Comment by Jerry Albright on March 25, 2011 at 9:28am

Frankly I find it hard to make the number of calls I did in the 80s and 90s.  There just aren't as many numbers to dial as there once was.

 

As I think about this (great topic by the way!) I would guess most of my phone calls begin with connecting by email to start.  Once a connection has been made I get to the phone as quickly as I can though.  It's hard to really learn about someone if we try to just keep the email or text string going.  Need to take that offline and into a real back and forth discussion as soon as you can.

 

It would be very hard to keep up an 80 or 100 call pace in today's world.  Most calls just go to VM straight away.  20 years ago people answered the phones.  It's just different now.....

 

 

Comment by C. B. Stalling!! on March 25, 2011 at 12:14pm

The phone is my most important tool. Then email - then the internet.

Comment by Sandra McCartt on March 25, 2011 at 4:54pm

Probably 90% of my contacts start with email,a tweet or a digital touch somehow.  Even from clients listing a job.  We may have two or three email exchanges prior to talking about the nuances of the job.  I have an efax but discourage anyone from faxing at this point.  Two reasons.  If they don't know how to email a resume it worries me if they are placeable.  Second faxed documents sometimes distort.

 

The number of complaints i am hearing from everyone about being "cold called" deters me from making cold calls.  I make 99% warm calls (the person i am calling knows at least my name and what i do)

If a candidate calls me before emailing a resume it's a short conversation.  I ask for a resume to be emailed then call them back.

Comment by Sandra McCartt on March 25, 2011 at 5:01pm

What i am hearing from internals that i work with and hiring managers is that they are sick to death of recruiters calling them day after day.  One told me yesterday that she would never use Robert Half if they had the last accountant on the planet because they are calling her and leaving voice mails as many as 10 times a day.  She will not take their calls and knows one thing for sure.  She will never use them.

Comment by Al Merrill on March 25, 2011 at 5:10pm

Today, I find a text message to their mobile phone asking for a callback gets their attention the quickest, especially as most candidates are working and will at least peek at their mobile phone even if they don't immediately respond. I know I don't make near the same calls for just the reasons Jerry mentioned.

Comment by Chris Short on March 25, 2011 at 5:29pm

Al, my colleague and I call texting "switching to guns". When we really need a  quick response we use this method. Great technique! With the emergence of twitter and other micro blogging sites people are more comfortable with short to the point messages like texts.

Comment by Al Merrill on March 25, 2011 at 5:38pm

I just get the BlackBerry SMS humming! Works for me! It is really hard to believe how far we've come reaching out to people, and the milestone changes some of us have seen.

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