Headhunting:
Headhunting refers to a proactive targeted process whereby a recruiter targets a particular market or group of companies, identifies appropriate potential candidates in those companies, and then approaches them directly to hopefully get their interest in the position.
Cold Calling:
In personal selling, Cold Calling is the process of approaching prospective clients, typically via telephone, who have not agreed to such an interaction. The word "cold" is used because the person receiving the call is not expecting the call or has not specifically asked to be contacted by the salesperson. It is often very frustrating and difficult for those making cold calls because they are often rebuffed, hung up on, and rejected by those receiving the calls.
Cold-calling is used in many venues outside sales— the term applies to any situation where one person calls another person or organization without a prior relationship— headhunting firms, for instance, are notorious for this practice.
Some salespeople have come to the conclusion that cold calling is ineffective, inefficient, and a waste of their time.
However, there are two ways in which cold calls can be effective. One is for the selling organization to start with a high quality, up-to-date database consisting of qualified prospects that have an interest in the product being sold. The other way is to use cold calls as a "step in the door." Rather than using the call to try to close a sale, it should be used as the initial contact in a long-term relationship. This has the effect of removing the sales pressure from calls and making the goal of the call to build trust. Cold calls can also be used to obtain quality sales leads, references, and testimonials.
Cold calls can also be done in person rather than over the phone, but this is rare because of the high cost of face-to-face sales calls.