Blog Content
As a recruiter you need easy sourcing and sales.
"Social proof" is key to this! Candidates and clients in your network who think that you're ace and are prepared to recommend that others work with you will drive your pipeline for you.
But we often see a lack of process in getting recommendations and this makes recruitment harder.
3 Stats to Focus You on Getting Testimonials
9 out of 10 purchases happen because of peer recommendations. (Source: Marketing Charts)
Referrals are 5x more effective than all other sources of hiring. (Source: Zeti)
69% of clients would work with a recommended recruiter. (Source: CIPD)
So, having a strategy to get recommended is key!
1 Stat Says it All, Though!
But here's the clincher: 91% of customers say they’d give referrals, but only 11% of salespeople ask for referrals. (Source: Sale Carnegie)
So:
Referrals, recommendations, testimonials are easy to get...
However, recruiters are just not asking for them!
But, recruiters! You have a wealth of candidates and clients to tap into and convert in to great referees.
Choca Bullhorn CRMs.
Busy LinkedIn contact lists.
And surely for every placement you make you could get 1 x candidate and 1 x client testimonial... But are you?
My 3 Tips to Help Get Testimonials and Weaponise Them for Easy Sourcing and Sales
1️⃣Ask, but be specific! 💪
Don't just ask for a testimonial and leave it to the client or candidate to get around to it. Have a call with them at the end of your assignment and ask them questions. These questions could get you started:
What was your issue?
Why did you choose to work with me?
What did we do for you?
How will this new hire / new job help you now?
Give me 3 words to describe your experience of working with us. (These in be super helpful in getting your message across to who you want to work with...)
This testimonial call will not only get you valuable feedback. It will also be a great excuse to manage your candidate and client experience (and account / pipeline), and also ideally help you get further business / candidate leads.
Ask:
Who do you know that we can also help?
2️⃣Write it for them📝
Draft 2-3 short paragraphs and email it back to the candidate/client to get their OK.
Use their language in the copy you create - this will make it sound more human, less "markety", and also get them to sign off quicker.
Pro tip! Ensure you use valuable keywords to ensure that this content is optimised on your website and LinkedIn profile when you come to publish it.
3️⃣Get it online 📢
Publish testimonials on:
Your website, and not just on your testimonials page. Knit them into your blogs, job adverts, sector pages.
Google updates - ask your marketer to do this for you.
Your Linkedin profile recommendations. (Use the Request a recommendation feature in Linkedin and paste in your copy - make it easy for your community to recommend you.)
Your Glassdoor page.
Your email signatures.
And create cute images. I use Canva to create speedy 2minute testimonials that I can use in my sales and marketing.
My Final Tip? Timing is Key
So recruiters! Don’t be afraid to ask for a recommendation you deserve it!
Promise yourself to ask for a recommendation from the candidate and client on your next placement – just do it! And then rinse and repeat using my tips above.
And don't keep them secret - get the message out there. Your desk, pipeline, boss, and bank account, will thank you!
Recruitment Training
We deliver the best Recruitment Training through live webinars and our online training platform Recruitment HIIT.
Our recruitment training helps new and experienced recruiters qualify their jobs, speedily source and advertise, and improve their screening. It boosts CV to interview ratios, whilst giving great tips to prevent counter offers, and secure the placement and beyond.
Plus, if you have Bullhorn, Analytics, Automation, SourceBreaker, LinkedIn, Calendly, Teams, Daxtra, Broadbean, idibu, Hinterview, Paiger, and more... we train on those too!
TRY HIIT FREE HERE
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Lisa Jones
Blog
How Recruiters Can Turn Bounces and Unsubscribes into $£€
Recruiters, marketers, automators... If you’re regularly emailing candidates or clients—especially using tools like Bullhorn Automation you’ve likely become familiar with two things: unsubscribes and hard bounces.At first glance, they can feel like a blow to your efforts—but they’re not always what they seem. In fact, how you respond to them is where the real sourcing and sales opportunities lie.Through the free consultation calls I have with recruiters who have Bullhorn, a hot topic is unsubscribes and hard bounces. Neither outcome gives a nice fuzzy feeling. If someone unsubscribes it limits your chances of reaching out to them again.If you get a hard bounce, their email has failed or the server has blocked you.But rather than get frustrated, slowing down your marketing / automation efforts, get active and turn these apparent dead ends into business opportunities. I've got some tips to help you monetise the "no"!💡Be sure to also read my other blog: Tired of Unsubscribes? 5 Email Tips Every Recruiter Should Knowto help you reduce the volume of unsubscribes.Unsubscribes and Hard Bounces Aren’t Always the EndTake it from someone who sends regular campaigns with Bullhorn/Automation/Sales/Sourcing tips. Here’s what I’ve learned:When you start poking around a database that hasn’t been touched in a while, you need to plan for:Inevitable bad, dirty dataLow trust due to radio silence / low communication volumeBounces and unsubscribesSo:1️⃣Stagger your outreach. A gradual send schedule helps you build a better picture of your data, keeps your sender reputation healthy, and gives you the time to review and action what’s coming back.2️⃣Use and A/B testing to tell you what works (and what bombs).3️⃣Then, and this bit is crucial, have a battle plan to turn what seems like a "no" into an opportunity.Not Every Unsubscribe or Hard Bounce is Final🏴Unsubscribes: What we often see—especially in recruitment—is that many unsubscribes are "false flags". It’s not the person opting out; it’s often their old email being shut down or a system admin / manager clearing mailboxes.Often, that person hasn’t unsubscribed —they’ve moved to another company.