This is a great question and probably one of my favorite stories. Before I answer the question though, I think it’s important to understand how Incept, as a company, got started.
In 1993, two brothers who were call center managers for a large non-profit focused call center, set out to start a consulting business that would literally manage telemarketing campaigns on behalf of non-profits, so that the non-profits had experts representing them and could hold call centers to the highest-level integrity and results.
After few years of guiding non-profits and even some for profit clients on getting the most from their telemarketing partners, Incept opened a small boutique contact center to take on small intricate projects that larger firms deemed too small or not viable. It was here that our culture and personality began to evolve. With roughly 75 employees, giving back to our community became a part of our everyday life. From volunteering to donating money, the fiber of the company was woven to create a patchwork quilt of diverse clientele, giving back, and supporting businesses that didn’t always fit traditional molds.
In 1999, when our local blood center came to us with concerns of an impending strike, we were admittedly concerned that the nature of the calls was outside of our “traditional” calling, but felt so compelled to help, as the mission fit our organization so well, that we agreed to help them should the need arise. And it did. Quickly. Before we knew it, we were making and taking calls to previous blood donors from Northeast Ohio. Remember blood banking in the 90’s? The name of the game was to get as much on the shelves as we possibly could. We were using giant SOP’s to look up longitude and latitude of donor’s travel. Every medical condition and drug had to be looked up. To say the least, the first 6 months were eye opening and worlds different from anything we’d ever done.
But something else was happening. Our entire organization was transforming into an extension of our one blood bank client. We began hosting blood drives. Our employees would drive to local fixed sites to donate when there was an urgent need. Goal thermometers hung from our walls to indicate where the blood center was in terms of their monthly “goal”. We found a greater meaning behind “telemarketing”. We found work that we were proud of. We became LifeSavers instead of telemarketers.
Now, nearly 20 years later, we pride ourselves on being leaders in the industry in preserving donor bases, finding new ways to contact donors when phone calls aren’t the right solution, and ensuring a safe and adequate blood supply all around the U.S.
We share this story with every new hire as we feel it is very important that they understand, blood banking isn’t a vertical, it’s not just another market, it is a large part of who we are and why we exist. I invite you to schedule some time to visit us and see for yourself how a partner can be an extension of your organization. Our doors are always open.