Automation / AI Tips, Tricks and Training

Recruiters! Is the Myth of GPDR Holding You Back?

Recruiters / Leaders / Marketers... Are you nervous of contacting candidates and clients without having their express consent?The advent of GDPR created some myths including “no more email marketing”. This blog will tell what total rubbish that is AND why you should be email marketing more than ever before!So, if you are a recruiter, recruitment marketer or recruitment leader, and:Want to generate more candidatesNeed more viable leadsShould be attracting more recruiters to your recruitment businessWant to be smart and use automation / email / WhatsApp / or dare I suggest, the phone…...you need to read this blog!🤔The Myth of GDPRGDPR has caused stupid amounts of disruption and confusion. Myths were created. Data was deleted. Business stopped… but at least we are all compliant, eh?Meanwhile, a little regulation called PECR – (Guide to the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations) has almost been ignored.I’m going to quote the regs throughout so to avoid further myths and nail down facts. This guide covers the latest version of PECR which covers marketing by phone, fax, email, text or any other type of ‘electronic mail’.*I am not a lawyer – I am a mere mortal. I have read the regs and interpreted them to suit myself and my recruitment clients.🔮Recruiters Need to Run Talent and Sector SurveysFirst – if you are conducting genuine market research (and a good recruiter should!) then:Genuine market research does not count as direct marketing. However, if a survey includes any promotional material or collects details to use in future marketing campaigns, the survey is for direct marketing purposes and the rules apply.AndRoutine customer service messages do not count as direct marketing – in other words, correspondence with customers to provide information they need about a current contract or past purchase (eg information about service interruptions, delivery arrangements, product safety, changes to terms and conditions, or tariffs). General branding, logos or straplines in these messages do not count as marketing. However, if the message includes any significant promotional material aimed at getting customers to buy extra products or services or to renew contracts that are coming to an end, that message includes marketing material and the rules apply.🚫But Recruiters Don’t Have Consent to Mail Clients and Candidates (Or Do They?)How about if you want to send a mail / text / automated campaign, without consent? It’s not against the law!An unsolicited message is any message that has not been specifically requested. So even if the customer has ‘opted in’ to receiving marketing from you, it still counts as unsolicited marketing. This does not make all unsolicited marketing unlawful. You can still send unsolicited marketing messages – as long as you comply with PECR.This is interesting – note the word “often”:You will often need a person’s consent before you can send them a marketing message. But,You must not send marketing emails or texts to individuals without specific consent. There is a limited exception for your own previous customers, often called the ‘soft opt-in’.🥰Recruiters Now Need to Rely on Being Soft!Is this a proper “get out of jail free card”?The rules on electronic mail marketing are in regulation 22. In short, you must not send electronic mail marketing to individuals, unless:they have specifically consented to electronic mail from you; orthey are an existing customer who bought (or negotiated to buy) a similar product or service from you in the past, and you gave them a simple way to opt out both when you first collected their details and in every message you have sentHold on – you mean that if you have been dealing with someone already, they are a “soft” op-in? And you can mail them? Yes – as long as you make it easy to unsubscribe.The term ‘soft opt-in’ is sometimes used to describe the rule about existing customers.Existing customers, recruiters! What does this mean to you?The idea is that if an individual bought something from you recently, gave you their details, and did not opt out of marketing messages, they are probably happy to receive marketing from you about similar products or services even if they haven’t specifically consented. Probably happy! (Yes please!)The soft opt-in rule means you may be able to email or text your own customers.Read this:You can also email or text an existing customer who has bought (or discussed buying) a similar product or service from you in the past – but only if you gave them a clear chance to opt out of getting marketing emails or texts when you collected their details, and in every message.💡So Recruiters! What’s the Best Way to Create a Marketing List and Use Automation to Drive Comms? This paragraph had me clapping my hands… According to the ICO:You may want to compile your own in-house marketing list using details of people who have bought goods or services in the past, or who have registered on your website or made an enquiry. However, you should not assume that everyone is happy to receive marketing just because they have provided their contact details.So, basically, you can create email marketing lists from people who have not specifically consented!But have a little think! Your goal is longer term to create consent, and to create really good email marketing campaigns to get them to say “don’t delete me – I think you’re great!” Then you can take that engaged mailing list to your sassy clients and ask them to pop that in their pipes and smoke it –whilst you place lots of candidates with them at your rack rate fees!🏃‍➡️Now to Start Building an Email Marketing and Automation Strategy to Attract Your 3CsRecruiters!Candidates, clients, and colleagues (your 3Cs) need to hear from you!You need to maintain your legitimate interest in holding their data. You need to give them compelling reasons to stay on your mailing list - and your recruitment marketers have the keys to this!Automation Buddy / Bullhorn RoIWe are Automation Buddies set on helping ambitious recruitment businesses who want to increase speed and sales.We coach to inspire, and build your automations so you can recruit and sell!Plus, through our Bullhorn Vision service we help generate serious ROI from your Bullhorn, data, and people.READ MORE ABOUT OUR BULLHORN VISION SERVICEREAD ABOUT OUR AUTOMATION BUDDY SERVICEBOOK YOUR FREE CONSULTATION
