Workforce Board Innovates Program Outreach: Launching a New SMS Campaign and App

Workforce Expert Melanie Moffett and Mobile Technology Consultant Max Schelkopf share how the Monmouth County Workforce Development Board successfully launched a text messaging campaign and mobile app. Find the transcript and time stamps below.

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Max Shelkoff: [00:00:00] My name is Max Shelkoff. I am a senior mobile solutions consultant with Engage by Cell. Majority of my day to day is working with folks like yourselves that are involved in workforce development in one way or the other, right? There's a lot of different organizations and boards and operators that assist people and all the multi faceted levels of workforce development, right?

Um, and I am joined today by Melanie Moffitt. You want to give yourself a quick little introduction Melanie?

Melanie Moffitt: Absolutely. So welcome everybody. I'm Melanie Moffitt. I am with ECWAS Workforce Solutions, and I also run in the project director here at Monmouth One Stop in Monmouth County, New Jersey, and I'm happy to be here with you all.

Max Shelkoff: I'm very happy you're here too, Melanie, because we're going to talk about an awesome, I'm going to call you a success story, Melanie, because it was so successful when you launched your platforms that we needed to tell people about it. And that's [00:01:00] why we're here today.

Melanie Moffitt: That's great. I'll take that.

Max Shelkoff: All right.

Fantastic. So a little bit about Engage by Sell. Uh, we've been in business for, I think it's over 17 years now. So we're coming up on 20 years, I think. And, uh, We have built platforms that are entirely mobile device based, right? And we specialize in all kinds of mobile device based engagement and a lot of different tools.

But we're going to talk about a couple of them today and how Melanie and her team over at Monmouth County have deployed them and all the successful things that have accompanied that deployment. Um, and you'll see on there a couple of examples, uh, behind the scenes. I have Anna running the slides for me today.

So, if you hear me calling out to Anna for next slide, I promise we're not crazy. Anna is here. She just goes in dark mode and hides and does slides for me. So, a little bit about why mobile, right? So, mobile device engagement is very important in [00:02:00] today's industry because I'm sure everybody sitting on this call right now Has this sitting within a couple inches of them, right?

Melanie, I'm sure yours is right there. Everybody's cell phone is either in their pocket, in their hand, on their desk. It's always attached to us at this point, right? So, why mobile is so powerful is because it's fully integrated into our day to day lives for the most part anymore, right? And some of the kind of key factors and key tools that we help provide in the workforce development industry, is collecting forms and providing text message based communications and people can submit documentation.

And we all know all the little different touch points in the process for when someone starts seeking services in workforce development, you have to keep them engaged throughout a long process sometimes, right? And so enabling them to incorporate their mobile devices into that process can help [00:03:00] streamline And the key word that I keep hearing over and over and over is digitization, right?

So everybody's under that initiative of how do we get more digital? How do we include and incorporate our mobile devices into this process? And that's what we're going to cover a little bit today. Um, next slide pretty please Anna. All right, so what technology are we going to talk about? So the two tools and the tool bag that we're going to talk about today is the text messaging platform and the mobile web app platform.

And I'll go into them in a little more detail, but overall. The text messaging and the mobile web app really help address two main challenges, right? So, engagement being the first one. So, if the only tools you are currently deploying for engagement is email, oftentimes, right? And trying to pick up the phone and call.

Email, as we all know, isn't as effective nearly as it once was, right? [00:04:00] If you're getting, especially from like a blanket outreach term, if you're getting 20 percent open rates, you're knocking it out of the park. And that's just not the kind of numbers we need to see. And if you're having to make 100 phone calls a day, follow up, case management, community outreach, It's super labor intensive, right?

I mean, nobody likes making 100 phone calls a day. And so we built a text messaging platform kind of around those needs that we'll go into in more detail. So the first challenge is that engagement piece. The next piece is the information accessibility, right? So every single workforce development organization, I don't, you know, whether you're at a board or working with a board or you're in some veteran affairs or, you know, whatever kind of program you're helping run, you have a ton of different resources available to you, or available to the public that you're providing.

And those resources might be on this website, they might be on this website, it might be on paper at the career job center [00:05:00] still, it might be in Melanie's head, she has an awesome idea and a new partnership and she needs to get it digital as quickly as possible and disseminate it out to the people who need it.

That's where the mobile web app comes in. So, It can become kind of a centralized hub for all of those different resources that are available to the public. Okay? So let's dive in a little more detail here. So next slide text message text messaging so right down there in the bottom right hand corner if Everybody wants to take out their cell phones pretty please and I'll do it with you and scan that QR code.

It will actually populate a text message into your text messaging app that says demo Monmouth to the phone number five, six, five, one, two. And if you hit send for me, you should receive a text message back. And in that text [00:06:00] message, This is serving a couple purposes. So one, we're opting in because we're going to push out a couple of example text messages during this presentation to kind of keep everybody on pace with what some examples of real life use real life use cases are.

