Email Sourcing? You bet!

What?!?

Q: But Art, isn't email sourcing in the domain of lazy recruiterdom?

A: If you can reach more ppl with a tool you're NOT using - THAT'S lazy!

For some reason, a couple of times a month someone will give me a referral to someone I'm looking for by senging me an email with a name and an email address - no other information.

I actually know the reason.

The people providing the information for me are very scared I'm going to "out" them for giving up some names, so they figure if they nudge me toward them without providing all the info (um... like what company suziethelovegoddess@hotmail.com works for) then their anonymity is assured. Sometimes I even receive groupings of several email addresses like this.

So here's my method. I try an email first, then if I get no response, I go back to the referer and ask them point blank for more info so I can call the target. But the amazing thing is MOST of the time I don't have to do that.

First of all - your subject line is critical. You know it's not going to a work email address because if it was, you would know where they work and call them instead. So, knowing it's going to a home email I try to get as much into the subject line as possible... then I also reinforce it's not SPAM.... Keeping in mind most email clients will truncate the subject into just a few words, a good subject from me looks something like this:

Subject: Lard Handler Opportunity - **NOT SPAM**

Simple, right to the point and clear. Now in the body of my email, I do a few things. Of course I try to see if they're interested, but at the same time I want to be able to capture any potential referrals that could come out of this contact. Here's a sample email:

Thank you for taking a moment to read this.

My name is Art Pitcher and I am an executive Recruiter working on a confidential position in San Diego. I was referred to you as someone who might be able to help me in regards to a specific search for a Lard Handler. Please review the information below, and if you are interested (or know someone who you think would be a good fit) PLEASE respond (I have included multiple routes of contact below).

If you don’t think it’s a good match to yourself but you know someone I could approach in confidence (I will leave you completely out of it if you wish) and they end up getting the position, I will pay you $500 as a thank-you, OR donate that sum to a charity of your choice in your name. I only work with highly qualified executives and have many referrals to prove I am good on my word. My contact information is included at the bottom of this information. But most importantly, this new position could change your life, or the life of someone you care about.

And yes, that's a feel good line at the bottom - making a nice deposit in the potential relationship bank. Hey - you never know what someone is going to respond to, and since I'm doing this blindly, I HAVE to touch as many potential trigger points as I can.

Try it... you just might like it.

HAPPY HUNTING

Art Pitcher
www.TheArtOfRecruiting.net

Comment by Tim on August 11, 2008 at 11:16am: I don't disagree - i've occasionally tried soemthing like this and had some success. however, i used it as a last resort - your post reminds me that i might use it more freely - thanks, Art!

Tim Schieffelin
404.869.3200

Comment by pam claughton on August 11, 2008 at 11:30am: Art,
Interesting post. Do you always put ''Not Spam" in the subject line? Does that really make a difference? I like your closing line.
~Pam

Comment by Art Pitcher on August 11, 2008 at 12:04pm: Pam-

I do, but that's only because I personally get about 20 solicitations/day for "opportunities" that are really just offshore firms and job boards looking to increase their candidate count. I assume I'm not the only one who gets these (that I don't even open anymore) so I think that advising them that "Hey, this isn't some unsolicited ad for a non-existent opportunity, MLM, viagra or something worse. This is a bonafide career opportunity. LOOK AT ME!!!!" might help me, although I've never really asked.

-Art

Comment by Art Pitcher on August 12, 2008 at 12:09pm: Thanks for your comments, Irina!! Sounds like you have a great subject line.

-Art

Comment by Irina Shamaeva on August 12, 2008 at 12:15pm: Never do 2 things at once!
I was on the phone with my daughter and reading Art's response and inadvertently deleted my post. Is there a way to restore it?

Comment by Irina Shamaeva on August 12, 2008 at 4:27pm: Art,

Since I can't recover my previous post, may I post once more? Briefly, what I wrote was,
My email subject to these people was "You were referred to us as a subject matter expert on X". It sounds personal to them.
I also liked Art's nice email ending and hope to remember to write emails this way!

Let me share one suggestion on finding more information about a person whom you're about to email, without asking the referrer. Do you have LI for Outlook installed? If so, here is the trick.

Create a new contact, paste the email address as the contact's email and save the contact. If the person is on LI, the toolbar now shows quite a bit of information about the person.
Enjoy.

Irina
irina@braingainrecruiting.com
http://www.braingainrecruiting.com

Comment by Dennis Smith on August 18, 2008 at 11:53am: nice post! And I appreciate you walking through the steps of the letter. Too often, in our attempt to "get something out quick," we fail to follow a process that compel them to read our email, let alone reply.

Excellent work -

Dennis

Comment by Sara on August 18, 2008 at 11:56am: I like the spam line - I feel like my emails go to spam sometimes. And have you ever had anyone choose or comment on the charity donation? I like that as an option.

Comment by Art Pitcher on August 18, 2008 at 12:16pm: Sara-

Only once. I was provided a referral with the condition that if the referral was hired I would make a $500 donation to the Susan Korman fund. The candidate was not hired, but I made the donation anyway in the referers name.

-Art

Comment by Asif Akhtar Nizami on August 18, 2008 at 2:54pm: Hi Art,
Thanks for sharing the nice information. Thanks Irina for sharing the handy tip of LinkedIn toolbar for Outlook. :-)