Recruitment Blog
5 tips for nailing tactical prospecting in a competitive market
Recruitment prospecting is tough.
Clients are inundated with messages. The market’s more crowded than ever. And decision-makers have less time, more options, and higher expectations.
So how do you stand out?
The best-performing recruiters are getting tactical. They’re combining creativity, data, and timing to open conversations and win new clients.
Here’s five tips to help you nail your tactical prospecting, and truly stand out in a competitive market.
1. Tap into personalisation
Personalisation should not be optional or a ‘nice-to-have’, and it should go beyond simply using someone’s first name in an email.
Instead, it’s time to tap into some real personalisation tactics that can help you truly connect with prospects on that human level. That means, when speaking to clients, doing things like:
- Mentioning recent hiring activity.
- Referring to a candidate who just turned down an offer there.
- Highlighting specifics about the company’s hiring process or culture.
A great way to personalise your outreach is to use insights from candidates. Ask them about the hiring experience, the team, and why they said yes (or no) to an offer.
2. Use your candidates as a way in
Speaking of using insights from your candidates… Candidates are your prospecting secret weapon.
From JobAdder’s BDX Magazine and ongoing market insights, we know that candidate conversations can unlock so much value:
- Which companies are actively hiring (or struggling to).
- Who the decision-makers are.
- Where the culture’s great (and where it’s not).
- What roles are being quietly recruited for.
Being armed with this knowledge means that when a candidate turns down an offer, you know it’s not a miss; it’s a lead. That company still has a need and now you have a warm opening to fill it.
3. Use the right combination of BD tools
Digital tools are everywhere. But when it comes to effectiveness, data from our 2024/25 Benchmarking Report is clear. Phone calls are still the most effective BD tool (41% say so); nearly double the impact of LinkedIn (21%).
Why? Because phone calls do what most BD outreach doesn’t:
- They build rapport.
- They get immediate feedback.
- They create actual conversations.
That doesn’t mean you should do away with digital communication tools. But a well-timed call can be the ideal place to start your BD efforts.
After that, you can layer in tech (CRM, email cadences, LinkedIn touchpoints) to stay top of mind.
4. Time your outreach with trigger events
Timing matters. Unfortunately, most recruiters are continually missing the boat.
You can get ahead by making sure your outreach is triggered by certain events, by setting up alerts and notifications for things like:
- Role changes for hiring managers on LinkedIn.
- Company growth announcements or funding rounds.
- Layoffs or leadership changes.
- Job ads being posted, edited, or pulled down.
All of these things signal that a company is about to enter a hiring phase, change vendors, or need a partner – i.e. the perfect opportunity for you to get your foot in the door and make a real impact.
5. Stop pitching and start solving
If your first message is a pitch when reaching out to a potential client, you’ve already lost.
Instead, focus on asking real questions that can get to the heart of the problems you could be solving, such as:
- “What’s your biggest hiring challenge right now?”
- “What do you wish your recruitment partners did better?”
- “If I could introduce you to [X type of candidate], would that help?”
Lead with curiosity, then deliver solutions; not the other way around.
Prospect like a pro with JobAdder
If you want to win in today’s competitive BD landscape, you need to:
- Personalise everything.
- Leverage candidate insights.
- Call before you email.
- Watch for trigger events.
- Solve, don’t sell.
Want to know more about how JobAdder can help you prospect like a pro? Request a free and personalised demo today.
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