Business Development Calls - My Tips & Tricks | Recruitment Professionals

Hello everybody, welcome back to my current subscribers and welcome to any new people I've got watching my video today. I've chosen the subject of today's video because I feel it's a pretty hot topic at the moment and something that a lot of consultants are not tapping into for a number of reasons but it's something that can really help you expand your desk and bring in more clients. So I wanted to make that the focus of this month's video and that is going to be all about business development calls. Now at the moment, in the UK anyway, we're in a situation where there is a massive influx of jobs and a candidate shortage so in terms of business development there's a lot of opportunity to pick up jobs but as we all know there's loads and loads and loads of recruiters all going after similar clients and it means that we're up against a lot of competition so it's really about making ourselves stand out from the crowd because we want to be the person that these prospective clients pick to work with because it is all about the relationships we have and a lot of the time that is why the clients pick us because they like us, they've built a relationship with us. So at the moment, and I've seen it on LinkedIn, I've seen hiring managers post about it, they are being inundated with emails, speculative CVs, LinkedIn messages but not calls. So the one way to make yourself stand out at the moment is to pick up that phone. Now I believe that the best approach to business development is a varied approach because the people we're trying to contact, unfortunately at the start we don't know much about them so we don't know what their communication preferences are, we don't know how busy they are, where they tend to be, have they got their phone a lot or are they on their computer a lot, so it's quite hard to judge what's going to work for each person and a one-size-fits-all approach is also not a great idea because again it's not going to work for everybody. So I wouldn't recommend only trying to call people because you're missing out on the benefits of LinkedIn recruiter or basic LinkedIn if you've got it and emailing as well. So a varied approach is the best way to do it in my opinion. That way you're trying different things, you're reaching out to different types of people in different ways and you'll find the way that works for each prospective client. So in no way am I saying in this video drop all the ways that you do business development, you must only pick up the phone because that wouldn't be the right thing to do. Now when I started in recruitment all those years ago we only really made calls, that was what we did. We just picked up the phone to people. LinkedIn wasn't the same back then and you wouldn't have used it in that way and clients did not appreciate things like specking out CVs, it was not a thing to do. So now there's so many different ways that you can network with these clients and now we're coming out of the COVID restrictions you've even got things like networking events that you can do. So there's so many different ways but calling is something that I started doing early in my career and people seem to now neglect that in favour of doing anything that involves their keyboard. Like I said earlier the way we stand out is our personality. We're individuals, there's loads of recruiters, there isn't another one of us. But it's really hard to get your personality across in text form because how the message is perceived, that is in control of the reader not you. You could spend ages writing a message and think that it sounds really positive, laid back but that person could take it in a completely different way. When you're speaking to somebody you've got things like your tone of voice, you've got the words that you use and although you might be speaking on the phone you can tell little things like when somebody's smiling or when they're in a good mood. Now you can also do these things on Teams, there is also a video call option on LinkedIn. So you have got that option where you can have that face to face contact and really pick up on people's body language. So you've got that to help you build a relationship with these prospective clients. So I've gone over why I think it's a great thing to do, now I'm going to share with you some tips, some things to help you when you're going to start making these types of calls and it will help you build up your confidence as well. If you don't have a direct contact number for whoever you want to call you are more than likely going to have to go through a switchboard and that will mean dealing with the gatekeepers which some people find scary initially and I totally understand that, it's an unknown thing but if you do it in the right way eventually it won't bother you speaking to gatekeepers and you'll be able to skilfully build relationships with them and get through to the person you want to speak to. The key really is being open, being transparent but also putting the time and effort into building a relationship with them. Little things like taking down their name or asking what their name is if they don't give it and making a note of it in your CRM so the next time you call you can call them by their name. If that person isn't the person on reception just by name dropping somebody that you've spoken to before that different gatekeeper may look more favourably on you. So little touches like using names and asking those names makes them feel valued and it's polite as well. If they ask why you're calling don't make something up because the likelihood is you're going to get caught out. If they ask if you've spoken before and you say yes and you haven't if they then go and check with that person you're going on the blacklist so be really careful as well that gatekeeper may be sitting