Staying in touch...or not

Staying connected with people is extremely important in the world of recruiting and if you want to be successful in the space, you must get better at it. How many times have you connected with a strong prospect who said, "I'm not interested at this time", only to find that 2 months later, you see that they've made a job change. You want to blame the prospect for not letting you know that things had changed, but you know deep down that you missed an opportunity to stay connected. As recruiters, we use the phrase "let's stay in touch" very, very often. But what challenges us is actually following through with the claim. Here are some simple actions, from a recruiting standpoint, that should be considered when trying to stay in touch with prospects who have impacted you positively.

1. Do not hang up the phone with a prospect without setting follow-up expectations. This does not mean that you have to send them a calendar invite for a date and time that you're going to call them back. It simply means that you're generally teeing up your follow up. Give them a rough time frame of when you'll circle back with them and don't "ask them if it's okay" - respectfully let them know that it will happen.
2. Create value with your follow-up, and know that it's not always about a job opportunity. People do not simply want to "touch base" with you if there is no added value in doing so. Although there certainly is value in a job opportunity, your follow up with a prospect does not always have to be about the topic of "hiring". People are best connected with one another through genuine, authentic interaction so think about what topics of conversation may grab the attention of a specific prospect, and reach out with a human approach.
3. Keep up with the prospect's current organization and what is happening within. Perhaps your prospect currently works for an organization within the IT department and they've publicly announced the hiring of a new CIO/CTO. Or maybe the company announces that it is moving it's headquarters. Do whatever you can to keep yourself up to speed with this information and when you hear about it, make a phone call immediately.
4. Use technology to remember. I do not use technology enough in my day-to-day work. But I do set reminders in Outlook for staying in touch with people, typically every 2-3 months. The number one reason why people tend not to stay in touch is simply because they forget to. As soon as you set follow-up expectations with a prospect, throw it in your calendar or whatever you use for reminders (task lists, alerts, CRM/ATS functions, etc.).
5. Never rely on the prospect to stay in touch with you. This one is simple... even if a prospect claims they'll follow up with you, they absolutely will not. I know... it sounds like I have trust issues, but I've never actually had a lead get back to me when they said they would. Maybe you have, but I wouldn't get in the habit of relying on a prospect to stay in touch with you.
6. Stop letting a lack of confidence get in the way of staying in touch. A lot of us actually choose not to follow up simply because we feel we're "bugging" someone. First of all, one of the most important reasons why someone is a strong prospect for your organization is because you feel that your opportunity is good for their career. If you don't feel that way, then they're not a prospect and you can forget about them. Let this be the driver behind your follow up - you have something of value for this individual and because of that, you're not bugging them. It's hard to get yourself in this mindset, but do whatever possible to get there.
7. Quite possibly the most important tip is to use the telephone whenever possible to follow up. We rely on email far too much in today's professional world. People's email inboxes are full and your "staying in touch"-subject-lined-email will get lost in the mess of the other "staying in touch"-subject-lined-emails. Call them and even if it's a voicemail, you'll remind the prospect of how great you are, how personable you are, and how relatable you are which ultimately is a reflection of your organization's culture and brand.

Let me know how you feel about these tips and if you have any more of them, drop them in the comments below!!