Stop Automating Chaos: Why You Need a Strategy for Recruitment BD Success

As a recruitment leader, you know the drill: the market shifts, sales feel tough, and the immediate instinct is to buy a new piece of tech or blindly activate every automation feature available in your Bullhorn or CRM.A potential outcome? A flurry of activity, confused recruiters, and ultimately, zero measurable ROI.😱(I saw this with CRM, then Automation, and now AI... history repeating itself.)Automation is a sales engine, but like any powerful machine, it requires a careful, deliberate strategy to run efficiently. Simply turning it on often leads to automating poor processes, resulting in spam, bad data, and wasted money.If you’re ready to turn that engine into a competitive advantage, you need to step back and apply this 9-point strategy to your Business Development (BD) automation strategy.💡My 9-Point Strategy for Automation Success1️⃣ Agree on Your Strategy and PlanBefore you click ‘Activate,’ define your objectives.Are you focused on converting candidates to contacts? Re-engaging lapsed clients? Generating referrals?Your plan must clearly outline the who, what, and when of every automated action to ensure alignment with your overall BD goals.2️⃣ Define OwnershipChaos reigns when responsibility is murky. You must clearly define who owns the data and relationships you are selling.Is it the marketing team, the BD manager, or the individual recruiter?Establishing clear ownership prevents duplicate outreach, inconsistent messaging, and ensures accountability for follow-up.3️⃣ Get Buy-In: Educate Your TeamA great strategy is useless if your recruiters don't trust it. You must actively educate your team on the why behind the change.Show them how automation will take the admin burden away, allowing them to focus on high-value relationship building—the part of BD they actually enjoy. Without genuine buy-in, they will always revert to manual, time-consuming habits.4️⃣ Test and Setup TrialsNever roll out a massive change across the entire firm at once. Setup trials with a small, engaged group first. Test the message cadence, measure the response rate, and iterate quickly. This limits risk and generates early success stories you can use to persuade the rest of the company.5️⃣ PR: Celebrate SuccessesRecruiters are motivated by success.Use your test group’s wins—a faster BD conversion, a higher email open rate, or a cleaner call list—as internal PR. Celebrate these successes openly to generate FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) and drive wider adoption.6️⃣ Data Wealth: The Opportunity to CleanseAutomation and data quality are two sides of the same coin.Automating outreach to a dirty database only accelerates your move toward the spam folder. Use the setup phase as an opportunity to cleanse data, confirming emails, purging old contacts, and identifying incomplete records. Clean data is not just healthy; it's profitable.7️⃣ Cadence: Establish Weekly BD SessionsAutomation is a tool, not a replacement for human effort.To embed the strategy, implement weekly BD sessions. Use this dedicated time to review the automated pipeline, address bottlenecks, practice outreach, and ensure the technology is being used correctly to drive human conversation.8️⃣ Score! Set KPIs and GamificationWhat gets measured gets done.Set clear KPIs for your automation success—not just activity, but results (e.g., number of re-engaged clients, contacts moved to the "warm" status). Use Analytics to gamify the process, creating healthy competition that encourages consistent use of the new platform and strategy.9️⃣ Turn A No into Some $£€! Monetise Bounces and UnsubsDon't view hard bounces and unsubscribes as dead ends; view them as sales intelligence and opportunities.Monetise the bounces and unsubs by investigating them. A hard bounce might mean a contact has moved companies—a prime BD opportunity! An unsubscribe could be a flag for a poor sales approach. Use this feedback loop to keep your data fresh and your strategy sharp.Strategise the CashflowBy following these 9️⃣ strategic steps, you ensure:Investment in BD automation delivers maximum return,Saving your recruiters a whopping 64% of their non-selling time...Allowing them to focus on what they do best......Building the relationships that drive placements and profit.Nice! ☎️I'd love to pay it forward to chat with you about your automation / BD strategy.BOOK YOUR FREE CONSULTATION👇Scroll down for a cute graphic of my 9-point strategy.🏃‍➡️PS. Want to go even further?Check out our "Unlock Bullhorn with Automation" and Optimise Bullhorn for Recruiters webinars here.Automation Buddy / Bullhorn RoIWe are Automation Buddies set on helping ambitious recruitment businesses who want to increase speed and sales.We coach to inspire, and build your automations so you can recruit and sell!Plus, through our Bullhorn Vision service we help generate serious ROI from your Bullhorn, data, and people.READ MORE ABOUT OUR BULLHORN VISION SERVICEREAD ABOUT OUR AUTOMATION BUDDY SERVICEBOOK YOUR FREE CONSULTATIONGrab My 9-Point Strategy for Automation Success Below - Which can you tick off or need to do?