in the same room as the person that you want to speak to. So if you're having a bit of a difficult and awkward conversation and you're riling up the gatekeeper they may hear it and that's not going to come across well and this person may even have some involvement in recruitment so you want to be putting that effort in. Bring something to the table. If you are calling about a candidate that you've got for a role that you've seen their advertising for tell that gatekeeper, say the reason why you're ringing, bring something to the table of value so they can pass that message on and you're much more likely to get put through to that person. You also want to try and get some information from this person, a direct number, an email address or just when they're going to be available and when would be best to call back. If you don't get put through but you come away with something I would never think that that's not been a successful call. It's great. The nicer you are to them, the friendlier you are, the more you invest in the relationship, the more likely they are to give you that information. So I can't stress enough that you need to treat them as if they are a client. If you do get put through or if you've got a direct number and you get straight through to the person you want to speak to you need to make the most of the time you've got with them because it could be limited. So I would make sure that before you make any calls you do a little bit of preparation. This will really boost your confidence as well. So make a note of some of the questions that you want to ask so you don't forget. You've got little prompts if you get stuck at any point. Make sure that you've had a quick scan over what the company do. You've looked at the person you want to call on LinkedIn. You've sent them a connection request. You may have already connected with them but make sure that you've done a little bit of prep before you make that call to make sure that you're not caught out at any point. You don't need to spend all day on it but just a quick scan over a few things, jotting down a few questions that you can have in front of you will really really make the difference. When you are in that call it's really all about gathering information. So you want to be asking as many questions as you can to get relevant information that you need. What you are trying to do essentially is identify a problem so you can provide a solution. So ask the questions you need to identify that problem and make sure that they're open questions as well. So what, why, where and how questions. So ask things like what are their current recruitment processes? How long does it take for them typically to fill their jobs? How long does it take the agencies they currently work with to fill the vacancies? What roles do they tend to struggle to fill? What is the cost of those roles being left open for that long? Asking things like what projects do they have coming up? How many people are currently in the team? What are their growth plans? When do they expect to need to recruit again? What are the plans for the team? There's loads of questions you can ask and it can be dependent on the niche you work in as well. Those types of questions will find those sweet spots, those problems, where you can come in with the solution which is to work with you and for you to help support them in their recruitment plans. Now it's all well and good asking the right questions and gathering information but you also need to listen. I know it's hard because quite often when you first start making these types of calls you are a little bit nervous and you ask a question and then your mind automatically reverts to, oh my god, what am I going to ask next? That's where prepping can help you a bit but really try to listen to what they say so you can hear and spot the opportunities. If you work in an office where you have the opportunity to record your calls I would recommend that you do that so you can make less notes, focus more on what they're saying and then listen to the call after and make more detailed notes to put into your CRM because that will mean that you are less worried about writing things down and thinking about what you want to ask next over hearing what they're saying or really listening to what they're saying. If you hear something that you think, I need more information on that, go with the flow of the conversation and probe them on it. You may have some perhaps questions that you need to cover up but you can come back to those. Don't go in with your pitch or your sell too early in the call, wait until you've identified those problems and then you can do that. Of course you need to introduce yourself at the start but keep that short and sweet and then get into the chat, get into the conversation where you can really build rapport, show your personality and then towards the end when you've got the information you need you can pitch in your full services and why they are relative to the issues they've got. Rapport building is really important in these calls. You need to show your personality and remember these people you're speaking to are no different to candidates. You will be having light-hearted jokes with your candidates, you're going to be really putting the effort into adjusting and adapting to their personality, moulding to them to build that relationship. This is the same. If they mention they've been on holiday or they've had a busy week, don't ignore it, have a chat with them about it. Give some information about yourself, open up to them so you can connect on a different level. These are the little tidbits that you can make notes of in Firefish, Vincherry, whatever your CRM is. So next time you call you can bring them up and you can chat about them and it makes you more memorable. They will remember your personality if you've had a great chat over