But in the little text bubbles you'll see above that QR code are some real actual examples of the kind of messaging that Melanie and her team are sending out. Um, let's talk a little bit of data too. So as I mentioned, Email, right? If email is your primary means of doing large outreach initiatives, the kind of data behind text messaging is you're going to see a 98 percent open rate on text messages, right?

So it's much more likely that that individual is going to open and read that text message, but it's also going to happen much quicker, right? So email gets reserved for the end of the day, or if I get a phone call and. Everybody has [00:07:00] caller ID anymore, and I'll get a voicemail, I might listen to it at the end of the day, etc.

So you're much more likely to get that messaging in that person's hand, and they're much more likely to consume it within a couple of minutes, right? So it's all about speed and efficiency and effectiveness. Um, another huge advantage with texting, you can be much more targeted, and uh, efficient with your outreach, as Melanie knows.

You can have a lot of different lists because we're serving a lot of different people with different needs, right? So you can have your list of job seekers or break down your industry You can have your list of people who are looking for manufacturing Employment opportunities or health care opportunities, etc So you can be very targeted and focused with your engagement when you're pushing out text messages And you're going to see and what we're going to cover today with uh, some of melanie's success stories is increasing, uh, kind of the, the call to action, right?

If you want people to attend your [00:08:00] job fairs, attend the program information you're trying, or the programs that you're offering, and you start utilizing text messaging, you're going to see results pretty quickly. Um, so that's kind of the main advantages with the text messaging, and we'll go into more detail on some of the, the platform use cases there.

But next slide, pretty please, Anna? All right. So mobile web apps, let me break down what a mobile web app is for everybody. Okay. And if you want to see an example of one, and I believe it's Monmouth counties, it's actually Melanie's, if they scan that QR code, or if you all scan that QR code in the bottom, right, you will see it and you'll receive a text message as well.

I believe here shortly. Uh, but. So, on that mobile web app, you'll notice right away it has a really high level of accessibility in it. So, mobile web app, what is it? We all have what are referred to as native applications, right? So, we all might have 40, 50, 60 [00:09:00] different apps on our phone. Now, the main differences here is all of those apps that are already on your phone, Had to be hard downloaded, right?

So you went into the app store, you had to download it, you had to find the right one, you have to keep it up to date, etc. And we really saw the writing on the wall with the data behind mobile web apps. Or behind native applications, excuse me, that it was getting much, much more difficult to get people to hard download things to their devices, and we kind of came up with the term download barrier, right?

So it was just another step in the process that was getting difficult to get people to participate in, and people didn't love having things hard downloaded onto their devices. So we created these mobile web apps that, as you see, look, feel, and act very, very similar. To a native app experience, but it's entirely web based, so the accessibility is much, much higher and easier.

Scan a QR code or being that it's all web [00:10:00] based, obviously it's going to pair really well with the texting platform because a couple clicks of a button, a thousand text messages can go out, you can embed a little clickable link in it, the recipient can click that link, and boom, up pops your mobile web app that might have a mobile app.

Your job board on it, training resources, they can upload documents in it, they can see the calendars, you can promote events, have registration forms, any kind of content you want to create and live inside that mobile web app, videos, polls, quizzes, etc, surveys. You can build them inside of here and make them very, very accessible.

And of course with all of our platforms, same with texting and mobile web apps. There is a very, very robust text message or a very, very robust dashboard that can display all the results, right? So that is kind of mobile web apps in a nutshell for you. So let's dive into Melanie's [00:11:00] success story, shall we?

Melanie, you want to give a brief little description of Monmouth County, maybe the job center, the folks you're serving, things like that?

Melanie Moffitt: Absolutely. So again, I'm Melanie Moffitt. I'm the project director here at the Monmouth County One Stop. So when I came over in Monmouth County. I always joke that I'm new to New Jersey.

My husband was in the military for 15 years, so we moved absolutely everywhere. So every time somebody says, tell me about New Jersey, I'm like, I just got here six months ago, right? So I will do my best to tell everybody about our county because I think it's really special. So we did look around a lot of counties here, and I actually live in Monmouth County, which makes it a little bit more special.

So we are really known as the heart of the Jersey Shore here. We are a very robust area. I mean, we have about 643, 000 people in Monmouth County. So we have populations from everywhere and sometimes we're engaged by cell really comes in powerful for us is where we are located isn't the best. So getting to us on public [00:12:00] transportation or for those that have a hard time, it really creates a barrier.

So engaged by cell really allows us to have that connection with our clients. Even if we can't get him in the door right away, we're starting that baseline and we're creating that So I will go over different ways that I used engaged by cell and continue to use engaged by cell. But during my startup was probably as Max calls it my success story.

