Did you have a chance to attend our recent “Ask a DriverReach Recruiter” webinar? We received more questions than we had time to answer in the allotted time, so our host Wendy Bartz, VP of Customer Experience with DriverReach, and speakers, Angela Osterhoudt, Senior Driver Recruiter with DriverReach, and Wyatt Berry, Account Executive with DriverReach, answered them below in this Q&A-style blog post.
If you weren’t able to join the webinar live, don’t worry – you can watch it on-demand anytime!
Question: How do I deal with driver leads who ghost?
Answer:
Angie Osterhoudt
- Ghosting will always be a problem.
- When you get ghosted, remember that there might have been misunderstanding or miscommunication.
- Meet the driver where they are, give them space, come back to them with a new strategy/angle, revisit conversations, ask follow up questions about their concerns or what they are hesitant about and about what they are looking for or not finding. Reassure them that you are here to help them find a job that fits their needs best.
Wyatt Berry
- One of my favorite techniques when getting ghosted is to send out a quick message to ask why they chose to go elsewhere.
- Often, it's because of a miscommunication or misunderstanding, reach out with an olive branch and ask what could have been better. Why did you choose a different position? They may give a response that clears the air and might even fix the relationship and restart communication.
- Stay in front of the driver, even if they’re not responding. Send emails and/or text messages letting them know that you’re still interested in them and they’re welcome to reach back out.
Question: What's the line with nagging vs. being proactive and giving them space?
Answer:
Angie Osterhoudt
- Drivers are slammed with phone calls, emails, text messages along with doing their job at the same time and often get overwhelmed.
- If you're not the first person, you certainly don't want to be the seventh, eighth, or tenth, because at that point, they're likely not going to be very engaged and are likely to confuse you with another recruiter. Who is this again? What is your name?
- We've got to give these drivers a little bit of time and space. Give them that and respect their time. A lot of times, they'll come back around, and they'll give that time back to you.
Wyatt Berry
- One thing I find very helpful is sending a text first and asking the driver when they’d like a phone call. Put them in the driver’s seat (pun intended). Then there’s less need to hound them with phone calls because both parties know when to expect a conversation.
Question: What are some of your best practices, when you're working with drivers on some of those topics like hair follicle testing, cameras in trucks, etc. to avoid scaring them away?
Answer:
Angie Osterhoudt
- Educate myself by learning more about the specific type of event recorder that our company is using, so that I can educate the driver.
- In the camera situation, explain that they are event recorders rather than cameras.
- Explain to them that we have the event recorders that only come on only in the case of an event.
- I will then explain to them what an event consists of, whether that's a hard break, a hard turn, etc.
Wyatt Berry
- You must educate them more on the topic that they’re concerned with to help to see the bigger picture, straighten it out and reassure them that it doesn't end up being a problem. Give examples of situations where a camera helped your driver avoid fault in an accident or a ticket. Help show them that the things they’re worried about are actually there to help and that they’re nothing to worry about.
Question: Do you have suggestions on where to get the best leads and/or the best place(s) to focus advertising/marketing efforts when it comes to lead generation?
Answer:
Wyatt Berry
- Different vendors are better in different geographical areas.
- I always recommend that everyone looks more closely at the quality of drivers rather than the quantity of drivers. There are a lot of vendors that will sell you low-cost leads. However, many other carriers are also being sold the same leads, so chances are, you’ll never get in front of that lead.
- If I had to choose, I would suggest Truckers Report, CDLLife, and Hire Master. There are several in the industry that are upfront amnd honest about what they can provide.
Wendy Bartz
- From an experience perspective such as social marketing and the media, Facebook especially their key. Right now, if you're not currently in that space, you really need to take a step back and look at it.
- There are so many options, and to be completely honest, as long as I've been doing this, even it can feel like overwhelming and over your head.
- There’s so much more to social media marketing than just boosting a post.
- If you don't have that expertise within your organization depending on size – some have a marketing expert, some don't – it's definitely in your best interest to reach out to other providers at agencies or myself.
- We can always talk about what you're doing today, what are some areas that you can improve to get that quality over quantity and make sure that your advertising dollars are going to the right place.
Question: What are the metrics you find most helpful to track the success of driver recruiting?
Answer:
Wyatt Berry
- I don't really care about cost per lead.
- In a direct lead, I was only concerned about the ratio of leads to higher and the cost per higher.
- Overall, cost per hire is drastically more important than cost per lead, because I could pay a thousand dollars for one lead and convert it over and over again. I have a thousand dollar cost per hire, or I can pay four dollars a lead and never convert anything.