⛔Hard bounces should be an opportunity to follow the follow the leaver to their new company - and rekindle a relationship.Instead of blindly trusting your email system, build a workflow to monetise the "no".Here’s how I manage unsubscribes at Barclay Jones:Two months after each mailer, I check the unsubscribes.I investigate if they’ve left the company or simply moved jobs.If they’ve moved, I update their details in the CRM and re-engage them.I do the same with hard bounces by checking LinkedIn and updating records.Recruiters can recover valuable contacts this way—some of those “dead” leads could be placements waiting to happen! 🔥Don’t Burn Out Your Database (Or Recruiters)Another smart tip?Don’t hit your entire database all at once.A flood of bounces and unsubscribes is overwhelming—and tempting to ignore.💸Campaign the Clean ~ Create the Opps!Treat every email/automation campaign not just as marketing—but as a data quality (and data wealth) activity.Hard bounces? Check if the contact has left.Unsubscribes? Investigate the source.Build this into your CRM workflows—it doesn’t have to be hard or time-consuming.With the right process, they’re signals—not setbacks.Want help building an outreach and automation strategy to keep candidates and clients opted in?📅 Let’s talk!I offer free consultations to help leaders, recruiters, and automators unlock the power of their Bullhorn database.BOOK YOUR FREE CONSULTATION
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Lisa Jones
Blog
Tired of Unsubscribes? 5 Email Tips Every Recruiter Should Know
Recruiters, marketers, automators... If you’re running regular email campaigns to candidates or clients, with tech like Bullhorn Automation, unsubscribes are either a fact of life or something you dread, and may even be the reason you are not ambitious enough with your outreach.Through the free consultation calls I have with recruiter / leaders / automators who have Bullhorn, I’ve been finding myself talking a lot about managing recruitment campaign outputs, and dreaded unsubscribes.Unsubscribes can feel like a blow to your efforts, but there are ways to prevent them which I'll explore below.💡Be sure to also read my other blog: How Recruiters Can Turn Bounces and Unsubscribes into $£€- so that when you get an unsubscribe or hard bounce, you could actually create more recruitment opportunities.5 Ways to Reduce Your Candidates and Clients from UnsubscribingI've got lots of tips to share, that we coach in our Automation Buddy programs, but here's 5 to get you started today.1️⃣Clean up / segment your data I guarantee you have data which you no longer need (old sectors / job titles you no longer recruit for).Perhaps the data you need isn't coded well enough for you to segment it, hence you risk hitting parts of your community with the wrong content.But, don't procrastinate over this - you don't need a 100% clean database to start a campaign, or to make an approach. Clean up some data, and hit it. Then move on to the next layer to attack.2️⃣Subject lines need to punch above their weightKeep them short and sweet, but personalised (about them, not you (or recruitment) and relevant to your community.Think "mobile first" and ensure that your subject line can actually be read on a mobile device. For example, the Mail app on iPhones displays up to 78 characters in the subject line area.Emojis can help you stand out in a big list of emails, too.3️⃣Content, creating contentment (not consternation)I'm still seeing way too much recruitment content online, and not enough sector-specific content form recruiters.I yawn at interview tips / what to wear to interviews etc... It works less well than content aimed at your sector and job titles.At a stretch "Interview tips for Accountants" is better than a more generic topic, but even so, if that's the best content you can create, you need to try harder.What tech does your community use? Find out and talk about it.How is AI / world events affecting them? Find out and talk about it.It's never been easier to find out more about what makes your community tick - ask them, ask Google, ask AI!4️⃣Formatting to attract attention (but be WCAG-aware)I recently spotted a recruitment campaign where the email content was centred throughout and black and white - very uninspiring, and actually quite difficult to engage with.In the very least breath your brand colours into your content and check WCAG guidelines to ensure that you're not inadvertently muting your content.If your community uses Instagram / Facebook etc... be sure that they expect your content to have a life beyond black and white copy. Colour, emojis, personality - shine!5️⃣"Pitch" the unsubscribeWhat does the unsubscribe footer in your mailers look like?Is it simply an invite to unsubscribe? Or have you pitched that if they do, they'll miss out on future helpful content, and life-changing jobs?I see way too many campaigns that look like the goal is to generate unsubscribes! Ironically the footer is often more engaging than the mailer itself."We're fixated on helping our teaching community stay up to speed with the best tips, tricks, and jobs. You can unsubscribe, but then you may miss your next best teaching hack, or career move"...is better than..."Unsubscribe".📍Final Thought: Create Recruitment Campaigns to Keep Your Community SubscribedYour data, message, design are crucial to keeping your community from opting out.By keeping your content relevant, valuable, and human—you’ll build a database that’s active, engaged, and ready to work with you.Want help building an automation and outreach strategy to keep your community of candidates and clients opted in? Let’s talk.I offer free consultations to help leaders / recruiters / automators unlock the power of their Bullhorn database and create opportunities .BOOK YOUR FREE CONSULTATION
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Your Recruitment Training Playbook
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Lisa Jones
Webinar
Recruiter Productivity Series: Optimise Bullhorn Part 4 ~ Place Faster with Less Effort
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Wayne Barclay
Webinar
Automation RoI Webinar Series: Unlock Bullhorn Part 4 ~ Place Faster and Easier
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Wayne Barclay
Webinar
Automation RoI Webinar Series: Unlock Bullhorn Part 3 ~ Sell Faster and Easier