So I will share about that. But we service job seekers just as much as all of you do on this call, I assume. And we are constantly putting out our job alerts on their open houses. But we'll go over all of that once we we get on the next slide.

Max Shelkoff: Love it. Perfect. How long have you been there now, Melanie?

Melanie Moffitt: I have been here for six months.

Max Shelkoff: Six months. All right. Well, you know a lot about it for six months. That's pretty impressive. So with the kind of the, the initiative, right? So we all start somewhere and it's sometimes we're all starting at various [00:13:00] levels of. Implementing tools and where we are and utilizing technology. Where was Monmouth County when you came in?

Where were you at with what tools were you using? How were you communicating? I know you already said it was challenging, uh, from a kind of physical location standpoint. What were some of the tools you were using before?

Melanie Moffitt: So when we, when I came in and I asked what communication tools that we had, we did have, um, constant contact, which I'm sure a lot of you had have used before, but it's email based.

So when it's coming out on the emails, your open rate is a lot lower. I don't know about you all, but when I get 146 emails a day, I'm really quick to slide through delete on 90 percent of them, making sure that I don't need them. So, yeah. Emails were kind of their main point, but the biggest thing, which I'm going to touch as well for the job fair, for instance, when we get to that part, I'm gonna give you guys a little tidbit.

Now, when they held the job fair, the way that they were able to track how many clients [00:14:00] they had here in Monmouth County was they gave out flyers and they would say, okay, we, we created 800 pamphlets. We came back with 500. That difference is how many people came or didn't come to the job fair. For me, that was a big waste.

Of a population that we could have captured and we could have communicated with that we didn't. So I kind of hit the ground running and was trying to figure out before our very first big job fair, how I was going to capture all these people effectively, and I was going to be able to remain in contact with them.

So the communication tools we were using here in Monmouth County before I came were very little. It was just mostly all phone calls or hoping that somebody would kind of pop in because we are a We share our office with the unemployment office. So we do get kind of those personal referrals there. But as it came from outreach and communication side, it was a very slim.

Max Shelkoff: So you were, they were using pamphlets to count people. Is that right? They were. Yes. Yes. I want to make sure I got that. All [00:15:00] right. Hey, I mean, it probably worked, but you know, I think the trade off with that is. You weren't capturing, like you said, it was a little

Melanie Moffitt: skewed. Everybody would, they were offered to sign in on a sheet.

So they were offered to, you know, put their first name, last name. They encourage people to do it. People didn't necessarily do it. So it was just a great, uh, their turnout was, was pretty big. Generally they were counting anywhere from 400 to 500 people. So that was just a big group of people that we weren't missing.

And I, I hate missed opportunities. So that's where Engage Myself comes in.

Max Shelkoff: All right. Well, next slide pretty please, Anna. All right. So I think you've kind of briefly touched on some of this, but I know there was bigger challenges than just outreach. Right? So what were kind of the. One, two, three big challenges that you were facing coming into it.

Obviously, if, if handing out pamphlets was the way of counting, you know, I'm sure there was some additional data or [00:16:00] challenges you want to talk about.

Melanie Moffitt: Absolutely. So our biggest challenge was obviously engaging people and capturing those people that we were engaging with. So during the job fair, as I said, I took on the task that we were going to find a way to engage people.

And that is when I came across Max, who wonderfully introduced me to all of these great things engaged by cell could offer. So I told my team we were going to capture every person that walked in that job fair by scanning a QR code to check in. And then as they came in, they would have to put in their first name, their last name, phone number, email address, and whether they wanted to be contacted by services or whether they were already a client of ours.

So when I punched us the team. We were lucky that on our team here, when Equus Workforce Solutions took over, we do have some incumbent staff and then we had some new staff. I was one of the new staff that came in. So when we came in, everybody said, Melanie, that's never gonna work. Our population does not work that way.

Nobody has their phones. There's no way you're going to be able to capture this data. We just we don't think it's going to work. [00:17:00] So what I did was I went and had um, flyers. I made flyers with all of our for check ins that everything had the QR code and our staff was at both entrances. We had posted the QR Checking codes and I captured over 550 people on the job fair that included their phone numbers, their email addresses, whether they wanted to be contacted for services.

As I stated, some people said, I'd rather not. I want it. I want to use the good old paper and pencil. That number was 10. 10 out of 560 something people was 10 people that said, no, I don't want to scan. I don't want to use the QR code. And everybody just said, Oh, I got a scan right here. Okay, great. And we tell them it takes five minutes and all reality.

It took them two and they were in the job fair. We handed them those pamphlets, but then we didn't have to count them to see how many job fair. So I'd say my biggest challenge was not only capturing people. But now I had all these 561 potential clients that I could reach out to. And immediately after the job [00:18:00] fair, if they said, yes, we quickly sent a text that said, Hey, thanks for visiting the job fair.

