Cold calling, cold calling, cold calling!!! This is what many Recruitment Managers want their staff to do on a daily basis in order to try and generate business and it is often loathed by the recruiters. It is also, and probably more importantly, loathed by many of the clients that are harassed on a regular basis. Many recruiters are given unrealistically high outbound call targets to achieve and as a result of this do not have the time or inclination to fully research the company before calling them, to understand exactly what they want to get from the call, and therefore do not portray the most professional image to the client.
According to the Oxford Dictionary, the definition of cold-calling is to “make an unsolicited visit or telephone call to (someone), in an attempt to sell goods or services”. More than 175,000 complaints were made to the ICO last year about nuisance calls and text messages. From 6th April this year companies can continue to make marketing phone calls but they must first check if the person they are calling has opted out with the Telephone Preference Service. We’ve all been on the receiving end of irritating calls about mis-sold PPI plans or double glazing but, when used correctly, cold-calling can be a valuable tool in the recruitment industry.
Carole Wilks, Director of Journey Recruitment says ‘I don’t believe cold-calling is dead as it definitely has its place in recruitment, and at the end of the day, recruitment is a sales-driven industry. However, I do not believe that setting staff members unrealistic sales targets or KPIs is getting the best out of them. I would far rather a staff member excel in customer service and maybe only make a few quality, targeted, sophisticated sales calls than to make an excessive number of cold calls for the sake of hitting targets….quality over quantity always! At Journey Recruitment, we pride ourselves on being a customer-focused organisation and I hear time and time again from customers how they hate being cold-called constantly by recruiters, especially those who have no reason for calling other than ‘have you got any jobs at the moment?’ I spent two hours with a customer yesterday who actually had no current business to give me. However, I now have a great understanding of their business and the type of person they look for, and I know that when they are next looking they will come to me as I actually took the time out of my day to visit them to get a full understanding of their business and culture knowing they had nothing to give me in return. It is all about building relationships at Journey Recruitment, not a “quick fix!’
Olivia Martell, Senior Recruiter at Journey Recruitment says, “I hadn’t considered working in recruitment before I met Carole who was starting up Journey Recruitment. My reason for this is the reputation it has for being a “hard-sell” sales industry. I have friends in recruitment who have to spend hours cold-calling every week in order to hit their targets, and they have to hit a gong in the office every time they hit some sort of target. Luckily at Journey Recruitment, rather than spending the majority of our time cold calling clients, we spend time a lot of time maintaining our relationships with our current clients with the use of our old fashioned values and tailor made service. This is the reason I love my job in recruitment and have been here nearly a year. The time has flown by!’
Overall, we believe here that cold-calling isn’t dead, it is the method of cold-calling which needs to change.
Journey Recruitment hopes you have a great day.