In order to fill their orientation classes and keep their trucks on the road, many carriers rely on job boards to deliver a steady stream of leads for drivers. However, building the best process to convert job board leads into new hires is a challenge. The unfortunate reality of the situation is that the leads gained from job boards will most likely be lukewarm at best, and the majority will probably be cold. In the case of multi-carrier leads, a driver will submit information to a job site and usually have no idea which carriers the information is actually going to. Even with single-carrier leads, where a driver is actively selecting a handful of carriers to send application information to, the driver has likely only spent minimal time researching and selecting those carriers. In either situation, most of the drivers that your recruiters are contacting will not be invested in seriously pursuing a job opening with your company.
Good vs. Bad Leads
"a driver will submit information to a job site and have no idea which carriers the information is actually going to"
So how do you distinguish the bad leads from the good? It can be like trying to find the proverbial needle in a haystack. This task is made more difficult by the fact that most of the data these job boards provide about each driver is usually abbreviated, and can vary wildly from source to source. For example, many times leads that are classified as inexperienced or as non-CDL holders turn out to be experienced drivers who just skipped or missed a few questions. The inconsistent nature of job board data makes it very difficult for recruiters to reliably use the information to identify and prioritize quality candidates.
In order to avoid accidently missing out on qualified drivers, many carriers use the time-honored practice of placing phone calls to as many of their leads as possible. These calls are intended to gauge and nurture a candidate’s interest in the company’s open positions, and encourage the candidate to submit a full application. The success of this approach is unfortunately often hampered by missed phone calls, voice mail messages, and the recruiter’s workday schedule. There just isn’t enough time to to pursue each lead that you get, and while there’s no substitute for the personal element and expediency of a phone call from a competent and friendly recruiter, some carriers have added automated emails into the mix. Automated welcome emails can help to ensure that whether or not a candidate is reached by phone, they’ll at least get an email to establish contact as soon as a lead comes in.
Automated Communication
At Tenstreet, we’ve helped clients process millions of these leads, and we’ve seen first-hand what works and what doesn’t. While a welcome email is certainly a step in the right direction to reach all the candidates you can’t call in person, an even better approach is a series of contacts spaced over several weeks. By implementing a series of automated emails to re-engage a candidate over a period of weeks, you maximize not only the chance that a driver will actually read your message, but also the likelihood that the driver will have the time and interest to really absorb it. Carriers who have used this approach often see an increase of three to four times as many full applications being submitted from their job board leads. The other major benefit to an automated approach to lead follow-up is that your recruiters can shift their time and focus away from cold-calling disinterested candidates, and spend more time closing much warmer leads from candidates who have been nurtured by the welcome emails and have now submitted a full application.
Compelling Message
Of course, whether the automated email process consists of a single email or a targeted series of emails, the overall key to success for converting your leads into hires is a compelling message. When it comes to recruiting, you need to craft a clear message to convince candidates that your carrier is the right one for them, and persuade them to take the next steps in the application process. To be effective at delivering that message, you need to use every method at your disposal to reach your audience. Automated emails are an important tool you should be using to get your message to the drivers you want to reach. Automated emails allow you to convert more leads into full applications without any effort on your recruiter’s part, and they improve your business’s conversions from full application to new hire by giving your recruiters the time to focus on quality leads.
