Cold-calling is still heavily used despite the fact it is an outdated sales strategy in today's information age.
It is Thursday a.m. and so far on two occasions this week I've had a knock at my office door only to have four total strangers (two on each visit) walk into my 10"x10" office and proceed to launch into a sales pitch. The first pair was peddling a local tire dealership offering 90% tires (my car is under warranty at my dealership) and the second was for "guaranteed savings!" on my color printing (I probably print all of two documents a month in color). All four used the same strategy: walk-in, get comfortable--one guy immediately sat down--and start talking at me like I'm a 9 year old. In both situations I had to stop them in mid-pitch to say, "Guys, I'm NOT interested. Thanks AGAIN for stopping by." You're probably wondering how these individuals got past our receptionist. Well, the short answer is we don't have one--we have a phone and a nearby directory. Our partner whose office is closest to the front door is usually the first person hit on by these door-knockers. He thinks it's cute to tell them that he doesn't have purchasing authority but to be sure to go see me because I hold the purse strings (not necessarily true)--so he can pawn "bad cop" responsibilities on me. But lately it's a role I'm embracing. I now recognize what an outdated, old-school, ineffective strategy cold-calling is and it is one of the main reasons turnover in sales is so high. I would like to personally apologize to all those purchasing managers and perceived "decision-makers" that I dropped by over the years to have a little chit-chat with, completely interrupting their day and wasting both of our time.
Companies continue to employ cold-calling for a couple reasons: first, they perceive it to be cheap (it's not) and second, marketing (legitimate, creative, permission-based marketing) is hard (not always). Over the next few days or so I'm going to be discussing how our firm has been able to successfully secure new business without cold-calling a single person, while at the same time continuing to use proactive recruiting, what some would perceive as cold-calling (it's not) to find the highest qualified candidates for our client's open positions.
Chemistry is King When it Comes to Successful Interviewing
The candidate that establishes the best rapport with the interviewer is usually the one that gets the job offer.I'm begging you: don't take this job!
There are a couple key questions that should be asked during every interview that provides invaluable insight into a candidate's suitability.Remember: You're Hiring Them to Work for You, Not to Date You
As a recruiter or hiring manager, sometimes it's easy to let our own personal biases influence our hiring decisions. The best candidates for any particular position are typically not going to have 100% of the attributes we're looking for. Therefore it's imperative that we distinguish between those characteristics we "need" and those "would like to have" when evaluating potential employees, otherwise you may be overlooking potentially valuable contributors.