QUESTION: Mike, I’m doing business development email marketing. My response rate is less than 1% and the sequences are short. How can I adjust?
Why a Less Than 1% Response Rate is Unacceptable for Recruiters
I’m never going to say you will get 30%, 40%, or 50% by any means, but less than 1% is wretched. If your email is service-based, like my old recruiting firm’s name was Hudson Consulting, then it might sound something like this:
“Hi, this is Mike Gionta. I’m an executive recruiter and managing partner with the Hudson Consulting Group. We have worked with the blah, blah, blah sector for the last 15 years, finding and identifying superior talent in the sales, systems, engineers, and tech support arena working with companies like blank, blank, and blank. We would love the opportunity to talk to you to see how we can help you with your needs.”
Service-Based Emails: Why They Don’t Work in Recruiting
I call those emails service-based emails. I’ve been there, done that. An average hiring manager gets over 100 emails a day. Unless somebody resigns this morning and their hair is on fire, they will probably not return that email because there is no urgency in it. There is no real benefit to it.
There are two types of emails I prescribe. One, this is almost like I want you to imagine an irrigation system in your yard and you have bushes, and it is one of those slow drip things that just constantly keep the root base moist and the plant fed, and that is content marketing, putting out articles of relevance to your niche. We have a service that does that for our clients. It is just writing about hiring, onboarding, and leadership issues so they constantly see your name.
That is not something that is going to have an instant result. That is a nurture campaign. That takes months and years. But in between marketing calls, now you are constantly in front of them. You will get job orders and you will get clients from that. Don’t get me wrong. But it’s not something that is immediate.
Old-School Recruiting Strategies: The Power of Direct Calls
Reading between the lines on your question. The one thing that works really well, people hate when I say this because it is old school. “Mike, you have been in this industry too long.” You know what, I just know. We track metrics. We have metrics on everything. It’s how we know what works. We do it old school. When I got into the business, I did this on the telephone. I would pick up, and I would call a VP of Sales, and I would say:
“Hey Phillip, in a recent engaged search, I uncovered a sales rep who was 182% of quota, 82% new business development, blah, blah.”
How Recruiters Can Craft Emails That Drive Engagement
What I recommend with email is it has got to be 100% benefit to the prospect. I know I have said this in other Q&A calls, but for those of you who have been around for a while and show up all the time and listen, I apologize for repeating it; this is the biggest – this is why. One, we know from the data that it works. I have been a part of a conference where we brought in 3 V and C-level people in different roles, chief operating officers from all other industries, vice presidents of manufacturing, VP of sales, and then another panel of HR people, talent acquisition, vice president of HR, etc.
The six panels were from six different companies. We did two panels a day apart, so they were not even in the room with each other. Here is what we heard, because we asked. What do you need to hear from us as a recruiter to want to do business with us? What must we do to earn your business? How do you become not annoying? How do we get in the front door if we do not have a reputation with you? All six, “100%, the most important valuable thing you can do is expose us to talent.“
Building Long-Term Relationships Through Recruiting Emails
A few of them even said,
“I will ignore many of your initial emails to ensure you stay around for a while. But I put them in a folder. Or if somebody jumps out that is so exceptional, I might reach out to you, but you have got to invest some time, even though I do not respond. I know this is not fair, but you are asking us. This is how I work.”
The other thing they said is, honestly – this especially came up on the HR side – “There is no such as a hiring freeze. It is guidance. There are always exceptions. When we see really good talent that can solve a problem in our company, we can find a way to make it work. When you come to us with somebody with a particular skill set, even though I do not reply, I like seeing it, and I judge you based on what you are exposing me to.”
I found that really, really interesting that all six people said that.
Effective Recruiting Emails: The Importance of Subject Lines
What we recommend in that email context is when you open up your email, do not tell them who you are and where you are from. You have microseconds to grab their attention in an email. You want to have a subject line that is vague. Many times, people put the whole thing, put way too much in the subject line, and the person opening up judges the subject line and does not open it.
Remember, the entire purpose of the subject line is to get your email opened. You have to know the language your prospects use when discussing great talent in your niche. If you place controllers, how do they describe a great controller? What are the best things everyone wants to see when they hire a controller? I never placed controllers. I imagine it is money saved, opportunities identified, and efficiencies implemented.