Automation RoI Webinar Series: Unlock Bullhorn Part 6 ~ Data Wealth

Leaders and automators...Whether you want your data to be clean or healthy, you need it to make you wealthy!Recruitment can often be hard enough, let alone if you and your teams are constantly compensating for poor data.You're blowing profit on external systems and being held to ransom by LinkedIn / Job Boards / IndeedYour recruiters and resourcers are drowning in time-consuming sourcing and adminYour recruitment process is lagging and you're not able to really see the benefit of automation / analytics / AISo, Part 6 of our free Unlock Bullhorn webinar series will share tips on how to use Bullhorn Automation to make your data clean, healthy, and worth something!REGISTER NOW10 Stats to Ensure You Focus on Recruitment Data Health30% of CRM data becomes outdated each year 👉 For recruiters, that means almost a third of candidate and client records may be inaccurate if not maintained.Dirty data costs companies an average of 12% of revenue annually 👉 In recruitment, this translates to lost placements, wasted marketing spend, and poor ROI on tech.Recruiters lose an average of 4.3 hours per week fixing bad data 👉 That’s over 5 working weeks per recruiter, per year spent on admin instead of billable tasks.51% of firms say their CRM data isn’t accurate enough to use 👉 Meaning half of recruitment businesses risk making decisions based on poor-quality information.Clean data can increase sales productivity by up to 14.6% 👉 For recruiters, this means more effective BD, faster sourcing, and stronger candidate engagement.Only 30% of CRM records are fully complete 👉 Incomplete profiles = missed candidates, poor client intel, and wasted recruiter effort.74% of businesses say inaccurate data impacts customer trust 👉 For recruiters, that means weaker candidate experience and damaged client relationships.60% of businesses cite dirty data as the biggest barrier to successful CRM adoption 👉 Meaning even the best tech (Bullhorn, etc.) fails if the underlying data is poor.40% of business objectives fail due to poor data quality 👉 In recruitment, that could mean missed hiring targets, weak BD pipelines, and lost fees.Data decay is accelerating at 2–3% per month 👉 Recruiters working with out-of-date contacts are constantly chasing ghosts instead of live opportunities.(Sources: Bullhorn / Gartner / Sirius / Salesforce)Plus ask yourself...How much $£€ are you spending not using your own data, on LinkedIn / Job Boards / Indeed?How much time are you wasting by not being able to weaponise your automations / analytics / AI / and lovely human recruiters if your data is so poor?🧠What You’ll Learn in the Webinar - Starting and Stopping!"Join us for Part 6 of our Unlock Bullhorn with Automation Webinar Series, where we’ll show you:⛔ Three things to stop doing to your data🚀 Three things to start doing so your data is cleaner and makes you money, easier!Clean Up Your Data - Free Up Your Recruiters!Automation isn’t about replacing recruiters or making your recruitment business feel robotic. It’s about empowering them to focus on the conversations, and creating more time and space for relationships - the bit that AI can't replace (yet).👉Register now for our free Bullhorn Automation webinar and learn how to clean up your data - and keep it clean! 🗓️Wednesday 12 November 15:00 BSTREGISTER NOWPS. Want to go even further? Check out our "Unlock Bullhorn with Automation" series.🔍 Automate sourcing to find qualified candidates faster and with less effort. Watch the recording💬 Engage with candidates on autopilot and nurture relationships effectively. Watch the recording📈 Sell easier and faster. Watch the recording💡 Place easier and faster .Watch the recording🎯Easy BD ~ 15 October 2025 Register Now🧹Data health ~ 12 November 2025 Register NowAutomation Buddy / Bullhorn RoIWe are Automation Buddies set on helping ambitious recruitment businesses who want to increase speed and sales.We coach to inspire, and build your automations so you can recruit and sell!Plus, through our Bullhorn Vision service we help generate serious ROI from your Bullhorn, data, and people.READ MORE ABOUT OUR BULLHORN VISION SERVICEREAD ABOUT OUR AUTOMATION BUDDY SERVICEBOOK YOUR FREE CONSULTATION