Wendy Bartz
- Some of the other metrics that I've used from a scorecard – whether it's individual recruiter or as a team is your orientation to show – and no show percentages are always really helpful, especially as a recruiter to have a good understanding of whether something earlier on in the process that you could help the drivers educate the drivers more in regards to your company, or what you're offering to making sure that they're confident and coming to work for you.
Angie Osterhoudt
- As a recruiter, the metrics that I follow to measure my success is going to be around contacts, the amount of contacts/drivers that are being put into review, processing, showing up for orientation, etc.
- Just staying on top of that and always being aware of that. Obviously, it's going to help me make more positive steps in making sure that I'm continuously having those shows and having those hires.
Question: What are some of the things you’ve done, in regards to just re-nurturing your current database, to make sure you're getting the most out of the leads that you have in the system, that you've already paid for?
Answer:
Wyatt Berry
- DriverReach’s drip campaigns. there's no better lead than one that you already have. It is crucial to stay in front of them with automated emails and text messages.
- Not asking them to come right in and and finish up their application, but just educating them on what we stand for as a company, the trucks that you would be able to to be seated in, an overview of what our benefits are, etc.
- When they are ready to make a change and switch their career, they know where to go.
Angie Osterhoudt
- I definitely agree with Wyatt and utilize the same tools in my every day practice.
- I do have a regular cadence of contacts that I personally will send out consisting of emails, text messages, and phone calls every single day, for every single lead totalling 3 types of contact for each lead a day.
- It is my practice to always be hitting that fifteen to eighteen contacts goal before I will move those drivers into a “could not contact” stage or status.
Question: How do you handle rude drivers? Even on the first time talking/texting with them?
Answer:
Angie Osterhoudt
- Kill them with kindness.
- If they need to vent, let them vent a little bit. Let them tell their story and relate with them. Try to lighten the mood with them. A lot of times, they just need to get something off of their chest, someone on the other end of the phone to be their sounding board for a minute and once they have a listening ear, they calm down and hear what you have to say and what you have to offer.
- Other times, you’re just not going to be a good fit and that is ok too.
- Be up front with them and let them know that maybe we're not the best fit for you for you right now and wish them the best of luck in their search.
Question: How do you keep recruiters motivated to making phone calls and contacts?
Answer:
Wyatt Berry
- Outside of a per-hire bonus, I think it's really important to provide positive reassurance.
- Share their wins publicly with the rest of your office staff, and coach them privately on areas of improvement. Everyone loves to feel like they’re good at their job, so boosting them up will motivate them to keep improving on that level of success.
- Hoping for their success, I think, is much better than negatively pressuring them.
Wendy Bartz
- Gamification.
- We've gotten really creative and played a lot of games over the years, and a lot of times when you have multiple recruiters it's good, healthy competition, and it just changes the dynamic of the team. You have to find what you know the team is passionate about in general.
Angie Osterhoudt
- As a recruiter, I make small challenges for myself. I give myself a certain amount of time to complete different tasks before I allow myself to take a break or move on to something else.
- Brag on ourselves and our team as we work together. Have an internal kudos or celebration chat thread at work where we can share our successes and our struggles.
- Especially if you're working remote, it's so necessary to come together as a team and really be able to brag each other up and to be able to lean on each other when we are having a tough day.
Question: Do you all have more or less success with video calling?
Answer:
Wyatt Berry
- It may come as a surprise, but many drivers do not know how to get on a video call unless it’s a direct FaceTime to them.
- Our auto responder would send out a calendar link for new leads, the driver was encouraged to find a time that worked for them, and then it would put on their calendar zoom link to get on with the recruiter. The amount of no shows was incredible.
- Far too much hassle for a driver that isn't yet invested in working for your company. So why should they go through all of these hoops?
Question: What would you consider to be a good conversion percentage of lead to hires?
Answer:
Wendy Bartz
- It's not just one specific number that you can just throw out there in a setting like this, and say, here's what you should be at. Every company looks at things differently, and it depends on what you're offering.
- Track where you are within your organization, over a period of time, and then you can take a step back and we can look at what’s trending and say, “Okay, what are some areas that if of the process that you can improve?”.
Question: In an organization, whose responsibility is it to find out competitors' info like pay, benefits, etc.? What is the best way to do this?
Answer:
Wendy Bartz
- Often, it does fall into recruiting to do the competitive shopping, go out on websites, and call companies as drivers to get that information. A really good resource that has developed in the industry is the National Transportation Institute. Leah Shaver owns NTI and they do a great job of really pulling together data that best gives you competitor information.
- If you're looking to outsource that, and you just don't have the time internally to get that detail, she's a great resource.
