February, 2006 - Incept Implements New Strategy, Adopts New Scheduling Software and Increases Success In Recruitment for The Blood Center of New Jersey

Blood centers walk a fine line in the recruitment of donors. Reaching out is necessary to keep active donors giving and to bring people back who have stopped donating. At the same time, the level of contact needs to be such that there is not a feeling of harassment.

Linda Christian, Manager of Telemarketing and Support Services at The Blood Center of New Jersey, discussed these challenges when asked about telerecruiting. “We need our donors contacted. We need to contact any lapsed donors and bring them back into our active donor population,” she explained. “We need to be able to replenish our communities with caring donors. We want to maintain donor contact without harassment.”

To maximize efficiency and improve results garnered for BCNJ, Incept Corporation implemented use of online scheduling software and put in place a one monthly call dialing strategy.

With the new online scheduling system, Incept is able to contact Blood Center of New Jersey donors once per month. Potential donors are informed of all blood drives that will be conducted in their area. They are able to select a location and arrange an appointment to donate. Previously, donors may have been contacted several times throughout a month to be informed of various drives.

Incept Director of Client Services Billie Johnson explained that, “The new dialing strategy presented quite a challenge…decrease the number of calls to donors, but maintain and ultimately increase the number of appointments.”

Asked about the adjustments in donor contact Christian said, “Incept has become one of our vital – extensions.” She characterized the Client Services staff as “part of the glue that keeps BCNJ steadfast in its mission…saving lives.”

The people on the front lines, the people making the calls, gained special recognition from Linda Christian. “Kudos to all in the call center who have taken on our struggle to regain/retain our blood donor population here at The Blood Center of New Jersey,” she said. “It is also through the diligence of the call center staff that collections are made possible for the blood center to service the area hospitals and the patients in their care.”

The Manager of Telemarketing and Support Services noted that a goal for the coming year is, “Making the new dialing strategy the best telerecruitment tool any blood center can stand proudly by.” She added that BCNJ seeks to “return the creditability of telemarketing blood donors to the highest of standards.”

Christian summed up her comments noting, “There are many donors who respect the message that we must give life a chance. It is through constant monitoring and testing that we feel we can find the formula for adequate touches to sustain a safe blood supply.”