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".A great tip is to allow candidates and clients to "Update their Preferences" which can provide your community with a way to help you make ore relevant the communications you are sending to them and/or update you on what they do find interesting. This can be done within Bullhorn Automation and is a useful way to reduce the Unsubscribes.📍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
Automation RoI Webinar Series: Unlock Bullhorn Part 5 ~ Easy BD

Leaders and automators...Too many of your recruiters need a stronger BD strategy and process. When sales feels tough, it’s not always because the market is slow—it’s often because your data and processes aren’t working hard enough for you.Part 5 of our Unlock Bullhorn webinar series will share tips on how to turn Bullhorn Automation into a sales engine—and start winning more business. Our latest webinar will show you how to turn time-wasting tasks into seamless, automated workflows that free your recruiters to do what they do best—build relationships and win business....scroll down to watch5️⃣Reasons Why Recruitment Automation is the Secret to Easy BDLook at the stats from Bullhorn / HubSpot / LinkedIn:📉 Recruiters spend up to 64% of their time on non-selling tasks. That’s the equivalent of Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday being almost totally unproductive. Automation takes away the repetitive admin so recruiters can spend more time on revenue-generating BD.🌱 Leads nurtured via CRM systems make 47% larger purchases. Nurturing is where automation shines. Automated reminders, email cadences, and follow-ups keep you front of mind without the manual effort—and deliver bigger, better deals.📞 80% of sales require 5+ follow-ups—but 44% of recruiters give up after just one. Imagine the lost opportunities. With automation, follow-ups happen without fail, ensuring resilience is baked into your BD strategy.🎯 CRM users are 3x more likely to hit their sales targets. In fact, companies using CRM effectively are 86% more likely to surpass their goals. Combine CRM with automation, and your recruiters don’t just manage BD—they master it.⚡ Re-engaged clients in your CRM convert 2x faster than cold leads. But only if you find them and follow them up. Automation helps you spot these opportunities, re-engage warm relationships, and accelerate conversions.🧠What You’ll Learn in the Webinar - Starting and Stopping!"Watch Part 5 of our Unlock Bullhorn with Automation Webinar Series, where we’ll show you:👍 Three things to start doing to drive your BD success.⛔ Three things to stop doing which may be hurting your BD efforts.Automation isn’t about replacing recruiters or making your recruitment business feel robotic — it’s about empowering them to focus on the conversations, and creating more time and space for relationships - the bit that AI can't replace (yet).Watch Our "Easy BD" with Automation WebinarPS. Want to go even further? Check out our "Unlock Bullhorn with Automation" series.🔍 Automate sourcing to find qualified candidates faster and with less effort. Watch the recording💬 Engage with candidates on autopilot and nurture relationships effectively. Watch the recording📈 Sell easier and faster. Watch the recording💡 Place easier and faster .Watch the recording🎯Easy BD. Watch above🧹Data wealth ~ 12 November 2025 Register NowAutomation Buddy / Bullhorn RoIWe are Automation Buddies set on helping ambitious recruitment businesses who want to increase speed and sales.We coach to inspire, and build your automations so you can recruit and sell!Plus, through our Bullhorn Vision service we help generate serious ROI from your Bullhorn, data, and people.READ MORE ABOUT OUR BULLHORN VISION SERVICEREAD ABOUT OUR AUTOMATION BUDDY SERVICEBOOK YOUR FREE CONSULTATION
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:1️⃣ Don’t burn out your entire database all at once and overwhelm your recruiters with pointless "leads". A flood of bounces and unsubscribes is overwhelming—and tempting to ignore. Instead, work with your recruiters to identify the data that matters most (roles, skills, locations), so responses are relevant and recruiters engage.2️⃣ Stagger 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.3️⃣ Use and A/B testing to tell you what works (and what bombs).4️⃣Then, 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! 💸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