Let's talk about how we can assist you. Would you like us to contact you for more information that, uh, ways we can help you from the one stop. And then again, people texted back. Um, so that was the biggest challenge when I came in, I was, um, let's see. A month and a half in when we had our first. I was going to say

Max Shelkoff: it was the big launch.

It was the big launch. It was the big launch,

Melanie Moffitt: which is the big challenge. We were

Max Shelkoff: all in right away. Yeah,

Melanie Moffitt: we were going big or going home. That was for

Max Shelkoff: sure. And I want to make a point too, that's interesting with the QR codes that you only had 10 people that, that wanted to go back to the paper, you know, let me write something down.

And I was on a call, I think it was just yesterday with, with some workforce development folks and. We were talking about that and you know, my grandma, she's 80. She would hate me saying this on this, but I think she's 82 right now, right? And, and she is extremely [00:19:00] comfortable with QR codes and we were kind of discussing it.

And, and we, our main takeaway point being is that was like one of the very, very few good things that came out of COVID. We thought, you know, because if you went to the restaurant, you went anywhere in the COVID, everything was QR code. I just want to make a point that, you know, that's an awesome example of.

I think the the fear and uncomfortableness with QR codes is pretty much behind us at this point. Right? Absolutely. I would agree with that 500. There's 10 people. That's a that's a pretty phenomenal result. So big challenge. I think you you wanted to tackle and you did very successfully with the big launch was.

transitioning away from some of those paper formats and incorporating a digital process that turns out is much more convenient for the end user but more importantly you can simultaneously while providing a [00:20:00] an easier process for them capture all that amazing data that you weren't before.

Melanie Moffitt: Absolutely.

Max Shelkoff: Yeah. All right. Anything else you want to add to that? All right. Anna said we're moving on. We're going on. All right. So are you using this for job seekers only? So I, I always want to ask this question because those people that are, are on the call, which a lot of you are going to be workforce development professionals, right?

But a lot of us that aren't, uh, in the weeds with workforce development every day. It kind of has that stigma attached to it of the unemployment office if you will, right? And I I always want to make a point that there is a lot more to workforce development than just job seekers so, you know whether Melanie are using it for youth adult services.

How what are some of the other ways you're using it?

Melanie Moffitt: So we actually use it for, we are special in that we serve adult, dislocated worker, [00:21:00] tanf, um, so temporary assistance for needed families and also youth. So I have all of them under my umbrella. So I am, I get to touch a little bit of everything. You put a different

Max Shelkoff: hat on for each department?

Yeah. I mean, I just stack them all on top

Melanie Moffitt: and just keep going. Uh, but I. I'm able, there's different aspects. This is the beauty of engaged by cell is there certain ways I use it with adult dislocated workers, maybe I'm making sure that I'm sending out that we're having open houses or we're having job fairs, then when you look at the youth, what is the biggest problem we have with the youth is that they don't really want to answer you unless it's on their cell phone.

I 16 year old niece. If I want to talk to her, I'm not going to call her. I'm going to text her cause she's not going to pick up her phone. Same thing with the youth, which. is the beauty of engaged by cell is on the text feature. Not only can we shoot some reminders to them of, Hey, you've got a workshop coming up.

Don't forget to attend or, Hey, don't forget, we're going to be [00:22:00] doing financial literacy today, but also there's a text feature where it's a chat on our side. If the counselors are logging in, it looks as if, um, And if my people that are on here that remember like our a I am, um, chat rooms, that's the way it kind of looks right.

It looks like a chat. We're

Max Shelkoff: not aging ourselves by bringing up and

Melanie Moffitt: then if you are to put it on your phone, it's as if you're texting somebody is the way it comes in. Just the way you see it is the way they would answer their counselor, but it's just going to be a back and forth text message to the youth.

They love that they love. They can feel like they are just text them their counselor, their updates or seeing what's going on. So we use it to engage youth. We're also using it touch adult, dislocated workers and any outreach events. Really? The possibilities are endless when it comes to engage by cell.

It's just how creative you want to get to use it and how you think you can implement it best. Like I said, I touch everything in my, under my umbrella. So I'm able to see how it works in every [00:23:00] area.

Max Shelkoff: I love that. I love that. And I think it is, it's a powerful tool because, you know, going back to even when I started my career, right?

So let's, I don't even know how long I've been working now. Let's say 15 years, 10, 15 years, something like that. In the beginning of my career, you know, I was kind of coached and encouraged that, Hey, texting is unprofessional. Don't text your customers. Don't text people. That's not right. You know, it's in now.

It's transitioned into the primary means of communications for so many people, right? I mean, especially youth demographics, of course, like you mentioned that 16 year old teenager, good luck. Email, you know, like that is not, not their methodology, but I think also kind of the, the conclusion with it is though that most of my clients and customers and people that I provide customer service to, Oftentimes they're saying, Hey, [00:24:00] just like you said, Melanie, I, you get 150 emails a day and you need to prioritize.

