You know your staffing and recruitment services fit the bill, but if you’re under-prepared for business development calls, blocked by gatekeepers, or not making the most of conversations with decision makers, how will your prospects know? Shane Wheeler, Marketing Communications Executive, explores five MORE tips from our company’s Business Development (BD) team to help you reach more decision makers – and have more meaningful conversations when you do…

Be prepared!

Always know who you’re calling and what their business is. If you’re regularly using your recruitment software to record information obtained through calls and further research (and, why wouldn’t you?), you’ll have a wealth of information at your fingertips – so be sure to allow for a few minutes of revision before making that next call. Whether you speak directly to this foreknowledge or not, your prospect will most-likely appreciate your confident approach and ability to understand their business a little more each time you call. – Kylie Lamper, BD Manager

A clear vision

What are you looking to achieve from the call? You’ll probably have a long list of calls to make on any given day, but avoid simply ‘checking them off’ for little gain. Have a clear goal in mind and make sure the contact knows you’re calling with good reason. If you have news or a real offer to make, get to the point in a clear and concise way, don’t waffle. If the purpose of your call is more ‘routine’, think of an angle to make it sound anything but. Your prospect probably hears “Do you have any hiring needs at the moment?” all too often, try “Which skills does your business most need right now?”. – Kylie Lamper, BD Manager

Love thy gatekeeper

Day in, day out, gatekeepers take a lot of cold calls from pushy, insincere salespeople who simply view them as an obstacle to overcome. As a result, their ‘default setting’ can be one of habit to end those calls ASAP. Indeed, in the introduction to this very blog, gatekeepers are referred to as ‘blocking’ your calls – but perhaps that lacks empathy. There’s a real person on the other end of the line, not just a gatekeeper. If you’re warm, friendly and mean it, they might just warm up to you and connect your call to the decision maker. This may take time of course, but your genuine appreciation of their work and sincere effort to be different might just be rewarded. – Sam Monks, BD Manager

Two ears, one mouth

As the adage goes, ‘two ears, one mouth’ – it’s best to use them that way. Listening is key to understanding your prospect’s requirements and offering the best solution. Once you have a decision maker on the line, it can be tempting to ‘reel off’ all the great aspects of your service, but take a breath, ask genuine questions and, especially if they open-up about their business needs and aspirations, listen carefully. Practice ‘active listening’ whenever you can. Always remember to repeat back key parts of the speaker’s comments, helping reassure them you have listened and understood; and helping you manage this information and position yourself as a viable supplier – Sam Monks, BD Manager

Keep in touch

Don’t let the good work you have done fade in your memory (and your contact’s memory) by failing to keep in touch. Use your recruitment-specific CRM to record the details of all conversations and set yourself invaluable reminders to follow-up. Build real relationships upon those initial fact (and thought)-finding conversations. – Kylie Lamper, BD Manager

If you’d like to learn more about how your company’s recruitment CRM software can help manage the sales process from one screen, contact us today!