3 Ways to Make More Money from Bullhorn - "Bullhorn for Sales" Tips Inside!

Winning more deals, placing more candidates, having more long-term (profitable) relationships, and making more money, is a key goal for recruiters and leaders. But often, the path to making a sale isn't smooth, straight, easy, or quick!The whole point of tech is that it's supposed to help, not hinder recruiters. BOOK YOUR FREE BULLHORN 4 SALES CONSULTATIONSales Prevention or Enablement?But, too much data, and not enough process or phone time is paralysing many recruiters. And many recruitment leaders are asking "why can't they just pick up the phone?"As a recruitment leader / recruiter, you should be able to rely on your Bullhorn CRM to power productivity and sales pipelines.But is Bullhorn really driving sales, or simply increasing costs?Why does using Bullhorn for sales matter?💪Recruiters that use their CRM effectively can improve sales by up to 29%. Plus, sales productivity increases by up to 34%, and sales forecast accuracy by 42%.💞It costs 6x more to attract a new lead than to nurture one already in your CRM. Reaching out to warm clients already in your system isn’t just faster—it’s smarter for your bottom line.😱Recruiters spend up to 64% of their time on non-selling tasks. Imagine Wednesday, Thursday, Friday being almost totally unproductive and not selling!💸Leads nurtured via CRM systems make 47% larger purchases. Who knew that nurturing a contact means you sell more to them?🔁80% of sales require 5+ follow-ups—but 44% of recruiters give up after 1. How many opps are not being converted due to a lack of resilience?🎯CRM users are 3x more likely to hit their sales targets. Compelling, and the ultimate reason to engage with Bullhorn.(Sources: Salesforce / Annuitas / Bullhorn)In short: Using your Bullhorn CRM for sales is a winner!But there's a catch! Perhaps your business doesn't feel that Bullhorn is the key to sales!💩Only 30% of recruiter CRMs are considered “clean and current”. Is a lack of faith in your system driving costs up? Do you need more systems and data to tackle this lack of confidence / adoption / productivity?How much is that costing your business?BOOK YOUR FREE BULLHORN 4 SALES CONSULTATIONHow Useful is Your Bullhorn CRM for Sales?We asked recruiters to give us one word to describe how they feel about using Bullhorn for sales and they said...Oh dear...And this is why you are potentially reliant on systems outside of Bullhorn for sales - eg. LinkedIn / Job Boards etc...Our Winning 3-Step TLC Strategy for Using Bullhorn to Make More MoneyChanging how Bullhorn is perceived and used for sales is critical!We help recruitment businesses weaponise their Bullhorn CRMs into clean, revenue-generating machines with a simple framework "TLC":Train recruiters to use Bullhorn for sales, help them understand WIIFM? “What’s in it for me?”, and get them loving using Bullhorn to drive sales.Legacy cleanse and activate: Find account management opportunities and create call lists based on existing data. Which leads already exist in Bullhorn that need re-activating?Campaigns: Create engaging outbound campaigns to new / legacy data to generate call lists / leads.No expensive tools. No time-zapping system overhauls. Just smart fixes that work with what you already have.📍 Book a Free "Bullhorn 4 Sales" ConsultationI’d love to hear how you’re tackling improving sales with Bullhorn —and pay it forward with a free 30-minute call to share ideas and insights from the 1000s of recruiters we've work with.Identify quick-winsShare smart tools and automation optionsWhether your recruiters and resourcers struggle with account management, spotting and nurturing leads, speedy placements, we can help you build a practical, profitable, recruiter-friendly fix.Ready to give your Bullhorn and recruiters some TLC, and get Bullhorn driving sales?BOOK YOUR FREE BULLHORN 4 SALES CONSULTATION🚀 Why Now?Because recruitment is too competitive to be slowed down by bad data, and unrewarding processes. The difference between making a placement and missing out is often just how quickly and accurately you can find and reach the right person.If your consultants / resourcers are wasting time not converting or placing —or worse, avoiding your Bullhorn CRM altogether—this is your chance to fix it for good.Bullhorn shouldn't be a necessary evil / nice to have / data dump - it should be a revenue generating business-critical recruitment system. Let’s get yours working the way it should.
Why Recruitment Data Health is Critical, 3 Ways to Long-Term Data Wealth

Recruitment and it's tech is moving faster than ever. But if your ATS/CRM is full of duplicates, outdated records, or incomplete contact details, you’re not just losing time—you’re losing revenue.Plus, Lisa recently attended Bullhorn's Automation and AI summit and the key "disabler" for engaging effectively with automation and AI was data health (or lack of!)Data Stealth or Data Wealth?As a recruitment leader, you rely on your CRM to power your recruiters' productivity, candidate/client experience, and bottom-line performance. But how confident are you in the health / quality of your data?Why does data health matter?