Running a client intake call

The intake is where a search is won or lost. Half an hour with the client or hiring manager, with good questions and good notes, saves weeks of sourcing the wrong people. It works the same for agency clients and for in-house hiring managers.

Before the call

• Make sure the notetaker will join. Check the meeting in Upcoming and switch it to Taking notes, or when the call starts, choose Join a call in Conversations and paste the link.
• Tell the client the call is recorded and what the notes are for. With Tell everyone the call is recorded on, Emoti tells them too.
• Read what you already have: the client's website, any job description they sent, and similar roles you've filled.
• Send a short agenda so the client comes with answers: the role, must-haves, process, pay and timing.

What to ask and capture

Shape the call around what the brief needs. These follow the sections of the Hiring manager intake template:

• The role in one paragraph: what will this person own in their first year, and what does success look like?
• Must-haves: what can't they do without on day one? Push for things you can check on a profile.
• Nice-to-haves: what would make someone stand out?
• Where to look: target companies and backgrounds, and companies or people to stay away from.
• Interview process: the stages, who interviews, what each stage tests and who makes the final call.
• Selling points: why would a strong candidate say yes, and what's hard about the role?

Also capture the pay range and how firm it is, location and workplace setup, headcount and the start date. Ask the client to name someone they'd hire tomorrow, from anywhere: it's the quickest way to calibrate.

Use the template and Ask afterwards

• Check the note was written with Hiring manager intake. If not, choose it from the Template list on the Notes tab and Emoti rewrites the note.
• Read every section. Where the note says something wasn't discussed, that's your follow-up question for the client.
• Use Ask about this call for details: "What are the must-haves?", "What does the interview process look like?" or "What's the budget?". Answers quote the client and link to the moment.
• Send the client the notes by link and ask them to confirm. Agreeing in writing now saves arguments later. See Sharing notes and collections.

Turn the intake into a brief

1. 1.Write the brief in a few plain sentences: role and level, location, the must-haves, the nice-to-haves and where to look.
2. 2.Paste it into What should we work on? on Home. The agent replies with a plan and prepares a sourcing search, and it can draft outreach and an AI screen for you to review. Or describe the search directly in Sourcing.
3. 3.Check the criteria: the client's must-haves should be marked Must have, and everything else nice to have.
4. 4.Review the first batch against what the client told you, and walk the client through the first few shortlisted people before outreach starts.

For more on wording the brief and calibrating the search, see Writing a brief that finds the right people.