Posts Tagged blood

I give blood regularly and was recently sent a letter telling me that as I had donated three times in the past year I was to be given a slate coaster the next time that I went. All I had to do was present the letter and the coaster was mine. Giving blood can be a chore and it is a little bit uncomfortable at times so it felt nice that my efforts were appreciated. It gave me a nice warm feeling inside.

I gave blood last week and presented my letter. The response I got was totally unexpected, and I quote,

“Don’t know what you want one of those for, I wouldn’t give them house room, I’d rather see the money spent where it should be spent and not on that sort of stuff.”

This person has missed the point, the coaster wasn’t for her, it was for me. It was a thanks and I was pleased with it.

This was a nice little PR campaign by the National Blood Service, spoiled at the point of delivery. Either they didn’t communicate the purpose of the campaign correctly to the people at the customer interface or they didn’t gauge how well that message had been received by that person. Whichever it was it took the edge off it for me.

This type of experience clearly demonstrates the importance of ensuring people all the way through the organisation are on message, particularly those at the sharp end.