Interseller: Strategies for Recruiting Outreach during COVID-19

 

Interseller: Strategies for Recruiting Outreach During COVID-19

 

Times are hard for everyone. Internal and external recruiting teams are feeling the pressure now more than ever. Whether your organization is impacted by a hiring freeze, a drastic change in the hiring process, or a hiring boom – now is NOT the time to shut down outbound operations. It is, however, a good time to make connections and build relationships with talent and potential clients.

One of the biggest questions on everyone’s mind and one we’ve been asked by many recruiting leaders lately is the following.

“How do we successfully communicate with our current and prospective clients and candidates with COVID-19 looming in the forefront of everyone’s minds?”

We’ve spoken to countless recruiters who are in the same boat. At Interseller, we also have had to adapt our own messaging across all of our outbound channels. Through these conversations and our own tests, we’ve compiled some helpful tactics to help you maintain your pipeline. Meanwhile, the majority of your competitors are closing up shop. Here are some general principles to follow as well as some templates from our messaging revamp you can take and easily apply to your business.

 

General Principles

This is a great time to rethink and revamp your messaging strategy to candidates, clients, and prospects alike. Here are some things to keep in mind as you redefine things moving forward.

Relationships Matter

Focus on relationship building and stay away from the hard push of a sale or job opening, because your target may not necessarily be in the market to buy or make a move during this time. Assume that everyone is impacted and keep an empathetic tone.

Free Offers

Offer something useful for free. This could be as simple as reviewing and giving feedback on a candidate’s resume. Or, it could be pointing prospects to resources (i.e. information on the state of the recruiting market, free tools, favorite blog posts, etc.). Side note: try to refrain from using the word “free” in your messaging because that still is a top spam filter trigger.

Acknowledge Current Times

Don’t make COVID-19 a focal point of your message, but don’t completely graze over it as if nothing is happening right now. Take the time to infuse it into your language to make your messaging current. Say things like “hope you’re staying healthy and safe” or “be well” as a sign-off. Focus on empathy and vulnerability.

Call-to-Actions

Make your call-to-action a friendly invitation for a phone call (not necessarily tied to your services). People are much more willing to hop on the phone in this current state than during normal working conditions. Ask them for their feedback on how they see the market.

Now that we’ve got some guiding principles, you may be asking, “How do we apply these effectively to different target groups?” Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered! Below you’ll find some messaging that’s working well for us right now focusing on new business development, recruiting new candidates, and communicating with existing clients or stakeholders. Hopefully, this provides some inspiration for your own messaging!

 

Business Development Template

It’s important to continue to build relationships, but also change up your language to offer value to your prospects in a different way than you normally would right now. Your initial outreach could look something like this…

Hi {{ first_name }},

This is where I would typically put a funny sentence in that would grab your attention and engage you in conversation around Interseller. The thing is, no one’s attention is focused on buying new recruiting software right now. People are focused on their health and their loved ones, as they should be.

Some companies are doing very well right now (Zoom, Amazon, Charmin etc.) but most are doing everything in their power to weather this storm. That said, I’m not going to try and sell you on Interseller right now. It’s just not the time or place.

Instead, I have compiled a few articles that you might be interested in. You can check them out here:

• Corona virus and its impact on the recruiting industry
• 3 steps for crafting a strong recruiting email <– we wrote this one!
• Some good news

If you have a few minutes to chat about the current recruiting climate this week I’d really like to hear your perspective. Even if it’s just a quick 5-10 minute call to introduce ourselves and share knowledge.

Wishing you and yours good health and peace of mind. Hope to chat soon!

 

Cold Recruiting Template

This is an initial email our team at Interseller helped revise for one of our customers who asked for assistance in rewriting her cold recruiting email sequence to acknowledge the current climate.

Hi {{ first_name }},

I hope that you’re staying safe and have been able to adjust to the changes this recent crisis has thrust upon you. I’m reaching out to you from my new home workspace on behalf of XYZ Company.

I’m reaching out to you because we’re seeking a Data Analyst or Scientist to join our growing team. In this role, you would be the second member of the Data Team, and an integral part of every aspect of the company—not just the algorithms that drive our product, but also the company culture.

I understand that there must be a lot on your mind outside of the working environment and that’s completely fair. I do too! But, I also have faith that we all will be able to weather the storm. When all of this has settled, I want to be assured that I’ve set up the people I work with to succeed in their transition back to normal life.

Based on your experience at {{ company }}, I think that you could be a tremendous fit here at Summer and I would be remiss if we didn’t get the chance to at least chat about it.

If you are interested in learning more about the opportunity, please feel free to send me some times that work for you and I’ll do my best to make it happen. Given my new work from home schedule, I can be a little more flexible than usual 🙂

Looking forward to it!

Sincerely,

 

Existing Clients or Stakeholders Template

It’s important to keep your current clients or internal stakeholders warm during this time, so be sure to continue to communicate with them. Remember, you can still add value in different ways right now. Here’s a look at what we are using internally at our company.

Hey {{ first_name }},

Greetings from my childhood home in Jersey! Wanted to take a minute to share what myself and Interseller are doing for our partners in these interesting times.

We’ve been in nearly constant contact with a number of our customers and have been carefully monitoring how our industry has been responding to the ever-changing nature of the crisis. Every day, we’re doing our best to keep our finger on the pulse of what’s going on so that we can better support you!

So, that being said, please do let me know if you’d like to set up a call with me to help:

• Provide our perspective on the current situation from both a human and business level
• Brainstorm ideas to keep your business going with a shrinking target audience
• Put together messaging for both BD and candidate sourcing during this time
• Talk through anything else that might be on your mind

Ultimately, I’m here to be your partner and make sure that I’m doing everything in my power to help you succeed. So, please do not hesitate to use me as a resource however that may manifest itself.

Stay safe and I’m looking forward to speaking soon!

 

In Summary

These are just a few examples of ways to engage with people during this time. And remember, there’s no magic message that’s going to please everyone. You’ve got to remain authentic, vulnerable, and empathetic in your language – but you can’t win them all. But when we all rebound from this (and we will), you’ll have a head start on relationships and pipeline you wouldn’t have if you did nothing during this time.

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