💩 30% of CRM data becomes outdated each year🐌 Recruiters lose 4.3 hours/week to manual data issues📉 Dirty data can slash revenue by 12%😱 51% of UK firms say their CRM data isn't accurate enough to use🤒 Only 30% of CRM records are fully up to date🥳 Clean data boosts productivity by 14.6%(Sources: IBM / Experian / Bullhorn)In short: Bad data = missed placements, wasted time, lost revenue.If your Recruitment CRM has incomplete profiles, inconsistent job titles, or duplicate records, it’s not just frustrating—it’s slowing your team down.And if your candidate and client pools aren’t engaged, you're working blindfolded, hands tied behind your back, in a storm. (Metaphors galore!)1 Word to Describe Your DataWe asked recruiters to give us one word to describe their Bullhorn data and they said... Oh dear...Pointless Strategies to Clean Your Recruitment DataSome "popular" (but pointless) strategies include:Handing it to a temp / admin with zero sector knowledgeAsking recruiters to do it in their "free time"Ignoring it and piling in more dataThese are great strategies if you have money and time to burn, and data accuracy is not a goal.Our Winning 3-Step TLC Strategy for Data Health and WealthCleaning up your recruitment data involves more than simply giving it a spring clean every now and again. Your data needs to feed today's, tomorrow's, and next year's pipeline.We help recruitment businesses turn messy Bullhorn CRMs into clean, revenue-generating machines with a simple framework:Train recruiters on the “What’s in it for me?” angle so they take ownership of their data.Legacy cleanse: deduplicate, delete, or reactivate cold records.Campaign: engage and enrich new data automatically.No expensive tools. No time-zapping system overhauls. Just smart fixes that work with what you already have.📍 Book a Free Recruitment Data Health ConsultationI’d love to hear how you’re tackling data challenges—and pay it forward with a free 30-minute call to share ideas and insights from the 1000s of recruiters we've work with.Identify quick-win cleanup opportunitiesShare smart tools and automation optionsWhether your recruiters and resourcers struggle with poor candidate matches, too many duplicate records, or “ghost” contacts no one has touched in over a year, we can help you build a practical, recruiter-friendly fix.Ready to clean up your data, reduce costs, and speed up your placements?BOOK YOUR FREE DATA HEALTH CONSULTATION🚀 Why Now?Because recruitment is too competitive to be slowed down by bad data. The difference between making a placement and missing out is often just how quickly and accurately you can find and reach the right person.If your consultants / resourcers are wasting time cleaning up data manually—or worse, avoiding your Bullhorn CRM altogether—this is your chance to fix it for good.Clean recruitment data isn’t a “nice to have”—it’s a competitive advantage. Let’s get yours working the way it should.
Automation RoI Webinar Series: Unlock Bullhorn Part 4 ~ Place Faster and Easier

Recruitment is a high-speed, high-stakes game—and your best bet for keeping up without burning out and missing opportunities to grow? Smart, strategic automation.You and your team need to be working the right jobs, and proactively driving your placement process.That’s exactly what we’ll cover in Part 4 of our “Unlock Bullhorn” webinar series—a speedy free webinar dedicated to automations that actually make you money (not just make you busy).Scroll down to watch...➖ Remove Admin ➕ Add PlacementsLet’s face it: recruiters are doing more than ever, admin bogs down process, and time is still being wasted. Candidate and client expectations and experience needs actively managing, so that you have a better chance of placing (and re-placing!)Just look at the numbers from Bullhorn / CIPD / LinkedIn:👻 57% of candidates ghost when communication drops. Automate the follow-up—stop the silence.⏳ Top candidates are snapped up in under 10 days. You don’t have time to waste on manual reminders.💼 80% of your placements come from just 20% of your database. Automating reactivation workflows could be your secret weapon.📬 89% of candidates engage faster with proactive outreach. Let automation help you get there first.🔁 60% of clients say they want better communication—not more CVs. Automated touchpoints can help you deliver consistency at scale.💑 Only 29% of customers are fully engaged, which means a massive 71% of your clients need you to do more for them to keep them focussed.These stats all point to one thing: take control of your process—because candidates and clients won’t do it for you.And it starts with using Bullhorn better and creating an automation strategy which creates time and space to actively manage your placements.🧠What You’ll Learn in the WebinarThis session is built for leaders and automators who want to stop wasting time and start driving opportunities. Watch our Bullhorn Automation webinar for:At least 9 automation ideasLots of stats and compelling reasons to help you get buy-in from your teamA cool tip to help you organise your recruiters💪Let Automation Do the Heavy LiftingIf your team’s stretched thin, stuck in spreadsheets, you're worried about risky placements, or simply not making the most of Bullhorn—you can’t afford to miss this.Better recruitment doesn't come from working longer—it comes from working smarter. Let Bullhorn Automation do the "boring" bits, so you can do what you do best: build relationships and make placements.Watch Our "Place Faster and Easier" with Automation Webinar NowPS. Want to go even further? Check out our "Unlock Bullhorn with Automation" series.🔍 Automate sourcing to find qualified candidates faster and with less effort. Watch the recording💬 Engage with candidates on autopilot and nurture relationships effectively. Watch the recording📈 Sell easier and faster. Watch the recording💡 Place easier and faster .Watch the recording🎯Easy BD ~ 15 October 2025 Register Now🧹Data health ~ 12 November 2025 Register NowAutomation Buddy / Bullhorn RoIWe are Automation Buddies set on helping ambitious recruitment businesses who want to increase speed and sales.We coach to inspire, and build your automations so you can recruit and sell!Plus, through our Bullhorn Vision service we help generate serious ROI from your Bullhorn, data, and people.READ MORE ABOUT OUR BULLHORN VISION SERVICEREAD ABOUT OUR AUTOMATION BUDDY SERVICEBOOK YOUR FREE CONSULTATION
