Maureen Sharib emphasizes the importance of phone sourcing in recruitment, arguing that traditional online methods often miss out on potential candidates who are not visible on platforms like LinkedIn. She outlines techniques for effectively communicating with gatekeepers to uncover valuable contact information within companies, highlighting that personal interaction may yield better results than relying solely on social media. Sharib concludes by inviting participation in a weekly webinar for further insights into phone sourcing strategies.

1. Phone Sourcing – Why It' s More
Important Than Ever!
Social Media On Steroids
Presented by Maureen Sharib
www.TechTrak.com

2. Some of you may know me from articles
I’ve written online about telephone names
sourcing or the seminars I’ve given around
the country.
 I’ve been phone sourcing since 1996 and consider myself pretty good at it.
 If you’re wondering to yourself what phone sourcing is, let’s start with what
it isn’t.

3. It’s not finding a name online and then
calling into the company to see if the
person is “still there”.
 Nope, it’s not that.

4. It’s not even finding a person online and
calling into the company to see if the
person is “still there” and if their title is still
current.
 But even that’s closer than just finding someone online and calling into the
company to see if the person is “still there”.

5. Telephone names sourcing is calling into a
specific company and learning who the
people are who hold specific titles inside
that company.
 It’s not easy and it’s not for everyone.

6. But it is simple.

7. Phone sourcing carries the ability to
identify everyone inside a company
regardless if that person is “online” or not!
 Think this:

8. Picture of Iceberg

9. The majority of the potential candidates
available in the workforce for your open
positions are not on LinkedIn.
 Really.

10. They’re not even online.
 At least they’re not online in a capacity that allows you to identify them as a
suitable potential candidate for your open position.

11. They might have a Facebook profile but no
way to track them to your short list.
 They might be contributing to some online forums but there’s no
information online about what they do or where they do it or who they do it
for!

12. The ONLY WAY to find ALL POSSIBLE
POTENTIAL CANDIDATES that might be
appropriate for your open position is to call
into the places where they work.
 In order to do this you must be socially skilled.

13. You must know how to talk with people.

14. Surprisingly, this is a skill that is diminishing
today amidst all the focus on “social
media”.

15. What is “social media”?
 Wikipedia describes it as follows:
 Social media are media for social interaction, using highly accessible and
scalable communication techniques. The term refers to the use of web-
based and mobile technologies to turn communication into interactive
dialogue.

16. Much of sourcing today embraces the
social media agenda of “web-based and
mobile technologies”.

17. Think Internet sourcing and texting.
 God forbid anyone would really talk to one another.

18. If you know how to talk with someone you
can telephone names source.
 I said before it’s not easy but it is simple.

19. Here’s how I do it.
 “This is Maureen Sharib. Can you tell me who the Manager is for your
External Reporting group?”

20. Sometimes she knows and she tells me.
 Why does she tell me?

21. It’s a very good question and one I have
done a lot of thinking about.
 I think she tells me because of one simple thing.

22. Can anyone tell me what that one simple
thing is?

23. She tells me because I removed the
mystery.
 Can anyone tell me what “removing the mystery” means?

24. I told her my name. She didn’t have to
wonder who I was so she didn’t start to ask
any questions.

25. Once she starts to ask questions she has a
tendency to continue asking more
questions.
 If she told me her name I also repeated it back at her, as in, “Hi, Susan, this
is Maureen Sharib. Can you tell me who the Manager is of your External
Reporting group?”

26. I keep it very simple.

27. I do not say more.
 I do not explain to her why I need the name. I do not tell her what
organization I’m calling from. I do not try to intimidate her into telling me
the name.

28. IF she doesn’t know the name, I help her.
 “This person is probably in your Finance group. Can you please transfer me
to finance?”

29. Chances are she can do that but before she
does I ask her something else.
 “Can you tell me who you’re transferring me to?”

30. Once she tells me, I press for a little more
information.
 “What is Marie Olender’s extension number in case I get disconnected.”

31. Why do I want that?

32. I want to learn how the company’s internal
phone system works.
 Why is that important?

33. It’s important in case I want to “stab in” for
information.
 Can anyone tell me what “stabbing in” is?

34. “Stabbing in” is when you direct dial into a
company (around the Gatekeeper) to the
individual desk phones of the company’s
employees.
 How powerful is that?

35. Let’s stop here for a minute.
 We’re all friends here.

36. Tell the truth.
 Does what we just went through frighten you?

37. It frightened the bejeezus outta’ me when I
first started phone sourcing.
 I’d sweat bullets at the thought of calling and talking to a Gatekeeper.

38. I’d spend inordinate amounts of time on
the Internet fiddling around looking for
what I was after.
 It was a safe place that never asked me why I wanted the information I
sought.

39. It never snapped.
 It never snarled.

40. It always made me feel productive.
 Except…

41. I didn’t get paid by the hour.
 I got paid by the name!

42. It didn’t profit me to fiddle-fool around on
the Internet for hours and hours and hours
on my searches.
 Don’t get me wrong.

43. I have always done Internet search.
 But ONLY to get myself started.

44. The fastest way to get the information you
seek is to call someone on the phone and
ask for it.
 There is no amount of Boolean in the world today that can exceed the
results you get with the telephone.

45. That’s a bold, controversial and unpopular
statement nowadays.
 I know it.

46. I stand by it and will argue it with anyone.
 Very few step up to the plate to argue it with me.

47. Social media is a powerful medium but you
must know how to use it.
 If you view it as one of the tools in your toolbox you’ll be on the right track
to making it work for you.

48. It is constantly evolving and much of it is
becoming fiscally expensive as it does.
 If you can access what is reasonably affordable (both in money and time) in
social media and marry it with simple yet sophisticated telephone
communication techniques you’ll gain the best of both worlds.

49. Curiously, my prediction is that as social
media “evolves” privacy will become ever
more important to people.
 Privacy will be the new luxury.

50. If you know how to reach into a person’s
“privacy” with the time-honored tradition
of the telephone you’ll be so far ahead of
your competition it will make them weep.
 Your “social” position will be enviable.

51. This will conclude today’s first lesson in
phone sourcing.
 We’ll make this a weekly series and if you’d like to participate in next week’s
webinar and have any specific questions you’d like me to address send them
to me at maureen@techtrak.com

52. Thank you for participating today.
 If you’re on Twitter and would like more tips and techniques on phone
sourcing go to www.tweetchat.com and put #SChat into the hashtag box and
it will take you to our weekly sourcing chat that begins at noon (ET) on
Tuesdays.
 That’s in just a few minutes!

53. If you want to learn more about phone
sourcing and Gatekeeper techniques google
my name (in quotes) and the word
“Gatekeeper”.
 Many results will appear that will give you a good feel for what I do
everyday!

54. Thank you again and if you have any
questions about any of what we discussed
today give me a call at 513 899 9628.
 Maureen Sharib
 Phone Sourcer
 www.TechTrak.com
 See you next week!