Investing Time and Energy to Build Trust with Drivers

Driver recruiting thought leader Wendy Bartz is always looking for unique perspectives on recruiting, engaging, and retaining drivers. Her recent post on building trust with drivers offers actionable, real-world tips on moving beyond surface-level engagement.

What recruiters think they're doing

Too often, recruiters think that reaching out with a single phone call, email, or text message is sufficient to build driver trust and connect with them on a deeper level. It's important to realize that the relationships you build with drivers should have the same depth and the same level of commitment as these other relationships. Nobody can be expected to build trust and connection with a single conversation, right?

All recruiters instinctively know that a foundation of trust with a driver can help instrumentally with achieving successful recruiting outcomes. But recruiters won't be able to build trust without actually listening to drivers, hearing what they are looking for, and helping them reach their goals.

What recruiters should be doing

So how can your recruiting team build trust with drivers? Here are several actionable tips Wendy mentioned in her post, as well as a few additional ideas:

• Identify the problem your driver is looking to solve (new job, new company, better benefits, etc.) and work with them to develop solutions.
• Offer advice, suggestions, and strategic direction to drivers to establish yourself as a trusted resource.
• Listen to what your drivers are saying – and what they aren't saying. What can you glean from these interactions?
• Respond promptly when drivers reach out to your team with questions 
• Communicate across multiple channels to give your drivers different ways to get in touch.

What is your recruiting team doing today to help solve problems and build relationships? You won't do it with just one message. Instead, be open and transparent with drivers to build trust. Educate your recruiters on new engagement strategies, directions, and opportunities to connect with drivers. Look outside the box and treat every driver interaction as a unique, creative opportunity.

Drivers are looking for more than a new job – they're looking for a connection with an organization in which they can invest their time. How will your recruiting team return this attention and invest in building driver trust?

Want to learn more? 

Recruiters should always be looking for new tips and tricks to help them become more successful and deliver better recruiting experiences to drivers. Ensure you're following Wendy Bartz on LinkedIn for more actionable recruiting advice.

Stay up to date on CDL trucking trends! Be sure to check out the DriverReach blog for other relevant articles and head over to our webinars page for an up-to-date list of upcoming events and on-demand recordings.

Listen to Taking the Hire Road podcast, hosted by Jeremy Reymer and in collaboration with FreightWaves, for timely conversations with industry experts. For more information, or to join a live group demo, visit www.driverreach.com/livedemo