Is the phone still king?

I had a conversation the other day with a head-hunter who used Linkedin daily as part of his search for candidates. We were chatting about how I also used Linkedin for similar ends and it was interesting how we both had adopted the same strategies.

We both agreed that Linkedin was an excellent resource for searching and finding exactly the person you wanted, so that you could make a high quality approach. In some circumstances we both used the introduction or InMail approach but usually we just picked up the phone and called the contact.

I was working on a project recently and, using Linkedin, I was able to pin-point a contact within a $multi-billion global company and, with a single phone call, arrange a meeting for my client. Without Linkedin my approach would have been less surgical; I was able to use the person's profile to construct a value proposition. However, I suspect that if had used Linkedin to contact the person (they were a 3rd degree in my network)it would have taken at least a couple of weeks and probably would have a 50% chance of success (for reasons I'll go into on another blog)

The key thing here is that I was able to find the right person who really saw value in what my client was offering. This isn't the scatter-gun approach of many outbound telemarketing and lead generation companies. And, the final point is that the person I contacted was delighted I had called.

David Regler
Maine Associates Ltd

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