Recruiters are continually hunting for job candidates. There are a variety of techniques to fill job orders. One of them is the dreaded cold call. Many times, staffing agencies tie a key performance indicator (KPI) onto the number of cold calls recruiters make. But no one likes cold calls. Is there a better way?  

In this article, we’ll teach you how to turn your cold calls into warm calls and use the right technology to make you more successful, efficient, and profitable.  

Warm-Up Cold Candidates  

Most recruiters have a job requirement to make cold calls. We all hate them, no matter how good we are. LinkedIn even reports that less than 2% of all cold calls yield a win, whether it’s a candidate hire or a new sale. But here’s the rub: To catch fish, recruiters need to have as many lines in the water as possible.   

The goal, then, should be to use professional recruiting software and your social networks to warm up the candidate contact before you make the call.   

Instead of making a cold call, try these three techniques instead:  

1. Recruiters should always use social media to promote jobs. Most of them do. But do you look at your LinkedIn stats to determine who is checking out your profile? You should. After you’ve created a social media post, check out the stats to identify the people that have viewed it. Then send them an InMail and ask if they’d like to network. You can also use your social media activities to make yourself more approachable. One best practice is to post every day on social media sites but also take time every day to comment on other people’s posts.  
2. Using software to help you keep in touch with an existing pool of candidates. All relationships atrophy, but a sound applicant tracking system (ATS), can help you stay in touch with candidates regularly. Each candidate, even if not on the market, is a potential conduit to another candidate. Your ATS should automate these contacts, personalizing texts, emails, and other marketing materials to stay in touch with your network. If you can use these existing contacts to earn even one or two referrals a week, that’s two calls that just got a little warmer.  
3. Research your candidates. A good ATS can automate resume sourcing and save you lots of time. Then you can use LinkedIn social intelligence to glean actionable insight before you reach out to the candidate. What content do they share? What topics seem essential to them? What kinds of interests do they have outside of work? Then, look at their company to research any relevant information like market trends or news. Maybe their company announced a merger or layoff. Maybe there’s an industry downturn. Reaching out to a candidate with a good qualifying question is a much smarter way to conduct your cold call.   

You can use your ATS to personalize, even mass communications, to improve your relationship with your social network. This will create a more friendly and familiar environment when it’s time to pick up the phone and reach out to a stranger. Talk to Exelare about how your ATS can make you more successful at the art of recruiting. We can help.