Text me. It's easy. It's easiest for me. I'll get to it right away. Right? So I just want everybody to be really, really comfortable with the idea that that kind of. Negative association with texting is no longer existent, right? We need to start using it because so many people rely on it and prefer it, right?

Melanie Moffitt: Which makes it so effective because that's everybody's main need of communication half the time. Everybody knows if Melanie doesn't answer her phone, she won't text. Just like Melanie.

Max Shelkoff: And, and you're, you're, uh, one of your colleagues, Mike Dunn, the regional director, you know, I can call Mike a hundred times and I have a great relationship with Mike, but I might not catch him one out of a hundred times if I call him, but I text him, Mike will text me back right away in 30 seconds.

Right away. Hey, are you alright? I'll send him a

Melanie Moffitt: text that says, Hey, check your email. Right? I mean, it's the same thing with our, what we're [00:25:00] doing here, but it's, it's right at their fingertips and it makes it just so much more effective that way.

Max Shelkoff: Of course. Of course. All right. Anything else you want to add, Melanie, before we move on?

That's it. And the next slide, pretty please. All right. So, the first question we always get asked, right? In, in, when you're undertaking, especially in a situation where You haven't been utilizing tech, right? And texting isn't a new technology, but it is for a lot of people from more of a software perspective.

We all text all day, but having the capability to send out a thousand text messages or, I have to build a mobile web app? Like, what does that look like? You know, so there's, there's a lot of, uh, uh, onboarding and implementation questions that always come up, right? But what in your experience How difficult were these tools to manage what was?

Kind of [00:26:00] the the onboarding process like what is some ongoing strategy? Which we'll cover on a couple more slides after this, but what what did that look like for you melanie?

Melanie Moffitt: So I will joke that I am probably the most computer illiterate person when it comes to trying. I'll run to my account and all the time be like, can you fix my Excel spreadsheet?

Because I'm ready to throw my computer because I can't figure it out. Um, I. When I looked at Engage by Cell, I was a little nervous at first because I'm not very IT savvy, or am I good with those kind of things? But, um, when you get Engage by Cell, you get a wonderful team member that helps you build out your web browser, which is fantastic.

They help you manage it, and you kind of tell them what you want it to look like, what you don't want to look like. For instance, you could look at Monmouth Counties and say, I love that. I don't like that bubble. I want to change that bubble. Oh, let's make this one work this way. It's just so creative in the way you do it.

And they're there to help you every step of the way. And I say this because I'm sure [00:27:00] Max loves when I sent him an SOS text, because I can't, I forgot to take notes during my training, which was all encompassing and absolutely wonderful because you can have a training. I not only did a training, but I also have multiple.

Um, members of my staff that are trained and actually some that are going through training on Friday next week because I've had some new staff come on that need to get trained as well. So it is fantastic that they give you a fully encompassed training that you're able to see how to send a text and it took me all of about 10 minutes to learn how to use the.

The platform and I now can go on and I can drop a text and all of about five minutes. I click the link that people, a group of people I'm sending it to as Max stated kind of earlier in the call, you can upload some list of people that you want. You can label them. I have one that's labeled job seekers. I have one that's labeled job fair candidates.

I have every different, I think I have like 10 different lists in mind and that's what

Max Shelkoff: we encourage.

Melanie Moffitt: It's great [00:28:00] because when I uploaded them, I was like, this is probably going to be a nightmare. And it wasn't. It's really simple. Even I can figure out the Excel spreadsheet that I put up, but it's first name, last name, phone number, bam, upload it.

I'm good to go. And I can get everything out in a 10 minute period. Um, I spend a lot of time finding

Max Shelkoff: answers. I'm very proud right now,

Melanie Moffitt: super duper user friendly. I cannot say that enough. It's just getting in there and learning. Once I did my training, I was good to go and it was great that I had any questions along the way.

If I wasn't paying attention, cause we all know that. Sometimes we're pulled away in the middle. I joke that I scheduled my two hour training and I double booked myself and I still had another training to go to. So I only got an hour of my two hour training and was still able to figure absolutely everything out and then just reached up with followup, reach out follow up questions.

So super easy peasy. Anybody can do it. And I. I promise it is not, it sounds a little bit encompassing, but it's, it's really not. Once you get the hang of it, [00:29:00] it makes all of your time that you spent sending those emails and the constant contact and all of that is nothing compared to that.

Max Shelkoff: That's, that's, that's what I always wanted to bring up too.

And you did it for me is, is bringing back kind of what. You know, there is going to be a learning curve, but it could be very simple, like Melanie said, an hour or something like that to get really comfortable in it. Right. But point being is the amount of time and the amount of hours spent making those phone calls and drafting those emails and sending out those emails and following up and etc.