3 Ways Recruitment Automation Can Help Increase Recruitment Sales

Recruiters! With 80% of your day spent doing the wrong things, having to network around 7 people per sale, and the growing trend on relying on DATA to make your sale, what's does this year look like, and how can you use recruitment automation to generate more speed and pipeline?My Interview With Billy at Bullhorn AutomationI spoke with Billy Davis at Bullhorn Automation - who's mission it is to revolutionise the recruitment industry. We've been working closely with him help our mutual clients to automate their recruitment processes. I asked Billy 3 questions about how recruitment automation can help drive sales (and productivity).1. Billy, what are your thoughts B2B sales about how to use automation for data-based selling?I think providing a great experience will always have a positive place in sales. With the advancement of AI and machine learning I can see a time in which data becomes the biggest decision making factor in the sales process. We already see some of those shifts in the market today. Poor data quality undermines the effectiveness of AI and machine learning. The biggest benefit of Automation will be the increase in data quality. Identifying and fixing incomplete records, reducing manual data entry, and copying information already known from one area and transporting it to another are just a few mechanisms to achieve this. 2. Billy, how can recruitment automation help "nail the sale"?The most important advice here is to create a personal or employment brand so compelling that it can reach all those levels of connections. Recruitment automation can help in two critical capacities. It can act as your megaphone to the market and amplify your reach. It can ensure fantastic experience for candidates/clients so you have as many promoters as possible. 3. Billy, how can automation help recruiters focus on what they need to do to attract, engage, convert, and retain – rather than procrastinate?Automation is a tool to solve this problem. Not a solution in and of itself. Understanding the difference between value and non-value activities and coming up with a strategy to change existing behaviour is the ultimate solution. Automation can accelerate that strategy when deployed correctly. Examples include; Eliminating busywork, real time reminders/alerts with process instructions, client/candidate journeys to eliminate lack of communication at any recruitment stage, placement check ins and touchpoints, activity/behaviour driven communication and follow up, and freeing up time for relationship building. ---Monetise and Weaponise Your Recruitment Data, Time, and TargetsI'm excited about how recruitment automation positively impacts on the day of a recruiter - generating more time, better 3Cs (candidates, clients, colleague) expectations and experience - and really help the industry get back on track after such a disruptive few years.We help recruiters via our Automation Buddy Programs to really monetise and weaponise their data, time, and targets.READ ABOUT RECRUITMENT AUTOMATIONBOOK A CALL TO DISCUSS BULLHORN AND BULLHORN AUTOMATION
11 Stats Every Recruiter Needs to Know Before Sending a Spec CV

Recruiters want two things: more time and a stronger pipeline. But here’s the reality...🔒 70% of jobs are never advertised. 📞 It can take up to 18 calls to reach a single prospect. 📬 And with email inboxes overflowing, your “Spec CV Send” could be lost before it’s even seen.We speak to recruiters every day who are in what we call a "JAM"—just about managing. You're doing the work, sending the CVs, following up… but placements aren’t landing the way they should. Why?Because sending a CV isn't enough anymore. You need that email to work—to stand out, get opened, and drive action. With lead lifecycles shrinking to 24 hours or less, being top of the inbox isn’t optional. It’s survival.So what’s the fix?🚀 11 Stats to Focus Your Spec CV Sends and Email MarketingThere’s no shortage of stats out there—but we’ve boiled it down to 11 stats (2 above and 9 below) to get you thinking (and transforming) your candidate marketing and boost placement success.Why Your CV Sends Are Falling Flat📩 Your clients receive 121 emails a day (and over 30 billion emails were sent last year).👀 Only 20% of emails ever get opened.🛑 And thanks to filters, 1 in 5 emails never even land in your client’s inbox.How to Get Your Emails Opened (and Actioned)🎯Be Relevant – 61% of clients open emails if your past contact was useful or timely. Build relationships, not just touchpoints.📌Nail Your Subject Line – 47% of recipients open emails based on the subject line alone. Ask yourself: What’s in it for them?💘Get Personal – Using the recipient’s name boosts action rates by 26%. Hi John beats Hello Sir/Madam every time.📱Think Mobile First – 30% higher open rates happen on phones. Short, punchy, and scannable wins.⌚Time is Everything – Most emails are opened within an hour. After 24 hours, your lead may be dead in the water.Convert Emails into Real Opportunities💪Recruiters using their CRM effectively are 34% more productive.