Halloween Town is just 17 days away! This week we’re visiting retailers (Staples, iParty, Finagle a Bagel, Shaw’s, Valvoline Instant Oil Change) that are selling mobiles to help promote the event and to raise money for the hospital. Whenever we visit a group of employees to educate them about the program, I briefly discuss several key areas.
First, I tell them where the money is going and how the hospital will benefit. I really try to stress the disadvantaged population we serve and how we have programs that treat the "whole" family. I also stress that while most of us don’t choose to get our medical care from a public hospital, it’s great to know that the public hospital in Boston is just as good at caring for patients as any other hospital in the area.
The second thing I talk about is what they stand to gain from the program. I tell them how supporting the community is good for business. I also tell them about the incentive program we’ve created to reward them for their hard work on behalf of the hospital. I also make sure that every employee I speak to gets free tickets to Halloween Town so they can see firsthand the incredible event they’ve supported and we’ve created for the children of Boston. Employees appreciate the gesture.
Third, I talk about the absolutely most important component of any successful mobile program: the ask. You can have signage all over your store and buttons on employees and a special message running on the PA system and a stack of mobiles sitting near the register but if you DON’T ask the customer to buy one an incredible thing happens. They don’t! Every customer at the register needs to be asked a very simple question: "Would you like to donate a dollar to help a sick child?" Some will say yes and some will say no, but you won’t sell any if you don’t ask. Every morning I get my coffee and the clerk asks me: "Would you like any donuts or muffins today?" I always say no, but I see a lot of people who don’t. It’s a numbers game that you can’t hope to win unless you ask the question.
The message I try to leave employees with is that what they’re doing is an easy, powerful, effective and lucrative way to support the hospital, to build customer loyalty and to help needy kids. But as Jack Falvey once told me, "nothing happens in this world until somebody sells something." A lot of good can come of the program, but it all starts with them.