somebody that's robotic and just been firing questions at them with no level of conversation. Be your authentic self. I touched on it at the start, I always say this, the people that I coach and train are probably sick of hearing it. You are the only version of you, so your personality and your authenticity is the way to stand out from the crowd. So utilise it, don't be afraid to be yourself in these calls. Bring something of benefit to these calls as well. If you've got some fantastic candidates that you're working with at the moment, you're having a chat with this hiring manager and they have a shortage of that kind of candidate, talk about some of the candidates that you work with, pitch them in as the solution. Really bring something to the table, whether that's your knowledge and expertise, some of the candidates that you work with or whether that's a process you can help them apply to improve their own recruitment processes. Don't just settle for basic information, be really inquisitive and half the time these people love what they do and enjoy talking about it. So the more you probe and show an interest in the company, what work they've got on, the types of roles they have, they're going to see that you actually have a passion for what you do and you care about getting this information. So don't just settle for the basics, really dig deep and probe. Think about your tone of voice because that is important. If I was going to just talk in my videos like this, you wouldn't be very interested. You would switch off, you would think, God, Kate doesn't care about what she's talking about, I'm not listening to these videos. Clients and candidates, bear in mind, clients think the same. So if you are picking up that phone and you're hunched over like this and you're talking really quiet and really nervous, they're going to pick up on it and it's not going to go down well. So be aware of your tone, your body language and how you feel before you go into a call as well. And if you do feel very nervous, your confidence is affected and you feel that you won't be able to put that across in your tone of voice, there are some exercises that you can do to help you. One of which I find works really well is writing down the things that are making you nervous. So it could be the fear of rejection, not being put through, the gatekeeper being rude, the hiring manager putting the phone down, write them all down in a list and on the right, write down what you will do if these things happen, contingency plans as such. You don't know those things are going to happen and the likelihood of them all happening is very slim, but it's just putting your mind at rest that, okay, if the gatekeeper is rude to me, this is what I'm going to do. And then you've got a backup plan for every scenario so you feel more prepared and organised. There are a few other things that you can do to boost your confidence. If you would like more help and tips with that, just get in touch with me and we can have a quick chat. Think how you felt before you made your first ever candidate calls. You probably felt just as nervous and now look at where you are and how you just pick up the phone with ease. That's how you will feel eventually about picking up the phone for your business development calls, because it just takes practice. It just takes making it a habit. Eventually you'll get to a point where you won't think twice about it. Of course there will be the odd call where it might be really important and you might feel that extra bit of pressure. I still get like that myself. I never get a little bit nervous about some of the calls, but you'll feel a lot better and you won't be putting them off as much. Think back to how you felt about those first candidate calls and what you did to cope with the nerves and anxiety around that, because that might help you with this. Don't take any rejection that you get personally either, and it is going to happen. It takes persistence and resilience. If you go through to the gatekeeper and they don't put you through the first time, I would not be giving up at that point. That's normal actually. You need to keep going, invest in building the relationship with them and try other things as well. Try the hiring manager on LinkedIn, try emailing them, as well as trying to get through on the phone. So it's that persistence and resilience that's really, really important. If you get straight through to a hiring manager and they haven't got time to talk to you or they say immediately they've got a PSL, again, don't give up. Just because they've said they've got a PSL doesn't mean they actually have, and even if they do, when is that PSL up for review? How are the agencies performing on it, for example? There's always a way you can create opportunity out of any call. So don't look at any rejection as a negative. Treat it as a gift, a way to create an opportunity, and then think of what the next steps are for you to continue to try and build a relationship with these clients. I could talk all day about business development. It's what I love to do. I absolutely love training people on this subject, but I'm not going to keep you on this video all day because it'd be incredibly boring for you. So if anybody's intrigued, wants to know more, wants some help with making business development calls, or if you've got a team of consultants who are scared to pick up the phone, feel free to book a chat with me through my website or you can contact me on LinkedIn. We could have some brainstorming. I can help you put a bit of a strategy together and we can talk about maybe some of the training I can help you with as well. I'm really looking forward to hearing your feedback on this video. Please leave comments below. I will catch up with you next month. Please remember to subscribe if you're new to my channel and I will speak to you soon.