Last week, I introduced you to Maureen Sharib, one 
of the few people on the planet who seem to enjoy recruiting by picking up the phone and calling people. I know it sounds strange, but such a person actually exists! And as promised, I’m going to share some of the things I’ve learned from Maureen's insight over the last couple of years. I can’t guarantee that the information will transform you into an enthusiastic phone recruiter, but it should help to improve your execution of this important fundamental.
Why do we hate to pick up the phone and recruit?
1. We’re scared. Most people are reluctant to recruit by phone because of fear.
“What prevents a [recruiter] from being successful on the phone? The biggest element is fear. Have you ever experienced a situation where you just knew the people you need to recruit are on the inside of a particular company’s four walls and the only way to reach them is via the telephone? In that situation, even though there was a large monetary incentive to reach those people, did you not do anything about them because you were afraid?”
The answer to these questions (for all of us) is “yes.”
Maureen’s advice..
“So, the very first thing you have to do is get over it. So get over it. Next be willing to admit that you’d like to fix this troubled aspect of your existence. The final step is to do something about it.”
Sharib details some well-established techniques for overcoming fear in phone recruiting in her feature article, "20 Calls to Change Your Attitude."
2. We’re great at rationalizing behavior that keeps us off the phone.
For example, some people think it is helpful to research the person (typically on the internet) whom you’re trying to recruit before making a call. Maureen’s take….
"I personally think this 'cold calling' versus 'warm calling' thing is a red-herring made up by people who find calling a complete and total stranger psychologically difficult. They somehow believe that if they spend half a day researching each person that they'll be more likely to establish a rapport with them. Perhaps 'warming' themselves up for half a day makes them slightly more effective. But if they made 10 calls instead they'd get much better results. At some level it is always a numbers game."
Another example: Some people think it is unethical to call companies with the intention of stealing their best employees. Nice try.
“It’s a fact that many people don’t want to call another on the telephone and ask for information much beyond what it takes to order a pizza. Because this is a basic truth about much of human nature there’s a repugnance that’s developed around the subject of phone [recruiting]. It’s intimated over and over again among individuals that it’s a borderline honest activity. Bolstering that repugnance are the lofty ministrations that usually emerge over the subject of calling another company’s employees and offering them another opportunity.”
These are just two of many examples. If you’re not calling, you’re somewhere on the continuum of rationalizing your inactivity. Maureen’s advice….hold yourself accountable to making the calls.
3. We’re lazy. Very few people are willing to do the work necessary to be successful at phone recruiting. The laziness applies to both becoming a student of successful recruiting methodologies and following through on the strategies that work.
Maureen published a very long article earlier this year that outlines an effective strategy for successfully engaging a passive candidate (i.e. someone who is not looking to change companies) in the first minute of talking to him/her. She uses a case study of one of her clients who would call passive candidates and leave the following message:
“Hello, my name is ___________. I located your contact information online and have a very exciting opportunity to discuss with you. Please reach me at (___) ___ – ____ to learn more about this great opportunity. I promise not to take more than a couple minutes of your time. I look forward to speaking with you; have a great day!”
This message was left with more than 200 candidates. The results? No callbacks. No interviews. No hires. Phone recruiter who is seriously depressed.
Maureen makes the point that if you’re willing to do some work, the results can be significantly improved.
Rule #1: Try multiple times to reach the candidate live. Never leave a message until you’ve called the person at least six times and got their voicemail.
Rule#2: When you get a candidate on the phone, be ready to answer the following questions/objections quickly: “How did you get my name?” and “I’m not looking to change companies right now...” while keeping their attention. One of the ways you could answer the second objection is:
“Nobody said you were looking for a job. The intent here is to locate and talk to persons who are happy in their positions with the idea that these people are likely to be the most productive.”
Maureen’s advice… become an expert at this stuff. The ROI on becoming a proficient phone recruiter is worth the time and effort.
Hopefully, I’ve whetted your appetite to learn more about becoming a competent phone recruiter. Reading Maureen’s writings is a great place to start, but there are many, many more experts who are willing to share their secrets...if you're willing to look.
Keep in mind that many of these experts do not specialize in the real estate industry. The upside to this reality is that there may be many fresh new ideas that have never been tried in real estate recruiting. The downside is that you’ll often have to translate their verbiage into something that makes sense for your business, and sometimes modify their methods to match your application.
Let me know what you are learning as you do your own research...
Editor's Note: This article was written by Ben Hess. Ben is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.
Hi Maureen, I'm glad you liked the post. I feel bad that I didn't tell you when we wrote this article...and it took 18 months for you to find it on your own. There is probably tons of other nice stuff that is written about you out on the internet that you don't know about:)
I enjoy your articles and insight. The issues you address are very relevant to our readers.
Take care,
Ben
Posted by: Ben Hess | February 17, 2012 at 10:55 AM
I'm very flattered that you like my work.
Thank you for the links.
Thank you for everything!
Maureen
Posted by: Maureen Sharib | January 27, 2012 at 09:33 AM