Since time immemorial, cold calling and recruitment have gone hand in hand to bring in a quality workforce to an organization. Most of us know what recruitment cold calls are, but for the rest, here is its classic definition –
“Making calls to prospects who are not expecting to hear a call from you about the job. The candidate might be a passive job seeker who is not actively looking for a job but is open to a good career opportunity if provided with one.”
Looking at the definition, cold recruitment calls might sound simple. After all, all you have to do is find the candidate’s phone number, call them and recruit them for your organization. Isn’t it?
Wrong! It’s much more complicated than you think. A wrong move can even impact your brand’s reputation. To add to your woes, the number of telemarketing calls and scam calls has exploded in recent times, and people’s trust in unknown callers is at an all-time low.
Cold calling might be an asset or a liability for your organization based on your approach. The ideal way to approach it is to convert it into warm calls. But how do you do that?
This is where this post can help as we bring you some of the best tips to turn your cold recruitment calls warm. But first, let us understand some key challenges faced by recruiters in cold recruitment calls.
Key challenges you will face in recruitment cold calls
It’s highly unpredictable
The number of variables in a cold recruitment call is quite high Things can go in any direction. This is primarily because you do not have prior contact with the candidate, and they are not obliged to attend or answer you the way you expect them to. Also, you do not know whether they are busy now, what their mood is, are they really looking for a job, etc. All these may lead to different outcomes for your call.
It’s often mistaken for sales
The truth is people generally do not enjoy unexpected calls and may find them highly intrusive. This is even true if you are reaching out to them with a job opportunity. Cold calling has always been associated with over-eager salespeople trying to pitch their product. So whenever a call from an unknown number comes, the chances of people presuming it to be from salespeople are quite high.
You are unable to engage the candidate
As a recruiter, you might be making several cold calls a day. As a result, it will be very difficult for you to keep up with your enthusiasm throughout the day. Candidates can easily sense if you are bored or worn out. This will make them lose interest in your opportunity.
May damage your company’s reputation
Yes, this is quite possible, especially when you keep calling the same person multiple times even if they are not interested in the opportunity or you were not professional during the call. Automatically, candidates will share their bad experiences with their circle or even share negative reviews about you on different platforms.
More time consuming, less results
This is a given. Cold recruitment calls are time-consuming. You might end up making hundreds of calls to finally select one candidate. This may leave most recruiters bored and exhausted. The worst part, most of your effort goes down the drain as some candidates may not even pick up the call, some may turn down your offer after talking to you, while some may not turn up for the interview.
Now that you know the different challenges in cold recruitment calls, it’s time to understand the different ways to turn these calls warm and make them successful.
Tips to turn your recruitment cold calls warm
1. Have a great opener
A good opening line can inspire the candidate to respond in a positive way. You must remember that in cold calling, you have only about 30 seconds to make a good first impression. The right choice of words is critical to warm the candidates and make them listen to your opportunity till the end. A good opening line would be – “I reviewed your profile and noticed that you were looking for a web developer role. At <company name>, we are also looking for a web developer. We believe that you might be a great fit. Would you like to know more about the opportunity”
2. Listen keenly during the call and capture vital information about the candidate
This is a reactive solution. Remember that cold recruitment calls are never meant to be unidirectional. You are not supposed to go on and on about the role and the company. You have to listen to all the vital information provided by the candidates and drive the call based on those pieces of information. This will personalize the call to a certain extent and will put the candidates at ease as they will feel that they are no longer talking to a stranger.
3. Use call recordings to handle objections better
During your cold recruitment calls, you might come across a myriad of candidates. Some might be reluctant about your offer, some decline your offer straightaway, some accept, some come up with plenty of objections, etc. So what’s the best way to handle these different types of candidates? More importantly, how do you handle their objections?. Call recordings are your best bet. Recording the calls and analyzing them can give you deep insights into each type of candidate. These insights can help you handle objections better the next time you meet a similar candidate.
Frejun automatically records your calls and manages them for you. It will even come up with insights about your call performance, such as call volumes and call outcomes.
4. Leverage your Applicant Tracking System
An Applicant Tracking System provides all the necessary data for recruiters to optimize their hiring process. The ATS is primarily responsible for collecting information and organizing candidates based on their experience and skill set. It comes with a seamless filter option which can be used by recruiters to narrow down candidates who exactly meet the role requirements.
When you leverage the ATS, you will get access to all the important information about the candidates, such as their interests, experience, education, etc., which you can use to turn the calls warm.
Frejun is integrated with some of the best ATS tools out there, such as X0PA and CEIPAL.
Further Reading: Top 11 ATS Software for US & Canadian Firms
5. Ask for a referral to make your next cold call warm
A survey reveals that about eight in ten people do not answer calls from unknown numbers. This means that you cannot even reach 80% of your contacts. Your target is the remaining 20%. These candidates are your gold mine. Most of them might not be interested in the opportunity. But there is no harm in asking them for referrals. This way, you will finally reach someone who is actually looking for a job and is also a good fit. The best part is you can begin your conversation with the next candidate by talking about the mutual connection. This will warm your call right from the beginning as they know that you are calling because of a recommendation from a known person.
Verdict
Making hundreds of cold calls every day to random people can impact you big time. At the same time, it is also not recommended to restrict your calls to a handful of people. The important thing is to call as many people as possible but also ensure that the calls are warm. Following the above-mentioned tips can be a good start to begin this transformation. Apart from that, you can use the power of technology in the form of Frejun to collect and analyze data that will make your calls warm. Sign up today.