No Cold Call Recruitment-Is it possible?

1.Clarification- For the purposes of this article when I talk about cold calling I mean business development calls to prospective clients, not cold calls to candidates.

Everyone hates cold calling, Recruiters’ hate making them and HR hate receiving them. My dog hates them too but that’s because I tell him to. He’s loyal that way.

Over 50 years the cold call has become ubiquitous. Recruiters’ saw their colleagues win business phone bashing and did likewise. However, when you see a bandwagon it’s too late to get on.

However, what is the Solution? The Holy Grail would be HR contacting us rather than us interrupting them. But, how do they find us? Why would they call us? Why are we special?

To be proactively contacted your agency has to be remarkable. It has to be worth making “a remark” about. How do you become remarkable? Podcasts, blogs, employment law knowledge etc are all possibilities.

I opened my new agency in Feb 2010. It’s a bit of a thought experiment. I can’t touch my old clients for six months because my old employer could sue me. So how do I win new business without cold calling? I don’t have all the answers, just a bunch of questions.

Any bright ideas out there?

Comment by Sandra McCartt on March 19, 2010 at 2:25pm: If we can't laugh at ourselves life is no damn fun. There is nothing funnier than to sit in the room with a bunch of recruiters and listen to all the egos crashing against the wall. However if we didn't have the ego strengh of Missouri Mules we would have lastest about a week in this business. Glad the warm call is working for you Rob. I don't put on networking events but i offer to speak at all kinds of groups because everybody always wants a speaker. I have never presented without walking away with a good contact, a job order or a top candidate. Yes have used blogs. I twitter follow every dermatologist i can on twitter. Then when i need a dermatopathologist they are more than happy to give me the name of the best they know that they send cases to, now i do own about a 100 years supply of all kinds of super dooper skin products that all of them sell or recommend. If anti aging products really worked i would look like a teenage mutant Rebecca of Sunnybrook farm.

Thanks for the killer hat comment, love em and wear em all the time. There is a funny story about that pic but i'll save for the next time i have make Paul laugh.

Comment by Peter Ceccarelli on March 19, 2010 at 2:42pm: You should see Sandra's furs! Now we're talking when she has those on!

PITA people.......please do not take offense!

Comment by Sandra McCartt on March 19, 2010 at 2:51pm: LOL, thanks Peter, i am also selective about which kind of fur i will wear. Nothing made of baby seals or Racoon Dogs from China that are brutally slaughtered. Rodents and predators that kill my baby cats, maul my horses, kill Bambi or eat baby puppies are fair game.

Comment by Paul Alfred on March 19, 2010 at 2:54pm: I speak at Career fairs on Occasion for kids ... I am also on Twitter but I cover a wider range of topics ... I pick up a lot of clients on LinkedIn ... Sandra is right about the egos ... The key is not to let it get to your head ... and yes Id love to meet Sandra exchange stories ... I find her to be very funny but wise ...

Comment by Sandra McCartt on March 19, 2010 at 3:03pm: I love Linkedin. To me it is like a big Easter Egg hunt with hundreds of Golden Eggs.

Thanks Paul, i am funny but looks aren't everything.

Wise comes from having the shit kicked out of one until one got one's ego in order. Now i delight in doing that favor for some of my younger hard charging colleagues. Then being able to laugh about it when the light bulb goes on with the realization that being all that and a bag of chips means one is probably a good cheeseburger.

Comment by Paul Alfred on March 19, 2010 at 3:07pm: LOL this is what I am talking about funny ... Actually I like the Picture Sandra ... Sometimes we all need to get slapped upside the head every now and again ...

Comment by Julia Stone on March 19, 2010 at 4:11pm: honestly, no. My advice? Get busy partnering with recruiters who aren't so afraid of calling people and expect to give away 1/2 of the profit to them. Don't like it? Hire someone to call out for you & expect to pay them about 1/2 of the profit too.

Comment by Rob on March 19, 2010 at 5:24pm: linkedin is definately the best tool ever invented for recruiters. Do you guys use the inmail function or pay for the premium stuff? So far its been great for headhunting candidates and maybe a little less so for gaining clients for me. BTW-I was a pretty good cold caller while I was at Manpower but would like to try other things now I've set up my own shop. I haven't tried twitter, I now will so thanks paul for the update. I think the speaking sounds like a really good idea- positioning yourself as a thought leader etc.