All those things. The ROI on time saved, right, is such a net positive and that's why it's so successful all the time. And I did see a question in this chat window here that is pretty relevant. So, uh, could Melanie explain scanning a QR code for a customer check in at the workforce center or for job seekers at the job fair?

What does the QR code have? What does it say? Melanie, if you want to give your example and I can.

Melanie Moffitt: Absolutely.

Max Shelkoff: If you [00:30:00] want. Um,

Melanie Moffitt: I don't know how familiar you guys are with Canva. Um, I have Canva that I use here. It's a super great platform to be able to make flyers on. Um, whenever I had engaged. Let me stop you

Max Shelkoff: right there, Melanie.

You, you love Canva, right?

Melanie Moffitt: Yeah.

Max Shelkoff: All right. Well, this is a little peek behind the curtain to see how the sausage is made. But I want to say that Engage by Cell, we are this close to our Canva integration being completed. So you'll be able to build things right. Oh, that's

Melanie Moffitt: perfect. So, um, I use Canva, but you can use anything, right?

You can use Word, you can use Google Docs, you can use Adobe, whatever you use to make your flyers. I just use Canva because, again, I'm totally illiterate and it makes everything super easy and color matches what I need, so if you don't use it, it's a great tool. When I signed up for Engaged by Cell, Max sent me all of my QR codes for everything.

I have certain ones for I have one for job fair check in. I have all different ones. I just create a really generic flyer that says check in here and it has a cute little arrow that points to the QR [00:31:00] code and that's it. I put them in some nice little placards and set them up around the job fair when they checked in.

I also have them, um, different flyers obviously that aren't for job fair, but sign up flyers that are all in the front. We also have them in our orientation rooms and they're also orientation packet. Oh, p of them right here that w also have them on the bac I think it's the best way to get engagement quickly.

And when you hand all of our counselors have business cards, all of our counselors hand their business cards after they get done doing an intake. Um, I'm constantly handing out my business cards. Our business services person is handing out her business cards. So it's just great. It's right there at your fingertips.

If you are able to read your business cards, I highly encourage it because it's been super successful for us. So my personal one is right there that you can see in the corner on this bottom one where it says customer plan. Where it says scan here for practice tests, we use CASA's test before they can go into training.

If they scan that link, [00:32:00] they're able to do all the CASA's, um, practice tests right from there. So they go home with that sheet after they finish orientation. And then my other two are just flyers that we give out during outreach events. We also had tabled at the job fair. Um, so there really are tabling flyers, but we also just have them to hand out wherever.

wherever we are. So I will stick a QR code on just about anything because it's just so easy that most of the time people don't want to read. So they're just going to click the QR code anyway. Um, they'll go, Oh, can I just scan that? And yeah, go ahead. And then they'll go, okay, great. And they'll leave it open on their phone as you all scan the web browser and saw.

So I leave mine open all the time. Then I'm able just to pop it open. Maybe it's old school me that has browsers open, but people love it. They love the QR code. They love that it's right there. And I'd say the business card is the most successful place as well, because you can just flip it right over and they're ready to scan it.

Max Shelkoff: All right. And I think it's, it's important, like you said, to increase the exposure on those QR [00:33:00] codes. Everywhere, right? So creating those call to actions and putting them Like Melanie has done a fantastic job anywhere and everywhere you can right? So Uh, we got my program director has been alerted to some of the challenges and scams with qr codes.

We are Uh looking at perhaps not using them for security reasons. What have you heard about qr codes max and team good question so QR codes are a great, great, great tool. We, I've, I've heard some of the scams and obviously someone can go up with a marker and draw on it or they could slap another QR code, whatever the instance may be, right?

We don't live in a perfect world and there are people who don't behave wonderfully all the time, right? So, uh, being that that is the case, right? So the QR code Uh, can also be countered with or not countered, supplemented with a call to action, right? So, in that instance, you will also have a texting call to action.

Like we [00:34:00] all saw earlier, we scanned that QR code and it populated the text for us to just hit send with. You can also have the call to action that isn't QR code driven, right? So, Trina, you could have text will met. To xyz phone number rather than utilizing the qr code because when they text that and that call to action will automatically receive that text message back and in that text you could give the link To the mobile web app that they can click on and they're right in there and also as Anna put in there The QR codes are created by our platform.

So they're always going to be you're the originator of it, right? So it's not some third party source that's going to be creating these And I wanted to move to the next slide and Anna is going to send out a picture message to everybody who opted in earlier. And the reason why I want to send it out because it's actually before the job fair.

Um, I believe this was the very [00:35:00] first text message that was sent out Uh through your platform when you signed up and the reason why it was so important And everybody who didn't get the chance and maybe you can't see it. Maybe you can't it is a wonderful Career opportunity for the local SPCA that was hiring and it has this picture of this puppy and how could you not?

