At this time of the year, I know a lot of recruiters come to the decision that a prospect they have been working on all year, just won't move. Many recruiters trim their prospect lists around the end of the year, and remove some prospects. Don't do it.

If this is a prospect you truly want to recruit, do not remove them from your list, and do not stop following up with them. Call them, send them a note for the holidays, and just let them know you are still trying to work with them.

Here's a story I recognize as a recruiter's worst nightmare. Fortunately, it didn't happen to me, but it is a great reminder to Keep Going!

A prospect was unhappy, a recruiter knows this, and checks in with the prospect monthly for 9 months. Each month, the prospect says they are still trying to "work it out" with their current company. After 2 months of silence, in the 11^th month, the recruiter calls the prospect, and finds out; they changed companies in the last 30 days, and went to a competitor. When asked "Why didn't you call me?" The prospect responds, "The other company called me every other week for the past 3 months! That was the first call I received after I finally decided to move, so I ran with it."

All of the recruiter's 9 months of recruiting did not even come to mind. During the 4 weeks the prospect made their decision in, the recruiter hadn't called. The recruiter had trimmed the prospect of their high priority list, like a distant cousin off of the holiday list, and lost the prospect to a competitor.

Keep in touch with your prospects, you never know when one will turn into a recruit.