The Power of the Phone in a Changing Recruitment Landscape

Recruitment is evolving faster than ever before. With 30 years in the industry, I’ve witnessed firsthand the dramatic changes in how we connect with clients and candidates. We have more tools at our disposal today than ever before—emails, texts, social media, InMails, AI-driven communication—but so do our clients. The recruitment landscape has changed, but one thing remains the same: the phone is still our most important tool.

As an old-timer who began before the days of email, I built relationships with clients using the phone. That was the only way to build trust and rapport back then, and frankly, it’s still the best way today. When I started, everything had to be done over the phone: cold calls, follow-ups, deal-making. It was all personal, and it worked because recruitment is a relationship business at its core.

Yes, today we can send an email or a LinkedIn message to get our foot in the door, and those tools certainly have their place. But if your goal is to develop key accounts that bring in significant revenue year after year, you’ll need to build multiple relationships within that client company. The only way to do that effectively is by picking up the phone and talking to people.

Here’s the kicker: as technology advances, especially with the rise of AI, the art of email and written communication will become less of a differentiator. AI will soon handle the majority of our texts, emails, and InMails. This is already happening in some industries. While automation will save time, it will also make it harder for recruiters to stand out. Everyone will be able to craft the perfect email in a fraction of the time it takes today.

What will set top recruiters apart in the coming years is the ability to have real, meaningful conversations with clients and candidates. It’s the voice on the other end of the line that will build trust and foster long-term relationships. I’ve never met a top biller—someone consistently bringing in over $1 million in revenue—who didn’t make cold calls. Every single one of them uses the phone to build their business.

If you’re relying solely on digital communication, you're competing with tens of thousands of other recruiters who will soon be able to create flawless messaging at lightning speed. The phone, however, remains personal. It’s the quickest way to gain trust, read the room, and develop rapport. It's the tool that truly sets apart top performers from the rest.

The way I see it, the future of recruitment will continue to embrace AI and automation, but the phone will always be the recruiter’s best weapon for building relationships, closing deals, and establishing key accounts. Yes, the tools we have today are important. But if you want to stay ahead, now is the time to hone your phone skills. The ability to have a good conversation will always be invaluable.

Now, I want to hear your thoughts. Do you agree that the phone is still the most important tool in recruitment? How do you see the role of AI and automation affecting our industry in the next few years?