Want to work at the local SPCA if that's the messaging you receive and what made this so insanely Successful and it really kind of we started incorporating it into our kind of onboarding processes and training is When Melanie and her team first utilized our platform and that was the first message that went out, they just uploaded a list into the system, right?

Because they had already been working with a lot of folks. So they uploaded that into the system and they sent that out as the first text and these people [00:36:00] are receiving communications via text for the first time from the Monmouth County, uh, uh, center and They only experienced a 2 percent opt out rate out of the hundreds of people that they were, that were, received that message.

And I had never, I don't think anybody at Engage by Cell had ever seen an unsolicited list receive a text message and the opt out was only 2%. So. That being said, Melanie is an expert in ongoing communication and strategy.

Melanie Moffitt: Well, I don't know if I would go that far. But, um, I think one of the most important things I love to point out to anybody on Engage by Cell, I was actually on a work call with our team, our ECWAS team, and sharing on what I think makes Engage by Cell so special.

I don't know how many of you guys are on a website and it's like, sign up here and text. to get our 15 percent discount code and by the time you put in your cell phone number and they start sending you discount codes, [00:37:00] you've probably already gotten five text messages in a 10 minute period. Hey, you got something waiting in your car and you're already opting out because absolutely not.

I don't need any more text messages on my phone. What makes engaging by cell so special is you control how much you are messaging your clients. And I can't speak to enough volumes of that because I know. Myself how much I don't want to be bombarded. I want a reminder because I am forgetful. I am a mom of two young children and I'm the project director and of all the moving parts and sports and I love a reminder text.

I don't want to be spammed 600 times. So that is really where I believe you will have your most success in your ongoing communication. I will give a perfect example. When I had the job fair, I did not tell them every day the job fair was coming because eventually I'm going to opt out because I don't need to remind me something that's coming up in a week and a half.

Max Shelkoff: I

Melanie Moffitt: gave them one the first time as an, you can pre register, you can sign up. Then we sent one on a Monday. [00:38:00] Hey, just a reminder, job fairs upcoming. I didn't message them again until two days before the day before the job fair as, Hey, just a reminder, job fairs tomorrow. We look forward to seeing you there. I think it's very strategic about how you choose.

To hit your clients in you. It doesn't come off as a spammy text because you're the one controlling how much it goes out. And the best thing is you can set it and forget it. Okay, you can drop that text in there. And I can say I wanted to go out. I know my event is on Friday. I wanted to go out. The Friday before and the Wednesday and you can pick the day and the time, the group it's going to, and you don't have to worry about it.

It's hands off because you already set it up. So that 10 minutes of your time takes care of three texts that are going to go out over the next week. So I really think it's important that you know, you are in control. It's not some robot or AI that's controlling when your texts are going out or how much your customers are going to be text.

That's all you. So you get to control the beauty of it. And that's, that's where [00:39:00] you'll have your most success.

Max Shelkoff: I think you touched a good point there that I want to reiterate a little bit is, is the humanistic element of it, right? So there are a ton of different platforms out there that are chatbots, essentially, right?

And they do play a role in some things, right? I mean, there's a time and place for every tool out there. But when we're in workforce development, and we're working with people, And they are people and we're trying to get them employed. We're trying to provide them with the services they need desperately.

Right. And in maintaining that degree of control, like you said, Melanie, and, and speaking and engaging with them like they're humans, because we are humans communicating with them is. Very, very impactful and super important, right? So maintaining that humanistic element is always, always critical. And I think that is a great example of what makes Engaged by Cells stand above some of those other options that are out there.[00:40:00]

All right. Next slide, Anna. I know we're going to kind of go a little bit quick here and be respectful of Melanie's time and everybody else's. But, uh, real quickly, I know you're still kind of onboarding Engaged by Cells platforms into your procedures and into your day to day processes. Is there any big things?

I know one of them is is text chat. You want to start incorporating the one on one tool. That's what we have some training scheduled with your team about here coming up. Are there any quick initiatives you'd like to share that you hope to start utilizing here in the future?

Melanie Moffitt: So we're really going to just up, we're going to ramp up our text chat.

Not all of my counselors use it, some are open to it, some are not. So we're going to do a training just so everybody can be more familiar with it because all my counselors, I plan on changing their QR codes on their business cards and they're going to have their text to chat QR code on there so that they're able to quickly reach, their clientele is quickly able to reach them.

Max Shelkoff: Um,

Melanie Moffitt: but that's my big tool that I'm really am hoping to do. Um, we're going to be doing a [00:41:00] lot of outreach events coming soon. So I'm just really excited to get Engage by Cell out there more so that we can capture more people and we can do it just really quickly and really easily and just be able to take that data and use it for future outreach events or job placements or things like that.