🏃‍♂️‍➡️Our Bullhorn HIIT training helps you use your database to its full potential—so your best leads don’t slip through the cracks.🚦What These Stats Mean for YouIf your emails aren’t converting into interviews or jobs, it’s not just a marketing issue—it’s a process problem. And the fix doesn’t need to be complex. Clean data, sharp messaging, and smarter timing can put you back in the driver’s seat.So… What Do You Need to Do Now?✅ Audit your CV send process.✅ Review your CRM usage.✅ Craft better subject lines.✅ Re-engage old leads.✅ Learn what works—and automate it.This isn’t about sending more. It’s about sending smarter.Need help getting your emails working for you, not against you? Drop us a line—we’ll show you how to turn your database into a placement machine.CONTACT USThe Best Bullhorn and Recruitment TrainingWe have 100's of recruitment tips and tricks to help you effectively market to candidates and clients, whether it be Bullhorn Hacks, LinkedIn tips, automation, or recruitment marketing advice. We have a whole blog dedicated to helping recruiters source the all important 4Cs - Candidates, Clients, Colleagues and Cash!Our high intensity interval training - Recruitment HIIT - helps recruiters source, convert quicker, and develop healthy pipelines, and recruitment marketers attract, engage, and retain candidates, clients, and colleagues (3Cs).TRY RECRUITMENT HIITREAD ABOUT OUR RECRUITMENT TRAININGBOOK A CALL TO DISCUSS RECRUITMENT TRAINING
3 Ways Recruitment Automation Can Help Your 4Cs

Recruiters need more warm calls, cleaner and compliant data, candidate management, aftercare to manage accounts, reconversions, sustainable sales and more happiness. (Phew...)Recruitment leaders need to grow a sustainable team of productive recruiters, and generate less of a need to hire.How can automation can make this happen?Effective recruitment technology like Bullhorn Automation can do some serious heavy lifting to free up time for your recruiters to focus on the “good stuff” – more phone time, more billing time, more fees. Recruitment automation should solve a pain in your recruitment business. Plus, it's rapidly helping some of our clients get ready for AI. (Read about our thoughts on AI in recruitment.)Clean Data, Speedier Processes, Happier Recruiters, Less Need for HiringThe recruiters we’ve worked with have had some mind blowing results as a result of using Bullhorn and Bullhorn Automation! For example for 1 client in just 4 weeks, we saved 3770 hours, and created a fantastic email open rate of 62% (which is 38% above the average).More time on the phone, speaking to the right candidates and clients. Less time and money wasted prospecting / hoping.But recruitment Automation isn't just for big recruiters. We're finding that whether our clients are a 5 or 50 person recruiter, they are needing to do more with less, build back stronger, and be more sustainable. But with the massive amount that automation can actually do, yes - you need be be strategic, but you also can tackle some serious "pains" in your recruitment business.What’s in it for you? Here are some automation ideas to help you improve your critical 4Cs – candidates, clients, colleagues, cash.3 Ways Bullhorn Automation Can Help You With Candidates Think better job applications, warm calls, onboarding:Distribute your jobs to get better quality applications. Track how people are engaging with your content – this will help you decide who to call – massive time saver! Onboard candidates professionally to give a consistent and better experience – happier candidates turn to contacts, which turns into more business! 3 Ways Bullhorn Automation Can Improve Your Clients (Sales) Think warm calls, reconverting old clients, keeping existing ones:Converting prospect clients into warm callsTracking lapsed and at-risk clients – to get recruiters to call and re-convert Client satisfaction surveys – to help you improve service levels – plus IDing issues before they become problems. 3 Ways Bullhorn Automation Can Improve Your Colleague Experience and ProductivityThink cleaner data, speedier sourcing, being organised, reducing admin, happier recruiters, less stressed managers, less need to recruit… Removing time consuming and morale draining admin tasks Archiving old data to improve sourcing and reconversionsOrganising to ensure critical candidate and client tasks are delivered on time Plus - overall more time to be awesome, and for personal development and training - our Recruitment HIIT training can help you nail this critical task.3 Ways Bullhorn Automation Can Improve Your CASH Think speed – time to hire improved, contractors speedily recycled. Easier to make more money.Think data – your asset being clean and compliant, creating less risk, more time - data is monetised! Less need for LinkedIn and job boards.Think productivity – less recruiters needed, and the ones you have working smarter. Recruitment automation is not about replacing recruiters or admin, although it can mean you don’t need to hire as many people as you think. It’s about: Cleaner data Speedier sales Reduced admin Cleaner, compliant data Happier, productive recruiters Effective marketing and marketers Your recruitment process needs to be about speed, pipeline, and sustainability. Look at your data, people, process – where could you do with automation doing your heavy lifting?Think about how automation can help you with your 4Cs, not just how it can help you send more messages to candidates.READ ABOUT RECRUITMENT AUTOMATIONBOOK A CALL TO DISCUSS BULLHORN AND BULLHORN AUTOMATIONTRY RECRUITMENT HIIT FOR FREE

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