Wyatt Berry
- I would add that job boards are your best friend if you're looking for competitor pay rates. If you hop on any of the larger job boards, you can put in some information like a (second) phone number, a few years of experience, your same zip code that you’re hiring from, and within two days you’ll get a lot of information.
Question: If I’m going to remarket to drivers already in my database, how long should I wait before doing so?
Answer:
Wendy Bartz
- Your strategy should be weekly if not daily depending on how long they are in the system. Using DriverReach as your technology solution you are able to create drip campaigns by texting/emailing drivers on a consistent basis. You can also do bulk messaging if you need drivers in particular areas. The most important thing is the phone still works. Create tasks to ensure you are calling drivers.
Angie Osterhoudt
- Aside from working my typical 15-18 contacts (calls, emails and texts) before moving to a Could Not Contact stage/status process, 30-60-90 day drip campaigns are always a good rule of thumb. I also work re-nurturing campaigns around holidays and other major events like Super Bowl and the changing of the seasons by sending out text and email blasts. Don’t forget the emoji’s! Drivers love emoji’s!
Wyatt Berry
- I don’t wait at all unless they gave me a clear timeline of when they would be ready or a solid reason for not choosing us. For anyone that just fell off or we couldn’t get in contact with, they go into a bucket that begins seeing educational emails weekly and (seemingly) personalized text messages bi-weekly.
Question: We’re having trouble getting drivers on the phone, what are some ways to get a conversation started?
Answer:
Wendy Bartz
- Are you texting? How many call attempts are you making to get the driver on the phone? In my experience, when companies are struggling in this area you have to increase the number of attempts and make calls at different times of the day, even in the evening when the driver parks for the night.
Angie Osterhoudt
- Alternating the time of day in which you are calling will help you determine when the driver is best available to talk. Drivers are turning more to text. Be open to texting with drivers. Respect their time and their job. Understand that they may not have the time or the ability to complete their application so offer to do it for them over the phone. What takes them 20-30 minutes to complete, will only take you 5-10 minutes to complete.
Wyatt Berry
- Send a text message a few minutes prior to calling. No one likes to answer an unknown number anymore due to the amount of robocalls. If you give the driver a heads up, they’re much more likely to pick up the phone. If the call is unsuccessful the first attempt, try a different time of day. The driver could have been driving or loading/unloading. Lastly, if your recruiter can handle an occasional angry driver, have them call twice in a row. If someone calls twice in a row, it’s much more likely to be a human on the other end instead of a robocall.
Question: Are driver benefits a critical component of the recruiting process? Our firm focuses on driver mental health, where does that fall in the spectrum of benefits provided?
Answer:
Wendy Bartz
- It depends what the driver is looking for and why they are looking to change jobs. I have seen it be benefit related. More often than not it’s pay, hometime, and respect that are most important in the recruiting process. Where I see this being more of a value is in the retention side of transportation.
Angie Osterhoudt
- Each driver is looking for something different from a company. I always start each conversation with either “What type of a position are looking for?” or “What’s got you looking for a new position?”. This will help you determine where to put your recruiting focus and lets the driver know that you are trying to help them find the right fit based on their needs and not just put another “butt in the truck” based on your needs.
Wyatt Berry
- In general, benefits are a crucial part of a driver’s job search. In most industry surveys, benefits are more important than home time. If your company provides really great benefits, it’s a great idea to put a well-designed and concise flyer together and send it to your leads.
Question: Do you have any tips on how to speed up onboarding?
Answer:
Wendy Bartz
- Are you making it easy for the driver to complete onboarding or are you having them sit with a stack of paperwork where they have to write their name, address, etc. several times? Most of this can be done electronically with E-Docs in DriverReach or through video learning platforms like our integrated partners with Luma and Infiniti. These areas can really speed the process.
- Even during the qualification stage of the process – do you have to wait for every document to be back to make a decision? I would recommend you get enough documentation to make a solid conditional offer and keep the driver moving forward in the process so they stop looking for another position.
Angie Osterhoudt
- As Wendy stated, E-docs and video learning platforms are a time saver and as much of the onboarding process that can be completed prior to the driver actually showing up for orientation is always going to work best in your favor. Pre Approving drivers, based on their application and reports, can speed up the process immensely as it allows the recruiter to move onto Next Steps on that first phone call. A driver is more likely to commit and stop their job search if a recruiter is able to tell them they are approved and begin to move forward to scheduling orientation, drug screen, road test, etc.
Stay tuned for more upcoming webinars, as well as other important recruiting and retention related topics from DriverReach's blog.