So we're really just building on what we have to make it even better than it already is.

Max Shelkoff: I love it. And Anna, next slide real quick, just so I can run through this. So you've heard Mellie and I age ourselves with AIM and, and, you know, all those instant messenger platforms. And this is when Melanie's talking about ramping up that text chat usage with their case managers and having that capability to have the The long format conversational communications, right?

Um, this is what the dashboard looks like. Just so everybody can see it and kind of understand what we're discussing here and visualize, uh, the capabilities. But it enables you to jump in between conversations. I think I saw one question in the window earlier about how do we, how long do we [00:42:00] retain this data and things of, uh, a question like that.

So we understand that obviously all of these transcripts are super important, right? And maintaining all the record keeping component of it. If I'm a case manager and I had a chat with Melanie about getting her employed, you know, 30 days ago and, and, and Melanie calls me and says, you didn't say that blah, blah, blah.

Those records are going to be there, right? So we save them, uh, just based upon whatever parameters you want. Obviously, uh, automatically the default is indefinitely, but, you know, everybody has different standards for record keeping. If it's one month, 30 days, 90 days, three years, whatever it might be, um, our system will house and protect that information for everybody.

Uh, the final slide we got here, and I just wanted to highlight it. Anna, if you wouldn't mind going to the next one for me. These are just some of the metrics from Monmouth County's results with utilizing our platforms and just wanted to show, uh, you know, [00:43:00] the magnitude here of the results. I mean, she's had multiple job fairs.

She's, she's enlisted in it. You'll see some of the click rates there, the uppage, a little pretty bar graph showing the engagement. Consistently climbing with the link clicks and the engagement, because that's really what matters, right? We can all push out text messages, but we want to know that they're getting read and they're getting engaged with.

And that's why it's so important and powerful to include that little clickable link, because you're trying to get them to do something, right? You're trying to get them to digest more information or sign up for an event or whatever that might be. But, I mean, as you can see, Uh, Melanie is averaging some pretty wild numbers there as far as link clicks go with audience sizes, 100 plus different QR code scans for the, the, uh, CASAS practice testing, uh, 5, 000 mobile web app views since launch, which is.

Crazy impressive. Um, and the optout rate is only a 10%, right? So if you're getting a [00:44:00] 90 plus percent engagement rate already with the texting and there's only a 10% optout, do that math. You know, let's call it 80 to 90%, you're guaranteeing your deliveries are gonna happen, and you're guaranteeing that your audience is receiving your messaging and they're gonna engage with it.

Right? Um, that being said, Melanie, do you have any. Last things you want to add here and then we'll open it up to a quick Q& A for everybody.

Melanie Moffitt: I would say that if you are on the fence about engaged by cell, um, I would be happy to answer any questions you guys have. So anything that's kind of keeping you on the fence or you're not really sure about, please don't hesitate to ask and this question and answer, but just know that it's changed our outreach and being able to capture people and being able to also show data for what we're doing too, which is huge.

Um, if you are a privatized organization and you are working, your funder is a board, right? You're able to take this data and show them. Things that you're doing and customers you're reaching or on the verse side, if you're on the board yourself, you're also [00:45:00] able to present it and say, Hey, look at all these people we reached and we're continuing to reach every month.

So I think it's just great for so many reasons. And I open the floor to whatever questions you may have for me or for Max.

Max Shelkoff: What is the cost? So the cost, good question, Joshua, um, I'll definitely make sure someone from our team reaches out and goes into pricing with you. It's digestible, but there are variables that we kind of have to understand before we can provide pricing.

That's the only reason why. Uh, good question though. Um, any other questions, please feel free to throw them in the chat window, but, um, We did go over a little bit because I'm a chatterbox. So thank you very, very much to everybody who attended. And thank you, Melanie, your team, you and your team are rock stars.

I'm super excited to see how you keep, uh, uh, envisioning and innovating with engaged by sales platforms. It's going to be exciting. [00:46:00] It's only starting. That's why I had to get you on a webinar as quickly as possible because you're, you're, you're showing the proof is in the pudding. Right? Absolutely. Well,

Melanie Moffitt: thank you so much for having me.

And as I stated, anybody, if you guys have any questions, Baxton always forward them to me. If they come to him after somebody in the team, if it's something specific that I've done, I am open to help my success. I'm happy to share my things I implement as well. So don't hesitate to reach out.

Max Shelkoff: Awesome. Thank you very, very much, everybody.

And thank you very, very, very much, Melanie. I hope everybody has a great rest of your day and a happy Friday tomorrow. And let's all avoid those ice storms for a little bit longer. But on that note, we'll wrap it up for today. And just, uh, FYI, this was recorded and it will be sent out to everybody who attended.

So don't, uh, feel like you missed out. If you joined late, we'll get you taken care of. But thank you again, everybody, and have a great [00:47:00] day.

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