American Red Cross - Best New Sales & Marketing Mobile Application
Company: American Red Cross
Company Description: Since its founding in 1881, the American Red Cross has been dedicated to serving those in need with a mission to alleviate human suffering in the face of emergencies by mobilizing the power of volunteers and the generosity of donors.
Nomination Category: New Product & Service Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Sales & Marketing Mobile Application – New
Nomination Title: BookNow - App for scheduling blood appointments
BookNow is built primarily for donor and volunteer user experience – no training required. This native Android App is intuitive, simple, and delivers a fast scheduling experience for any donor at a blood drive. Pilot testing in April 2021 and launched nationwide on 9/6/21
Features:
- Android App installed on American Red Cross tablets available at blood drives
- No login or authentication required
- Enables donor scheduling even when not internet connected and stores information to forward once connection is re-established
- Recommends “best-fit” appointments while allowing user to expand search to any available appointment
Functions:
- Enables appointment scheduling for specific donors to match that donor’s eligibility
- Connects to live data about blood donors who are donating at a specific blood drive, separate from hundreds of other blood drives running simultaneously
- Allows exception handling by customer service agents ensuring donor receives a warm treatment even in an exception
Benefits:
- Engages a donor to commit to next appointment while feeling great about today’s donation
- Gives priority to today’s donor to schedule ahead of those who are scheduling just a few days or a week in advance
- Eliminates cumbersome paper process that results in lost appointments, clerical errors, and additional effort by staff
BookNow first piloted in one of our smaller regions beginning in April 2021 and was an overnight success. This represented a tremendous increase in appointments and a corresponding savings on recruitment efforts and marketing spend.
- More Appointments:The pilot region collects 2.4% of all the blood collected by the Red Cross but after implementing BookNow, made 22% of nationwide appointments using this app
- Show-Rate:BookNow maintains a higher percentage of donors who keep their appointments than other channels
- Cancellations:The cancellation rate of BookNow appointments is the same as other appointments despite being made much further in advance
Over the summer, a notoriously difficult time for our regions to collect to their goals, the pilot region exceeded its goal, relying heavily on these specific donors who not only scheduled in April, May and June using BookNow but kept their commitments in July, August, and September. This region’s performance was in the top 25% of all regions nationwide for summer collections.
As with any new product launch, change can be challenging for some. Aware that the pilot was a few weeks from ending, staff began pleading with leadership to keep BookNow in place. They had so quickly grown to rely on its ease of use and its success in filling donor appointments, they did not want to revert to the paper process that has existed for years. While it was a change in plans, leadership determined the app could stay in place and the region has served as the model for a successful BookNow implementation.
Donors, too, find value in the app. Many donors are now being approached by staff while they are still donating to schedule their next appointment and they’re incredibly receptive! Some donors prefer the staff handles the tablet while they check their calendar while others just take the tablet and schedule themselves. Because the app requires no training to use and the user experience is top-notch, the donors are reacting positively to the rescheduling process and signing up in higher numbers than ever before – even without the expense of printed marketing materials and campaigns.
As the American Red Cross provides about 40% of the nation’s blood supply, and only about 38% of the population is eligible to donate, there is a perpetual blood shortage. As stewards of the blood supply, we’re always looking to find new ways to ensure adequate supply so no patient goes without blood in their time of need. It’s our job to make certain that our donation schedules are full to assure each blood drive collects the expected amount of blood so that patient and hospital demand is met whether in large urban medical centers or small rural hospitals.
To fill those schedules, a steady supply of new and existing donors is required to overcome donor attrition which can result from life changes, medical issues, and changes in behavior. BookNow is powered to improve donor retention. Research demonstrates that the act of scheduling a donation appointment is directly linked to increased likelihood to donate. Without that appointment, months or even years can pass between donations because for most of us, it’s not top of mind as we go about our busy lives.
Overcoming the scheduling hurdles are a key tactic to ensuring patient needs are met. In fact, just reducing the need for many thousands of password resets at blood drives and for recording donations on pieces of paper that are then scanned and emailed to centers for processing not only improves our scheduling percentages but reduces the need for tens of thousands of recruitment phone calls between donations.