The Challenge

Kellie Barker and her colleague Erin are the two people responsible for managing all candidate communication at ADTC. When inbound volume spikes at the start of a campaign, that used to mean spending most of the day in the inbox.

"Most of my day I was spending four or more hours just in there answering, answering, answering."

The tool they were using was Sakari. It wasn't built for this kind of volume:

• Lost messages. Candidates would go unanswered with no record of the gap.
• An inbox that didn't scale. Ten messages per page, no way to filter what needed a response, no "needs response" view.
• No automation. Every qualifying question had to be answered by a human. That meant at peak, messages were sitting 15 to 24 hours old at the end of the workday.
• No HubSpot integration worth using. Everything had to be done manually, outside of their CRM.

The result was a two-person team trying to manually work through hundreds of new candidates per week, while also trying to run calls, qualify candidates, and keep the pipeline clean.

At their busiest, they were two days behind for a full week.

The Solution

ADTC moved to Salesmsg and integrated it directly into their HubSpot workflows. The manual first-contact layer disappeared. Here's how the process works today:

1. A candidate clicks an ad
2. A HubSpot workflow automatically creates the contact, sets an owner, creates a deal, and enrolls the candidate in a Salesmsg AI bot
3. The bot asks five qualifying questions: age, background and drug test eligibility, work history, and licensing requirements
4. Candidates who don't qualify are politely screened out automatically
5. Qualified candidates receive an intake form and a prompt to schedule a call via Google Calendar
6. Calls are conducted through the HubSpot integration or the Salesmsg app
7. Kellie and Erin monitor the inbox for stragglers, candidates with specific questions, or anyone who says they don't want to talk to a bot

The bot handles the repetitive first stage. The team handles the conversations that actually need them.

"We use Sales Message for our phone calls as well through HubSpot. Most of us do it through HubSpot. We do use Sales Message to call them. Some of us will just use the Sales Message app. I kind of prefer it that way."— Kellie Barker, ADTC

Core Features Used

• HubSpot workflow integration for automated enrollment
• AI-powered SMS bots for qualification screening
• Five-question knockout sequence with conditional exits
• Automated intake form delivery
• Calendar integration for interview scheduling
• Outbound calling through HubSpot integration and mobile app
• Unified platform for SMS and voice communication
• Analytics and specialized inboxes
• "Needs response" inbox for exception handling

"If Sales Message disappeared tomorrow, we'd be freaking out. It would be like constant all day, every day. A total breakdown of what we do."
— Kellie Barker, ADTC

The Results

Response Time Cut by 90%+: Initial contact to form completion or call scheduling dropped from 1-2 days to 1-2 hours. Candidates now receive immediate responses instead of waiting days for human reply.

4 Hours to 30 Minutes Daily: Manual screening work decreased from over four hours per day to 30-60 minutes monitoring for exceptions. The AI bot handles hundreds of repetitive conversations automatically.

Unified Communication Platform: Recruiters handle both SMS screening and phone interviews in one system, eliminating tool-switching and maintaining complete conversation context from first text to final call.

Flexible Calling Options: Team members choose between calling through HubSpot integration or the Salesmsg mobile app based on their workflow preferences, with all calls logged automatically in their CRM.

No More Backlogs: During peak campaigns, ADTC previously ran two days behind for entire weeks. Now they stay current even when processing 500-700 candidates weekly.

Higher Quality Candidates: Good candidates who won't tolerate slow responses now make it through the process. Fast engagement keeps them interested and prevents them from accepting other opportunities during delays.

More Forms and Calls Scheduled: Immediate qualification and form delivery increased conversion from initial contact to scheduled interview. Candidates remember what they applied for because the process happens while interest is fresh.

Reduced Negative Interactions: Candidates stopped calling ADTC a scam or getting angry about slow responses. The professional, immediate interaction created better first impressions.

Strategic Time Freed Up: Kellie now creates and optimizes bots, streamlines company processes, and focuses on growth initiatives instead of spending all day answering the same five questions.

"The time difference is huge. Now there's so much more time to create the bots that we use and do other things within the company to help us grow and make things more streamlined."
— Kellie Barker, ADTC

Business Impact

• Eliminated multi-day response backlogs during peak campaigns
• Consolidated SMS and calling into single platform, reducing tool complexity
• Dramatically improved candidate experience and conversion rates
• Freed recruiting team to focus on high-value phone conversations with qualified candidates
• Scaled candidate processing without adding headcount
• Created sustainable operations that handle volume fluctuations
• Reduced recruiter burnout from repetitive manual work
• Enabled flexible calling workflows through HubSpot and mobile app options

"Before, I was spending four or more hours just in there answering, answering, answering. And even so we would still, at the height of a campaign, have messages at the end of the day that were like 15 to 24 hours old waiting for reply still."
— Kellie Barker, ADTC

Conclusion

ADTC recruits for clients who need skilled people in tough roles. There's no room for a slow follow-up. Candidates decide in hours, not days.

Salesmsg gave a two-person team the ability to handle hundreds of new candidates per week without burning out or falling behind. The bot qualifies. The inbox stays clean. Calls get scheduled the next day instead of four days later.

That's not just faster. That's a completely different operation.