Cold-calling people you do not know, especially for candidate sourcing, could be a big time-waster. Instead, apply the "low-hanging fruit principle of selling" as your sourcing strategy - call your existing candidate database first. These are people you have worked with earlier and have a good relationship. Make sure you get 2-3 high-quality referrals on every call. The ability to get high-quality referrals is often the secret behind recruiters who are highly successful and considered experts or extremely professional. You need to pre-qualify every referral and only call those who are worthy. A great referral will call you back if you mention the name of the person who referred her. By focusing on your existing database first, you at least know that you are calling people who are good and who will call you back.