​Recruiting truck drivers is both an art and a science. For too long recruiters have been nothing more than information-passers, sharing details about compensation, home time, benefits and the like. As we become more in tune with the idea that recruiting is really sales, there are five things that if avoided can make you and your department more successful.

1. Talk Less & Listen More: The first is very simple in theory, yet seems to be the most challenging for recruiters. Talking less and listening more. I have often said that if you as a recruiter are talking more than forty percent during your conversation with a prospect, you are losing the battle. The idea here is quite simple. Your job is to understand the prospect’s motivations and desires so that you can determine if there is a fit with what you have to offer. How can you do that if you are talking?
2. Develop Listening Skills: As a recruiter, you must develop your active listening skills. Active listening is a skill that unfortunately is not taught to very many individuals. Active listening is all about shutting off the part of your brain that is attempting to formulate a response before the other person is done talking. This helps you to better comprehend what the speaker is saying and how you may or may not be able to help them.
3. Avoid Overpromising: The third thing to avoid is over promising what you or your company can and will do for a prospect. This unfortunately happens far too often and expatiates turnover in this industry. If you can not help the prospect with their needs, it is far more efficient to tell them that upfront rather than disappoint them after they make the decision to join your organization.
4. Trust Your Gut When Making Hiring Decisions: Hiring someone to just fill the slot is the fourth thing your need to avoid. We have all had those times when our gut told us not to move forward with someone. The elite recruiters listen to that little voice. There is generally a reason you are feeling this way. The other side of this are the prospects that we know are not qualified, yet you are looking for ways to bend the rules to get them in orientation. This wastes your time that you could be working on other more qualified prospects.
5. Have a Strategy & Plan in Place:The final thing to avoid is the easiest. When you are preparing to either make or take a call, you need to have a game plan in mind. Winging the interview is not an option. While you do not know what the prospect’s motivations are for seeking your company out, you should have a plan for every type of recruiting call.

As a bonus, winging your day is not an option either. Elite recruiters understand what their daily procedures should look like. They know what they plan to accomplish each day and come in with a game plan built around that. If you do not know what you do each day, how can you adjust to meet your goals? Written procedures are a must for you to be successful.