6 PRO Sales Tips for Agency Recruitment Professionals (phone focus)
As I share in today's DG Recruit Podcast Ep 122, the other half of a headhunter's job is SALES.
Without reqs and clients, even if you have the best candidates, you can't monetize them because you need firms to pay your big ole fees.
Thus, we all know - the other half of our job -- SALES -- is critical to master.
Here are my 6 top tips as a global top-billing full-desk direct hire headhunter*:
*If these terms are foreign to you, make sure to sign-up to dandanzhu.com to understand our industry more and tune into the podcasts.
#1. Give a shit 💩
So many salespeople treat KPIs as drudgery. They only hit up clients and dial because they have to and they're measured on it.
I'll tell you this much: if you can barely be bothered to do the work you have to do to get rich, you won't get there at all.
That means, you have to FIGHT for your right to speak on calls. By giving a shit, you can actually stand your ground and have the toughness and courage required to tackle client calls.
This is a humungous competitive advantage because MOST salespeople do not care about the sale and you can hear it in their voice.
Just by giving a shit and conveying that through tone and through fighting to stay on the phone (more on this later), you will automatically jump to the top of the salesperson pile.
#2. Know your product inside and out 📚
Whether it's the req details, salary bands for certain levels, key industry terms, compensation factors that exist in your market (RSUs, options, equity, base, bonus, multipliers, 401k match numbers etc.), you better be ready to talk shop.
You have NO IDEA what your client call is going to sound like until you're actually on the phone with them. Out of the 1 million directions your call can go, know one thing:
These minute details can make an impact on your client conversations and you can impress them with your market mastery of reqs, recruitment process/scene, and candidate drivers. Know your shit.
#3. Know where they're at in the sales cycle and act accordingly.
Find out where your customer is at. The best way to do this is to prep a SHIT ton of open-ended questions.
No amount of open-question prepping is more than you need.
You should have clear word tracks for customers UP and DOWN the spectrum of passive to actively seeking a recruitment partner.
When the sale kicks off, you won't have time to go back to your notes so prep, prep, and prep for any scenario of where you customer is at so you can lead them to the right action point and next step accordingly per your EXPERT opinion.
#4. Leverage the SHIT out of the MPC
Your MPC (most placeable candidate) should be so damn convincing that it drives a VERY good conversation that establishes credibility, unity, and mutual respect and desire to consummate some type of future (or current) agreement.
Make your MPC as irresistible as possible by telling a story and knowing every possible human detail about them - their drives, their location, their family life, their painpoints, their relationship with you, tell their story and catch the audience's attention so they know you're serious about business since you have the product (awesome candidates).
Recommended reading: Check out Kindra Hall's Stories that Stick to up your communication game.
#5. Keep them on the phone for AS LONG AS POSSIBLE
In order to become besties with your customer, ya'll actually need to talk. By hopping off the phone easily, you're giving this chance to some other recruiter who won't give up easily.
I was that recruiter. Everyday, I played my own little sales game: HOW LONG can I get this person to speak with me for? I'd try to max out every conversation with small talk, personal notes, and get VERY deep into their psyche and worm my way into their hearts.
This is essentially what PROs do the JUNIORs don't do. Pros know: it's all about likeability. If your client likes you, you'll win. You can't be liked if you don't actually build a relationship!
You can't build a relationship if you don't have longer conversations!
#6. Act like a PRO
Pros know what sales terms are. You should know your rates and terms down pat. That means rebate periods, that means pitching retained and working your way down to exclusive, do what the pros do.
If you don't know how to sell like a pro, tune into the podcast for more word tracks and the playbook on how to properly do it. Or, you may need to seriously consider moving agencies because your bosses should be top-billers and know this stuff already.
In the meantime, sign up to dandanzhu.com where I release tons of free information and what I have available for you to leverage.
Best of luck out there & drop me a line on what works best for you in terms of top phone sales tips!