How many times have your driver recruiters been ghosted this week? No, we’re not talking about in their personal lives. Ghosting, or having applicants go dark, happens pretty frequently in CDL driver recruiting. In fact, because of the overwhelming level of competition in today’s CDL environment, recruiters only hire 2 of every 100 applications they receive!
If you’re sick of being ghosted by driver applicants, it’s time to rethink your recruiting strategy. Drivers have so many options that all it takes is a single hiccup for them to take their talents somewhere else. Proactive CDL recruiters can improve this situation at the source: the recruiting process. If you’re not delivering an amazing, driver-first applicant experience, you’ll keep being ghosted. It’s all about giving drivers what they want, instead of making them work for it.
If you want to increase conversions and decrease ‘ghosting’ situations, here’s what you need to do now:
Audit your recruiting process and give it the facelift it deserves
Because the CDL industry is such a traditional industry, sometimes processes and procedures can be stuck in the past. The driver recruiting process is no different. Usually, applicants go dark because the applicant experience is too convoluted and too confusing, or because there are too many ‘quiet’ periods. To improve conversion rates, do a quick audit of your recruiting process. Are there any places where your team waits around for drivers to contact you? What about periods of indecision where there isn’t any contact at all? An audit of your recruiting process should turn up places where these processes are outdated so your team can proactively introduce new, driver-focused applications and procedures.
Ask your current drivers why they converted and share this same messaging
It’s a popular adage for a reason: when in doubt, go to the source. If you don’t know why drivers are ghosting you, or even why they signed on with your team in the first place, why not ask them? Send out surveys, questionnaires, and forms to your current drivers asking about their application process. Was there anything they liked or disliked about the process? What do they think your team could do better in the future? Knowing the answers to these types of questions will allow your team to uncover what’s actually important to drivers, and then leverage this messaging and content across your recruitment materials.
Add a personal touch to your applicant experience
While trucking is often a solo industry, being a CDL driver doesn’t have to be a solo enterprise. Most drivers crave a sense of community in their work, and they tend to shy away from companies that don’t seem ‘community-driven’. To ensure that drivers aren’t going elsewhere for professional relationship building, add a personal touch to your applicant experience. Have a few interview rounds that are in-person or video call based to instill a sense of personal engagement. Host quarterly or yearly gatherings with your entire team to really grab hold of the ‘community’ feeling, and make sure you mention this attention to personal relationships during the interview process.
Building a stellar recruiting strategy won’t happen overnight, but reducing ‘ghosting’ episodes is possible. Most of the time, drivers are looking for that perfect fit, and if they don’t find it with your company, they’ll take their talents elsewhere. The best way to increase conversions is to structure your application process from the driver’s perspective. Think about how they will interact and engage with your team, your technology, and your organization as a whole. Does your company come off as one a driver would like to be associated with? At the end of the day, this is all that matters, and your recruiting process should reflect that.
If you’re ready to take your application experience to the next level and increase lead-to-driver conversions, then DriverReach is here to get you to the next level. Schedule your personal demo of DriverReach today!
