In the first place, only a few calls result in a personal interview, a prime objective of hidden market approaches. This is offset by the great increase in the number of opportunities to get the ideas of key executives. Furthermore, the result of the vast majority of referral interviews is information which may be useful for your campaign and additional referrals, and these results can often be accomplished as effectively on the phone. This technique hasn't been used a lot for senior management jobs, but it can be useful, if handled skillfully. Often a call will take only five minutes, and a volume of 10 calls a day to key executives should develop several interviews in a week. A letter such as the following will provide an entree that will result in considerably better results than a completely cold call.
Preparation for your phone call in solicitation is more important than in the referral method. Here again you must be ready to handle possible obstruction from the executive's secretary. Your method of dealing with this is similar to the referral method discussed above. Suppose, though, Mr. Belknap's secretary states: "I remember you. You want a personal interview." Reply: "No, that is not true. Actually all I'm asking for is a few minutes of Mr. Belknap's time on the phone."
Here the objective of your phone call is not to get a help interview, rather it is to get an on-the-phone job interview, and failing this, to get as much help as you can. Therefore, this is much more of a selling type of phone call than is used in the referral method. Furthermore, Mr. Belknap will only vaguely remember your letter and resume, and he may try to find it, which will divert attention from your sales presentation. So use a telegraphic presentation to put him at ease by assuring him that you are going to quickly tell him what he needs to know. This will make him more receptive to what you are trying to get across.
To improve the effectiveness of your presentation, develop an introductory script. Your message should take no longer than one or two minutes to relate. Polish it until it is concise and tells your key highlights. Recording it is useful, particularly if you can get someone to listen to it critically. Taping some actual calls can be easily done also, with good criticism of your telephone effectiveness being particularly helpful.
Sound positive, but natural. Talk up and directly into the phone. Standing up when you are making your phone call often can make you sound surer of yourself. Practice the script until you are comfortable with it. Your script might take form as follows:
The use of a detailed script can be especially helpful for the first dozen or so calls. Then you'll find that you only need to refer to the key words (those that are underlined).
This telephone interviewing procedure allows you to cover a lot of companies in a short time. It is particularly useful when you have run out of contacts and direct referrals.
