5 Tips for a Successful Follow-Up Campaign

So, you’ve had a great conversation with a quality truck driver. Now what? With the current state of the trucking industry, success means being faster than the competition. Recruiters must have a quick turnaround time to keep quality drivers moving through the recruitment funnel. The best way to do that is to have your follow-up campaign ready to launch. As you follow up, you should know exactly when they’re looking to start a new position, what the best time of day to reach them is, and what form of communication they prefer.

1. Be personal.

Being personal is at the core of an effective follow-up strategy. At each stage of recruitment, you’ll want to visualize the process through the driver’s eyes. If you’ve followed our 5 Tips for a Successful First Conversation with a Truck Driver, then you’ve already started to build a meaningful relationship with your potential driver candidate. Now you need to keep that trust going by tailoring the rest of their interview experience to their specific needs. As recruiters follow up, they should be asking themselves, ‘How would this candidate describe the experience to another driver or friend?’

2. Get the timing right.

Before following up, recruiters should find out exactly when the driver is looking to start this new position and what the best times of day to reach them is. A driver may only have a few moments while taking a break or waiting at the shipper, so recruiters will need to be flexible and work with their schedule. It may be tempting to want to tell the driver everything about the position—but short, concise messages are the best way to keep the driver moving forward so you can engage more deeply with them later on.

3. Leverage technology.

In this market, the speed at which you hire is critical. You have to be faster than your competitors to get the best talent. Many drivers are on the road and don’t have the time or resources to print PDFs or fill out cumbersome applications. Using technology will streamline the process and make your company more desirable. On the flip side, sometimes the older generation needs a hand with newer technology. Ask if they are struggling with the digital part of the application and if they’d like you to fill it out for them over the phone. Remember, the easier and faster the process for the driver, the more likely they are to want to join your fleet.

4. Automate wherever you can.

With the truck driver shortage, recruiters are busier than ever. By leveraging an automated email or text message sequence as a follow-up, recruiters can streamline the process and even attract and connect with the untapped younger generation of drivers. Of course, a bulk, standardized message is a great way to land you on the ‘blocked’ list—so you’ll want to make it personal wherever you can. Building a customizable template ahead of time is crucial to a quick turnaround. That way, you can simply plug in the driver’s name and the position they’re going for in a professional and timely manner.

5. Be clear about next steps.

This step may seem obvious, but your ultimate goal is to turn a driver lead into an employee. Drivers should always leave conversations knowing what to expect next and when they will hear from you. As the trucking industry experiences an ongoing shortage of drivers, your quality lead will probably be talking to several companies at once. That’s why it’s more important than ever to keep drivers engaged, manage expectations, and keep them moving through the pipeline.

KJ Media is your partner in driver recruitment. If you’re only leveraging us to generate quality leads, you’re missing out on our recruiter consulting. Whether you’re looking to overhaul your recruitment team completely or tweak an existing program, we have 15+ years of driver recruiting experience that can help build a successful recruitment team. Reach out today.