and-done telemarketing! Conversational marketing™ is about building and strengthening relationships. After all, it’s those relationships that will keep the results coming for years and years.
To get to the point of my title a little faster in this blog post, I’ll dive right in. If you do it right, the NO you take today may just result in the YES that you or one of your coworkers will need the next time you make contact with that person.
In this case, I’m going to use a blood donor as the person we are calling. Technically, a donor is eligible to donate blood every 56 days. Most blood centers are going to want to reach out to that donor at about that same interval. The reality is, few people are actually able to make it in for a blood donation every two months. For a variety of different reasons, a Conversational Marketing™ Expert (CME) that does donor recruitment is going to take their fair share of NOs each day. The key to keeping your donor lists large and strong is how you handle that NO! At Incept, we stress strengthening relationships. If you are truly working with that goal in mind, then you take that NO conversation a little different than the old-school telemarketer would.
Contrarily, the old-school telemarketer makes their pitch, and when the donor says NO, they are instantly defeated. You hear a change in their tone, the conversation gets very short and to-the-point, and they no longer seem to care about anything else that donor has to say. In their mind, the donor just ended the conversation when they said they couldn’t schedule an appointment. They don’t care about anything else.
A Conversational Marketing™ Expert (CME) is going to handle this situation in a completely different way. When they get that NO, they are going to acknowledge it, gently ask probing questions to get a better idea of why the donor can’t come in at this time, build second requests that are actually relevant to the donor’s objection, and if they still get another NO, they will stay the course of a relationship-strengthening conversation. They will make sure the donor feels appreciated for past donations, and is aware of the blood center’s loyalty programs and the rewards that come with them. They will be given well-wishes if the donor is under the weather. They will be given best wishes if the donor has a big event coming up that is keeping them from donating. In general, they will LISTEN to the donor and respond accordingly, with compassion, in a way that lets the donor know we care about them as a person.
Donors are not just a source of blood for us. A Conversational Marketing™ Expert (CME) will keep the same optimistic tone from hello to goodbye and will never sound obviously defeated by the rejection. They will create such a great impression on the donor that ensures the conversation was a relationship-strengthening one. When that donor hangs up the phone, they will know that the Conversational Marketing™ Expert (CME) cares about them as a person and so does the blood center.
After a conversation like that, you just turned today’s NO into tomorrows YES. We will call that donor back again in the future and when we do, the quality of today’s conversation will bear fruits.
How can you change your phone calls to always be strengthening the relationship with your donors?