Last Friday as I planned my day (actually, Thursday night), I wanted to get in and reach out to those people I have either been playing phone tag with, and/or needed to contact. Since Friday’s are always a great day to connect with folks (winding down for the week/at their desk more often), I figured I would do the following:
- Script out my first 20 calls. Have their names/numbers on a print out right in front of me for the moment I walk in and get going.
- Since many folks arrive to work at 7/7:30 in preparation for 8/8:30 meetings, I figured I would come in and immediately launch into my calls at 7:30 sharp; not check emails, and already have my coffee, etc.
As a result, in that ½ hour I connected with 4 people that had been on my “to-do” list for two weeks.
For any recruiter, a Friday morning blast session is a great habit to develop!
To make it most effective, I would recommend:
- Script out your first 10, 20, 50 calls (depending on your sourcing assignment, who you are trying to reach, how long you plan to make calls). Make sure it is printed out (ease of use) with phone #’s. I am all about being paperless but that rush you get while working down a list; scratching off names you have been trying to contact, can be very motivating and powerful.
- Know the audience you are calling. If, like me – your audience usually start meetings at 8 or 8:30, start your calls at 7:15-7:30. That ½ hour (like mine was last Friday) could be worth 2 hours or countless messages/activity that we all know will yield results.
- Set a goal for how many people you will talk to and what the outcome will be. The power of positive thinking does work!
- With each dial, mentally say in your mind “they will pick up the phone.” The power of positive thinking does work!
- If you work with other recruiters, do the call-blast together. Get on the phones together, end together, and review results (side bets on most calls are a lot of fun too).
While I have written many articles and blog posts on this subject (please check out our resources section), I don’t think we can be reminded enough of best practices in this area. Isn’t engaging quality candidates and educating them about the wonderful opportunities that we can offer our main job?!
This Friday morning – don’t wind down with admin work like others, wind up and get on the phones!
You will feel so good (like I did last Friday) for doing it!