B.D was something I always feared. Speaking to candidates is something you naturally expect...but speaking to potential new clients....I had to extra prepare myself for.
Before jumping in, I gathered my bricks so that no gust of wind could knock me over.
Challenge 1 – Speaking to the decision maker!
I ask myself, ‘How do I first get to speak to the correct decision maker and not get ‘fobbed’ off’
Before I stepped into the world of recruitment, I listened to so many podcasts and audio books on sales and recruitment and kept hearing the word ‘the gate keeper’ and boy I now know the challenges of getting past the gate keeper and actually speaking to the right person.
Boy these gate keepers are good!!
This week has defiantly made me re-evaluate my approach when picking up the phone and how to adjust my ‘opening speech’ depending on if I’m faced with a gate keeper or the decision maker. I’ve had to be creative, think outside the box but never lie!!
Challenge 2 –Objection handling
Yes, I’ve made it through the gates now what objections will I be faced with?
Fee’s
I Don’t use recruitment agencies
Internal recruitment only
Who knows??
At first this was a super scary thought. ‘how am I going to objection handle these especially fees, my hands are tied and certainly cant go down 6% from our base percentage’? I quickly found that this was the main objection to handle! Off to the drawing board I go…..
Result got an idea, instead of waiting for the dreaded question ‘how much are your fees’ I'll showcase how great we are, what you get from us, how we are different to all the recruitment agencies, industry knowledge on market trends and what we deliver.
So here we go, pick up the phone
ME: “Hello can I speak to ……..”
THEM:“Who’s calling”
ME: “It’s John from Quad”
THEM: “Ok let me see if he’s available! …....**SILENCE** Yes he is I'll transfer you.”
HERE WE GO!!
Conversations going well, he has active roles that I could absolutely fill quickly, great feedback from what we offer then BOOM the dreaded question…….
THEM: “What’s your fees?”
Take a gulp and go for it!!
ME:“My fee is ……”
** get ready for the push back and here it comes**
THEM: “oh that’s a lot higher than other agencies I work with”
Gosh I can do this, I’ve gone through so many times in my head sell the positives, you are a specialist in the industry, and you know what you’re talking about and you know where and how to find the perfect client fit for their company.
THEM: “Ok send me your terms and I'll get them signed"
WAIT, WHAT? Did he really say that? Yes, he did! BOOM first terms sent, signed and roles in to work!!!!
Doing business development, is a scary thing, you're cold calling and asking people to put their trust in you to fill an extremely important role. You’ve definitely got to be confident, know your worth, sell the positives of bringing them on as a client and identify their pain points by sharing your industry knowledge but most of all pick up the phone volume brings opportunities and opportunities bring success.
So it turns out that the BIG BAD B.D isn't so big or bad in the end.....
.png)
.png)
.png)
