By: Tony Barlow | tbarlow@barlowmccarthy.com
With a new class of residents on the horizon it’s the perfect time to think about those vital first impressions. It can be a painstaking process yet, good first impressions are job one in our work to support clients. It’s more art than science, but we’ve arrived at some elements that increase the odds.
Get Specific: Putting together messaging that is specific, has a personality and is well thought out is incredibly important. Most residents have a multitude of options. You want your messaging, whether that is an email, a job posting, a phone call or even a meeting at a job fair to be focused and on point. Don’t make them sift through your message to find the WIIFM- What’s In It For Me.
Email is a foundational tool for many programs. While my thoughts relate primarily to email messaging, the principles can be applied to all your tools for candidate sourcing.
Customized = Personalized: First and foremost consider your audience. Knowing your target needs to be a huge priority. Will the same form letter work for Primary Care and Neurosurgery? I bet we’d all agree on the answer to that one. Tailoring your message deserves special attention and knowing the ins and outs of each specialty helps. The key here is to think about one prospective physician from the list and write your message to them. Picturing a single prospect vs. the group will help you create your own personalized content that stands out from the crowd.
Details Matter: When I put together the initial candidate email for my clients, my first consideration is the type of detail and how much to include. My goal is to provide a captivating detail vs every element of the opportunity. Likely this email is part of a multi-email campaign (it should be, more on that below) you may share new, different specifics in each note.
On average people allocate 51 seconds to an email campaign after opening it. (Source: Nielsen Norman Group)
The statistic above is a good reminder that we have a limited amount of time to get our prospects attention, so get to the point right away. As for how to present the details, we find bullets to be the most effective, it is clean and organized and doctors love that sort of thing. ????
Earn a conversation: Remember the central goal on these emails… we want a CONVERSATION with the doctor. Email stats such as opens, and clicks are important, but the ultimate goal is engagement so the prospective physician will take the next step and reply to the email or give you a call.
Timing: Look closely at timing and all the layers of timing like time of year, time of week and time of day. Your message should be flexible to address the different times of year. If the first message to the residents is in May, prior to them starting their last year of residency, then start with a short introductory note. If it’s November, that time period when residents are getting serious in their search, then a beefier note with a few more details is warranted.
Time of week and time of day are a little more straightforward. Pay attention to trends from prior campaigns. The most important thing to think about when sending is, “When will my prospect be sitting at a desk or taking time to read my email.” Try to time your messages around that time.
Be present and persistent but managed. How often should you be sending messages to residents? There is definitely a sweet spot. If you send messages too frequently, then you are likely to get marked as SPAM or the candidate will UNSUBSCRIBE. Not frequently enough and you may not be there when the candidate is ready to make their decision. At Barlow/McCarthy we send messages once a month. From our experience this is the sweet spot!
Your email messaging requires thought and attention. We often see recruiters relying on the “spray and pray” method of email messaging. They email blast the same message out a couple of times per year and hope for the best. Committing time and thought to your message, timing and frequency will make a difference!
What’s working for you? Weigh in if you have some techniques to share.
If you read through our suggestions above and thought, “yeah nice ideas but where will I find the time!” We can help! We send 10s of thousands of emails for our clients each month with this super focused and specific approach. If you would like to learn more about how we can help you and your team source more candidates by email messaging just shoot me an email at tbarlow@barlowmccarthy.com.