Did you know that if you have someone's mobile phone number you can send an "email to SMS" directly to their phone from your email client! All you have to do is use one of the following:
"hm.... but what if I don't know who the provider is?"
AHA! Here's what I suggest you could do: put your contacts regular email address in the To: field and then put all 6 of the SMS address "options" in the Bcc: field :)
Got Permission?
posted 4/17/2006 at 12:22 p.m. PT by Joel Cheesman
If you do this, you'd better have permission and/or a sound relationship. Even then, I'd be very careful. There is no quicker road to ticking someone off and black-balling your brand then spamming a mobile phone user.
Well you have their mobile number already
posted 4/17/2006 at 1:19 p.m. PT by Shally Steckerl
I'm assuming you have a mobile phone number already - then calls or SMS are fairly equivalent. Now, some people pay extra for SMS messages, so its a good idea to be careful and not abuse this, but then most people also pay for ther mobile minutes in one way or another so in either case this call or SMS will "cost them" something (money, minutes, credits, their personal time, etc.)
Consider this... there's no difference between a "cold call" and a "cold email" when it comes to recruiting other than the sheer fact that when you put it in writting... well... it in writing ;)
How about looking at it this way: if you need their permission to call them - how would you have obtained it? In other words, if you need to ask someone for permission before you contact them, then how would you contact them to ask for permission :)
If the answer is to call their work number shouldn't you have permission to call them at work first? Or if you call them at home shouldn't you have permission to call them there? Or if you should email them first then shouldn't you have permission to do that as well? One cool thing about SMS is that that they can respond to it on their own time, privately, not via their work email (in case big brother is watching) and not at the time or place where they happen to be when you impose on them with a phone call (say their boss is walking by or sitting next to them).
The sheer act of recruiting a new lead into a prospect presuposes that there is no pre-existing relationship and that by extending yourself to them you are endeavoring to create a relationship (open a door) with the intent of offering them an opportunity they may choose to consider (or ignore). If there already is an existing relationship then there is no need to "recruit" thus no need for either a "cold call" or "cold email." If every employer had the luxury of knowing in advance when all ideal candidates are ready and open to discuss new opportunities then the need for recruiters would vanish and we would all be exclusively acting as relationship managers. As much as I wish for that future nirvana the stark reality is we have to put ourselves out there, take risks, and occasionally contact people who may not be interested in what we have to offer. The thing is, we don't know if they are or are not until we reach out and make contact and SMS is one of many (call, email, fax, regular mail, express mail, telegraph, smoke signal, IM, Skype, telepathy) methods of contact all with their own cultural nuances, pros and cons.
Great Info
posted 4/17/2006 at 1:42 p.m. PT by Tim O'Connor
Thanks for sharing this Shally. This is great information. Not only do I see a future in this for sourcing, but it will make my home life easier. No more calling home to find out what groceries(etc) are needed, just send a quick email to the cell phone without interrupting my work day. I agree with you 100% about this method of contact being no different then an email, or a call to the office, etc. I get cold calls on my cell phone quite often, some I delete, some I save, and some I call back. I would welcome a "cold email" to my phone rather then a call. It is less intrusive and I can just delete it if it does not interest me. Great info.
Tim O'Connor
Great Info
posted 4/17/2006 at 1:42 p.m. PT by Tim O'Connor
Thanks for sharing this Shally. This is great information. Not only do I see a future in this for sourcing, but it will make my home life easier. No more calling home to find out what groceries(etc) are needed, just send a quick email to the cell phone without interrupting my work day. I agree with you 100% about this method of contact being no different then an email, or a call to the office, etc. I get cold calls on my cell phone quite often, some I delete, some I save, and some I call back. I would welcome a "cold email" to my phone rather then a call. It is less intrusive and I can just delete it if it does not interest me. Great info.
Tim O'Connor
In homage to Shally's sparkling post, I offer 2 enhancements
posted 4/17/2006 at 3:21 p.m. PT by Glenn Gutmacher
1) You don't need to stop at those 6 (admittedly major) mobile service providers -- there's a much bigger list of them (with the format for emails on each) at www.notepage.net/smtp.htm. You could make a bookmarklet to auto-generate the full list for your email's bcc: field for every mobile # you want from now on!
