Business Development with clients

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Permalink Reply by Maren Hogan on June 3, 2008 at 8:51pm

Tina,

My system is far from perfect, let me tell you. I try to call at least 4-5 times at diff times of the day before I leave a msg. This can backfire because I also HATE it when people do that to me. Hello? Caller ID? But I also try to "touch" clients by using direct mail, messaging, gifts, email, newsletters, sending them info that could help them (should def know the business they are in and what tech or tools they are using). I have started trying to leave video links they can click on. I think if you are better face to face, this really helps connect. But the most important rule is also the hardest: don't get discouraged!! If you have to leave a fun bit of trivia or tell a joke (sans punchline natch) every week to get them to call you back, at least you've made them smile and you are more memorable than the next ten recruiting firms that angle for their business.

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Permalink Reply by Tina on June 3, 2008 at 9:02pm

What do you tell the client when he says I don't want to deal with recruiters..... How to break the ice?

Any ideas....

Most of the time the gatekeepers only pick up the phone and will not transfer saying manager will call you back and then no one calls...... How to deal with it ...any ideas

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Permalink Reply by Maren Hogan on June 3, 2008 at 9:20pm

Well, first of all get the correct mgr's name from zoominfo or spoke or something. Second, ask him why. You might not get that sale, but I have found that honesty works better than many think! Try
"You know, I hear that a lot. Can you tell me what it is about professional talent acquisition that turns you off?" and then provide some choices:

-are they getting non-competitive pricing
-are they in an exclusive with another firm
-have they had bad experiences with a firm before
-do they not need the help?

There must be some reason. If they respond with information that can help you shape your value proposition and your marketing efforts, it's worth sending them a 10 starbucks card and a thank you note!

THEY will never call YOU unless you have a personal connection. Have you tried walk in cold calls. The toughest rejection ever but also the best sales ever. Worth thinking about? It is harder to ignore a call from someone who you have crushed in the lobby

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Permalink Reply by Tina on June 3, 2008 at 10:02pm

Thanks for all the advise. What do you mean by walk in cold calls. Also you suggest that the best way for them to call us back is to send them Starbuck card.

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Permalink Reply by Maren Hogan on June 3, 2008 at 10:17pm

You're welcome.

I suggest to send them a starbucks card after they have taken their valuable time to respond to questions you can use to craft future messages. Also a handwritten thank you card never did anyone harm! :)
I mean like if you work in a specific local region, you can cold call by walking through the door of the brick and mortar establishment.

Tina, best of luck. I hope some of these work for you!

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Permalink Reply by pam claughton on June 4, 2008 at 9:53am

Tina,

I actually love this part of the job! What kind of recruiting do you do? Perm or Contract? At the large agency I used to work at, the temp/contract group would do some in-person cold calling, where they'd go to an office park or building and just go door to door and drop off brochures. We never did that on the perm side because it just wasn't an effective use of our time and the feedback we got was that it wasn't well received, hiring managers felt it was intrusive.

For perm cold calling, what has worked really well for me is to make less calls, but really well targeted ones. If you call a company and they tell you they have a policy of not using recruiters, don't try to overcome that, just move on. There are far too many companies that do use recruiters, so focus your efforts on that 'warm' market rather than trying to convert uninterested parties.

Do you have a particular niche that you focus on? One thing I've done that worked amazingly well was to send emails to people I thought might be hiring managers. I did a test run of 8 emails, where I just introduced myself as someone who focuses on senior level product management and marketing searches. It was very short and sweet, and from that initial 8 emails, I immediately got three new clients, a candidate and a month later, a $28,000 placement.

Another very effective way to get new clients is to use Indeed.com and search on local openings at companies you'd like to work with. Use linkedin and google to figure out hiring manager or recruiter contact names, then call and introduce yourself and a great candidate who matches the opening. This tends to give better results than a generic introductory call with no real 'call to action'. Having a hot candidate that fits an open need tends to create curiosity to at least learn more.

Another key way to get into new clients is to always be gathering applicant leads. Every time you talk to your candidates ask them where else they've been and if it was through a recruiter. General rule of thumb is if they are interested in and still pending for the job, you do not call and try to get it. Once they are out of the loop or not interested, then you call with a candidate who fits and as long as you are confident, you'll likely get a shot at the job. This is by far, the easiest way to get into a client that you know works with recruiters, has an active need and has potential to be a good client. This is how I initially got many of my first clients.

Timing. Timing is everything. One of the clients from my intial email blast got back to me to say he wanted to work with me, but I didn't actually get a job order until a few months later when he had an approved req. But, he had my information from the email.

Voicemails can be great too. One thing that has worked really well for me is to call very early in the morning, so you know they are not there, and leave a short sweet voicemail usually following up an email, "Hi this is Pam, just a quick message to followup the email I left yesterday about my Java software engineer. He lives in Burlington and is a star, I'd love to see if we can discuss his background." Or something like that....anything really. But, calling early in the morning means they get it when they come in, and will often respond at that time, before their day gets busy and you are an interruption...this way, its on their timetable. I'd leave a message like this once a month or an email once a month, mix it up, as long as you somehow 'touch' them once a month so you're top of mind. I recently sent an email to most of my contacts updating them on a change in my email address, and got an immediate job order from it..."Oh, your timing is perfect, we just had a new search open up, can you help us?"

Good luck!
Pam

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Permalink Reply by Tina on June 4, 2008 at 10:50am

Thank you Pam and Maren for you help

We do both permanent and contract.

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Permalink Reply by Darlene Komorowski on June 8, 2008 at 12:29pm

Hi Tina,

I would work on getting brand awareness in the market place. I have received two well known clients from the Agency Recruiting Firm Portal that I created. www.recruitingfirmportal.com

I was a Corporate Recruiter for PricewaterhouseCoopers for 4 years and you will be pleasantly surprised by how much they need this Portal.

Start advertising today: http://www.recruitingfirmportal.com/recruiting.php

Let me know if you have any questions

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