How Incept Uses A Donor’s History to Customize Conversations

In this life, you really only do get one shot at a good first impression with someone.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve blown that notion. Whether it be out meeting new women, meeting the owner of a club my band played at for the first time, or even past interview processes before I came to Incept. My extrovert type of personality really does mean no harm, albeit having had my share of garrulous follies, lackluster conversation starters and awkward moments during initial meet-and-greets.

It was Morris Kline, a very prestigious mathematics professor, who once said, “The most fertile source of insight is hindsight.”When I read that quote the vast gates holding back my life’s recollections opened up. Maybe I would’ve said or done things a little differently if I knew more about who I was talking to.

As a Conversational Marketing™ Expert (CME) at Incept, a little investigatory skill can go a very long way when it comes to mentally tailoring a personal conversation with a blood donor. Quite frankly, one of the biggest things I enjoy about my job as a Conversational Marketing™ Expert (CME), and speaking with blood donors, is the fact that each conversation really is different. Of course, we have our scripts and promotions that we diligently adhere to during our on-the-phone orations, but I’ve always thought about how I could reinforce those points with the people I talk to in a way that can make it more personal. That’s where we cue the online scheduler as a conversational tool.

When we schedule blood donors across America to come into their community blood centers and donate, we almost always have a Donor Profile that includes invaluable information, such as blood type, how many times a donor has donated, what their preferred donor center is, and even the specific type of blood donation that donor has performed in the past. Presto! The Donor Profile really acts as “instant” hindsight available to a Conversational Marketing™ Expert (CME). More so, it’sinterpretations during a call can make a world-class difference in the professional and personal attributes that result in a quality recruiting phone call.

Let’s take a closer look at the different benefits of using a blood donor’s history and profile in our online scheduling system:

  • You can gear your conversational approach based upon a donor’s age.

We speak with many different kinds of people on a daily basis. Some are teenage donors who tend to donate at their high school, while other donors might be elderly and donate at their local community hall. Regardless, on the donor’s profile we can see a date of birth. This might seem insubstantial, but on the contrary, it can give a Conversational Marketing™ Expert (CME) a good idea of what kind of tone and inflection to use, depending on the person we are trying to talk to.

  • You can see what type of blood donation a donor does.

When it comes to blood donations, there isn’t just whole blood. Some donors will consistently come back to do an automated red cell donation or platelet donation. When we can already see that Mr. Jones has donated red cells four times in a row since he’s been donating, we can make the call seem more personable and friendly by asking if he’d like to contribute another donation of the same type. Or in the opposite case, if a blood center needs red cellsor platelets of a certain blood type and we see that a donor does not have previous experience donating an automated style (apheresis) donation, we can take the time and opportunity to educate and inform them about the process and how it works.

  • You can see the location where the donor usually donates.

People are always much more inclined to go to a place they have been to before. With a blood donor and their profile, we can see each time they have donated and where exactly that donation took place. If someone has donated five times at their local center over the course of two years or so, generally speaking, they are going to be more willing and inclined to donate again at that location if they are asked! Having this knowledge handy means you can have the center hours up already with times available for the donor to choose, making this a very effective technique. This can also work with local businesses, churches and other mobile sites that host blood drives frequently.

  • You can see how many times a donor has donated.

Above all, even if we don’t get the appointment, we always aim to leave each donor with a favorable impression following every call. Usually before even talking about scheduling, I always try to thank the donor for how many times they’ve donated. I’ve seen everything from just one donation to over one hundred donations! This number gives you a good idea of how committed a donor is to donating blood, giving you a good idea of how knowledgeable they are about it and what you need to tailor your approach with them.

Those are just a few examples of how realistically helpful viewing a donor’s profile and history can be. It’s astounding how the online scheduler isn’t just a tool used literally – to make appointments; it is also a tool that we can use to treat each donor like an individual, not just another phone call. What are some other situations in which having prior history beforehand is generally helpful to you?

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