Candidate Re-Engagement and Pipeline Nurturing

Sense requires a sales conversation before you can start — it's not a self-serve signup. This is normal for ATS-connected tools.

1. Go to sensehq.com
2. Click Get a Demo or Contact Sales
3. Fill in your name, work email, agency name, ATS platform (Bullhorn), and approximate database size (number of candidate records)
4. In the message field, write: "Looking to set up automated re-engagement campaigns for past candidates. We use Bullhorn. Want to confirm integration and see a live demo."
5. Expect a response within 1 business day

What you should see: A calendar link or email from a Sense rep to schedule a 30-minute demo.

Troubleshooting: If you don't hear back in 2 business days, follow up at support@sensehq.com or call their main line. Sense has active sales reps — slow response usually means your form went to spam.

During the demo, your Sense rep will walk you through the platform. Come prepared with these questions:

1. "How does the Bullhorn sync work — one-way or two-way?"
2. "Can I segment candidates by date of last placement, job category, and geographic market?"
3. "Can responses from candidates flow back into Bullhorn as notes automatically?"
4. "What's the compliance situation for texting candidates — do we need opt-in consent captured in Bullhorn first?"
5. "What's the typical time from contract signing to first campaign live?"

What you should know before proceeding: Sense texts go out under your agency's name (or your direct line, depending on configuration). Make sure your agency has candidate text consent recorded in Bullhorn — most reputable agencies capture this at application or placement. If yours doesn't, flag this with your manager before running any text campaigns.

Once you're contracted, Sense will schedule an onboarding call with their implementation team. This is where the Bullhorn connection is established.

1. Join the onboarding call (typically 60–90 minutes)
2. Provide your Bullhorn API credentials when prompted — your Bullhorn admin can supply these (Settings → API Access)
3. Sense will run a test sync to confirm it can read candidate records, job records, and placement history from Bullhorn
4. Confirm which Bullhorn fields map to Sense's key fields:

   • Last placed date → used for segmentation
   • Job category → used for targeted campaigns
   • Mobile phone / email → used for outreach delivery
   • Opt-in status → required for text compliance
5. The implementation team will confirm the sync is live before you proceed

What you should see: In the Sense dashboard, a "Candidates" tab showing records pulled from Bullhorn. The number should roughly match your Bullhorn database count.

Troubleshooting: If the sync count is much lower than expected, the most common cause is that many Bullhorn records are missing a mobile number or email address — Sense can only reach candidates with contact data. Your Bullhorn admin can run a data quality report to identify gaps.

The power of Sense is targeted re-engagement — you don't blast your entire database, you send to carefully defined segments. Start with a small, high-quality segment for your first campaign.

A good starter segment for most agency recruiters: "Candidates placed 6–18 months ago, same job category as your current open reqs, local to your market."

1. In the Sense dashboard, go to Audiences → Create Segment
2. Set filters:

   • Last placement date: Between 6 months ago and 18 months ago
   • Job category: Select the category matching your current open reqs (e.g., "Light Industrial" or "Administrative")
   • Location: Limit to your metro area (city, state, or zip radius)
   • Status: Active (not currently on assignment)
3. Review the count — for a first campaign, aim for 200–500 candidates
4. Name the segment: "Light Industrial Re-Engagement — March 2026"
5. Click Save

What you should see: A segment with a candidate count and a preview of records included.

Troubleshooting: If the segment is very small (under 50), broaden the date range (try 3–24 months) or remove the location filter. If it's very large (5,000+), add more filters to narrow it — large first campaigns are harder to manage when responses come in.

Sense sends multi-touch sequences. For a re-engagement campaign, start with 2–3 touchpoints: an initial contact, a follow-up if no response, and an optional check-in.

1. In Sense, go to Campaigns → Create Campaign

2. Select your segment from Step 4

3. Name the campaign: "Light Industrial Re-Engagement Q1 2026"

4. Add Touchpoint 1 — Text message (Day 1):

   Copy and paste this

   Hi [First Name], it's [Your Name] from [Agency Name]. We placed you at [Company]
   last year — hope it went well. We have some new [job type] openings coming up that
   match your background. Are you open to hearing about them? Reply YES or NO.
   

5. Add Touchpoint 2 — Email (Day 4, if no reply to text):

   Copy and paste this

   Subject: [First Name] — new openings in [Market]
   
   Hi [First Name],
   
   I reached out by text earlier this week — I wanted to follow up by email
   in case that's easier.
   
   We're staffing for several [job category] roles starting [timeframe] in [market].
   Based on your experience with [last placement company], you could be a strong fit.
   
   Would you be open to a 10-minute call to hear the details?
   
   [Your name]
   [Agency name]
   [Direct phone]
   

6. Add Touchpoint 3 — Text (Day 8, if still no reply):

   Copy and paste this

   Hi [First Name] — last reach-out, I promise. If you're not looking right now,
   no worries at all. If timing changes, call me directly: [your number].
   — [Your name], [Agency]
   

7. Set send times to business hours only (Sense does this by default; confirm it's enabled)

8. Click Review and then Activate Campaign

What you should see: A campaign status page showing "Scheduled" with the send dates and candidate count.

Troubleshooting: If the personalization tokens (like [First Name]) show as literal brackets in the preview, the Bullhorn field isn't mapped correctly. Go back to the integration settings and confirm "First Name" maps to the Bullhorn first name field.

When candidates reply, their responses route back to you — either in the Sense inbox, via Bullhorn notes (if the integration is set up for it), or to your work phone number (if Sense is configured to forward texts).

1. Set your response routing in Sense Settings → Notifications:

   • Enable email notifications for new replies
   • If available, enable auto-create note in Bullhorn when a candidate replies
2. When a candidate replies "YES" or expresses interest:

   • Open their record in Bullhorn
   • Call them within the same business day — warm leads cool quickly
   • Treat this like an inbound inquiry, not a sourcing cold call
3. When a candidate replies "Not right now" or similar:

   • Mark them as "Not interested" in Sense so they're removed from this campaign
   • Log the contact in Bullhorn so you know they were reached
4. When a candidate replies with a question (about a specific role, pay rate, etc.):

   • Respond personally — don't send an automated reply
   • Transition the conversation to phone

What you should see: Within 48–72 hours of the first text touchpoint, responses will start arriving. For a 400-person segment, expect 40–80 responses (10–20% response rate), of which 10–25% will be actively looking.

After the full sequence runs, review what worked.

1. In Sense, go to Campaigns → select your campaign → Analytics
2. Note:

   • Delivery rate (were messages successfully sent?)
   • Open rate (emails opened)
   • Reply rate (candidates who responded)
   • Interested rate (replied YES or asked about roles)
3. Compare to your typical LinkedIn sourcing: how many warm conversations did this campaign generate vs. the time it would have taken to generate the same number through cold outreach?
4. Adjust the message sequence for the next campaign based on what had the highest reply rate