But you cannot say, “Installed seven new systems making the company more efficient.” Instead, say, “Installed seven new financial control systems, reducing expenses by 6.8% for a total of $485,000” – real specific numbers. Avoid: Strong leadership, great communicator. White noise. Disregarded. Every word in your emails has to count. When I type these up, I sit down and puke everything out on paper or type everything I want on the screen, and then I put it together like a puzzle. You are massaging the words. You’ll find some words that do not make the email pop and cut them out. When you can cut out words, a response often has more punch.
Recruiting Email Strategy: Leveraging Real Data to Impress Hiring Managers
For me, like I placed salespeople, so I had somebody that I was marketing, and they said:
“I don’t know, I was about 190% of quota last year.”
“Do you know exactly what percentage?”
“No.”
“Would it be fair to say that you are at least 186% of the quota if we audit your numbers?”
“Yeah, Mike. I think I was 189% or 190%, but I do not have the exact number.”
“You can say that if I audited it and made you document it, you could say in integrity that it was at least 186%?”
“Yeah.”
Why Specific Numbers Are Critical in Recruiting Emails
So, what does the VP of sales want to hear about? They want to hear about the percentage of the quota. The other thing a VP of sales wanted to hear about was new business development or if you found somebody who knew how to sell into Verizon or AT&T and had contacts there. Whatever it was, you went with a very specific message.
I go, “What percentage of that 190% of the quota was new clients you brought to the company?”
They’re like, “Oh, three-quarters at least, so 75%.”
Again, you don’t know the exact number. I do not need the exact number. If we said 71%, it is more than 71%. It may be more than three-quarters. In a recent engaged search, I did not want to say I was representing a sales rep that was about 200% of quota or that was even 190% of quota. I want to round that down. I want to have a sharp number that is in integrity.
If I say that their quota was 186% and they are actually 190%, there is no integrity gap there. I am underselling—same thing. There is no integrity gap if this individual was 75% new business development, and I say 71%. There is incredible power in using very specific numbers.
How to Use Specific Numbers to Increase Your Recruiting Success
With that, if they say they saved the company at least $500,000, and if we say $491,580, we know it is at least that. Yeah. It is probably closer to $550,000, but I don’t have the exact number. Sometimes, they will tell me if they can dig it up. I’m going to go – again, I do not want to say $491,000. I want to say $491,850. What that tells a prospect is, wow, he has really vetted this guy or gal. He has really vetted this person. Again, there is no need for, I specialize in your niche. I am the managing partner.
How to Craft the Perfect Recruiting Email to Gain Trust and Interest
“In a recent engaged search, I have uncovered an individual with accomplishments, accomplishments, accomplishments. Looking at your calendar, Mr. or Ms. Hiring Manager, what is a good time to talk further about this individual?”
Now, they are going to reply with questions. They are not going to answer with 2:00 on Wednesday. Some people have put in calendar links and get some appointments from that. I like getting into an email dance with them because they will usually know where they are based and what they need. We know all the questions they are going to ask. You simply reply one of two ways. You reply that is a great question. Let’s get on the phone and dig deeper into that.
Or just pick up the phone and call them and say, “Hey, you know Mr. or Ms. Hiring Manager, I just got your email.” Because what is usually in their response is their phone number. “I just saw your response and I figured we could run through any questions you had real quick regarding the email of that controller that saved $491,850.” Then boom, you are on the phone.
We teach using email to get on the phone. It is the very beginning of the relationship. It allows us to use technology to expose ourselves to many more people quickly. Depending on the quality of the email, the quality of the candidate, and your market, you will probably get a 10% to 20% to 25% response rate.
Follow-Up Strategies for Successful Recruiting Emails
Then, if you do not get a response from that email, I usually wait – I had a virtual assistant do this, not a virtual assistant; I had my assistant do this in a separate email account. I’d have them forward the message, and say:
“Hey Phillip,
Did you see below?
-Mike”
We would just forward the email we sent him.
Hopefully, that helps. When I have asked people in the past to send me emails that they do not think are working, most of them are service-based, or the candidate is after a “Here is why we are wonderful” presentation. I just do not see that it works.
P.S. Whenever you’re ready… here are 4 ways I can help you grow your recruitment business:
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