Have you ever been asked to do something that you weren’t expected to do?
As a Conversational Marketing™ Expert (CME) for Incept, that is the circumstance I place many people into every day. In our work recruiting blood donors for our clients, we know we are calling people during the middle of their days. Whether it be in the middle of a businessman’s lunch during the afternoon, right before the commute to soccer practice during a busy day for mom, or even right before sitting down to dinner with the family, we understand the fact that we might not always be contacting our donors at the most optimum time of their day. For that reason alone, expressing the need for blood donations and creating an effective call to action is essential to help our clients reach their goals.
One of the reasons why Incept is a prevalent force within the blood donor recruitment industry is the effective strategy we have when asking a blood donor to donate within their community. If anything, the high level of quality of our Conversational Marketing™ Expert’s (CME’s) conversations with donors is an extremely large focus point of any call we make. By focusing on treating the donor as a literal customer and making their experience with us on the phone a pleasant one, the byproduct of our conversations tend to be appointments made to donate blood - meaningful appointments.
So how does your blood center increase your current donor base? How does your organization utilize telerecruting more efficiency to keep life-saving donations coming through your doors? It really is as easy as having a conversation. Let’s take a look at some methods that can help any blood center smoothly increase its donor frequency and loyalty.
How to create an effective “Call to Action” in your recruitment calls
- Greet your donor with a proper introduction. Good first impressions in the world of telerecruiting are an essential part of success. To helpfully convey the reasons why you are calling, it is important to not only identify who you are, but emphasize a relaxed tone in your voice. You are not a salesman pushing for a sale, but you are asking a person to give a literal part of themselves. Do not be afraid to ask how their day is going either. Creating a neutral and friendly greeting goes a long way towards establishing credibility on the phone.
- Make your donor feel important. Easily one of my favorite parts of the call is building rapport with any donor I speak with. I want to make them feel important for doing what they do when it comes to donating blood; after all, they could be saving someone’s life! One of the easiest ways to accomplish this is by thanking them for their past support before even asking them to donate again. Additionally, knowing and being able to interject quick facts about certain blood types can help that donor feel like they are an even more specific part of the program in knowing their role as a donor. An example I like to use is speaking with donors of my own blood type.
Example: “Ma’am, one of the big reasons why we are giving you a call is because you are an O+ blood donor. That is actually my type, as well. And while that is the most common type of blood in America, we use a lot of it and can always use the support!”
This is a helpful technique that lays the groundwork for me being able to competently ask them to schedule to donate and create further credibility.
- Give your donors options. At Incept, we want to schedule as many of the donors we speak to within ten days of speaking to them as possible. Data collected and analyzed over the years have shown that a blood donor is much more likely to donate if scheduled within this timeframe. The easiest way that we as Conversational Marketing™ Experts (CMEs) can give our donors options is by asking them, “Does a weekend or weekday work better for you to donate?”You’d be surprised to hear how many people respond with either “weekend” or “weekday” and not “yes” or “no,” because you stayed assumptive and avoided asking yes-or-no questions.
- Use your rebuttals as tools for the donor, not a last chance to close an appointment.Rebuttals can be helpful for a variety of different reasons. More often than not, they can actually be used in an educational sense with the donor you are speaking with. Many people think that if they have diabetes, take blood pressure medication, or recently received a tattoo that they cannot donate, when in reality (with a small bit of gentle education) they are now informed and most likely can donate, depending on the circumstances. Taking the time to explain this type of information to the donor helps them feel informed and more comfortable about donating.
These are just a few tips that can help any blood center using telerecruitment to their advantage.Don’t forget to use your donor loyalty program information to your advantage as well. Regardless, at the end of the day, if you focus on working with your donor and making it as easy as you can for them to come in, the results will begin to build in your favor.