2) But there's a service that will do the sending for you, for free -- Teleflip.com -- and they claim to handle forwarding to every North American mobile phone #.
I offer more depth on the above at my blog: http://spaces.msn.com/recruiting-online/blog/cns!85B563D573918AEA!241.entry
Thanks, Shally, for inspiring me to dig a little on this topic!
Some CRM / ATS apps show the carrier
posted 4/17/2006 at 4:40 p.m. PT by Martin Snyder
using a database keyed off the phone number - that's how we do it...
Seconding Joel's Comment
posted 4/19/2006 at 10:49 a.m. PT by Colin Kingsbury
If people start abusing this it will get banned pretty fast since incoming SMS costs money for many people, which was the rationale behind the banning of junk faxes over a decade ago. Yes, an incoming cell call costs me money, but it also costs the recruiter time. 15 minutes is enough to make one or two calls, or send 500 unqualified emails. I get 50 hilariously mis-targeted TPR spams for every phone call.
Why assume abuse
posted 4/19/2006 at 2:53 p.m. PT by Shally Steckerl
Yes, of course, abuse is bad. But why is it that the mere introduction of an idea such as this immediately raises alarms and gets people on the defensive? Why does abuse come to mind before "opportunity?"
I perfer to believe people who read my blog are smart enough to know when it is or isn't appropriate to use a method I describe. If I was afraid that people were going to abuse every method I share here then I should cower in a corner and never write about stuff I discover, instead keeping to the "safe" but unproductive topics like the weather and my favorite TV shows.
I'll tie this back to and open dialog I've had from time to time with Steve Levy regarding Martial Arts. He and I agree that a true Martial Artist knows the power that comes from such advanced knowledge of combat and human physiology and therefore will not abuse it. Martial Artists are not likely to "abuse" their skill as they understand the responsibility that comes with knowing how to use one's body as a weapon. You may be asking yourself why I even bring this up. Well...
If we are experts in Recruiting here on the ERE Blogs (or even if we are simply sharing what we know with newcomers) why do we have to constantly warn people about the dangers of abusing certain tools? This would be the equivalent of reminding a martial arts student that a technique can be applied for good versus evil every time we show them something new. I think after a few such warnings they would get it. Punching and kicing is dangerous so only use it when you need to.
My questoin is, at which point do we trust our peers and simply say "hey, here's something I found, use it wisely and in good health and I wish you much success" without feeling the need to remind them that there are ways in which it can be abused?
Personally I much prefer to contribute and assume my readers know the difference, not censor or police them.
you all missing the point
posted 4/19/2006 at 5:57 p.m. PT by Jeremy Langhans
if you have their phone # then call them.
done.
win.
~jer www.o0.typepad.com
Just Call me Baby ;)
posted 4/19/2006 at 8:50 p.m. PT by Shally Steckerl
Yeah yeah what he said ;) Always give good phone!
Just call, baby... but then when you get no answer ask Mark Jennings about the most devastatingly effective trick in his book... he calls it the One Two Three and if it weren't free he would have patented it already.
Cheers, Shally
Call 911
posted 4/19/2006 at 8:56 p.m. PT by Armando Guerra
Speaking of the police, can you imagine if every time we see a cop we tell them "Hey that gun of your is dangerous! You know, you could hurt somebody with that!"
Or if each time we see a farmer we told them "Your machete is dangerous, be careful."
If call like Jeremy or email like Timn its all about how you use the tools.
Basically what I understand this to mean is that the FCC has lumped in cell-phone spam along with the CAN SPAM Act. Now, keep in mind I don't condone spam of any kind, SMS or email, but I though it worthwhile to mention this as a good counterpoint to my own post.
EXCERPT:
Commissioners argued mobile-phone spam is harmful because consumers have to pay for the time to delete it (which I do mention in my comment above).
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