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One Approach to Generating New Business In Today's Economy by Nelson Abreu Sourcing new business opportunities has never been easy. Factor into consideration the state of the economy combined with widespread corporate layoffs and generating business from new clients requires much more than just cold calling. It demands new approaches, angles, or good old-fashioned creativity. Here's one method that won't require a paradigm shift in practice but rather a slight change in approach. Typically, recruiters take the best candidate(s) they have on file, create a dynamic 10-20 second promotional pitch summarizing the candidate's background and achievements, then begin telemarketing managers to discover staffing leads and earn the opportunity to prove themselves. While this approach eventually tends to reward the most persistent recruiters, it's a "numbers game" approach and requires a lot of motivation because quite frankly, it's a hard sell. The fact that the market is increasingly being flooded with recent lay-offs makes it an even harder sell. Digging for business during an introductory conversation is like trying to hit a home run on a first date, hence the "numbers game". Introductory phone calls should be just that, an introduction. The purpose is to build rapport and to get to know the prospective hiring manager. You don't need to get very creative to find the perfect reason to introduce yourself either. Take one of your existing searches and call up a manager or executive from a target company for a referral. There's your introduction. Simple! The majority won't provide a referral but that's okay because now you have them on the line and its time to get creative. Your mission is to ascertain their requirements and offer solutions. For example, ask how their company is fairing in today's economy. If they've let anyone go recently, then let them know you might be able to assist in their career search. The worst that will happen is you'll end up with a couple more contacts and you'll cast a different impression than the "don't call us we'll call you" type of recruiter managers hear from too often. On the other hand, if their business is doing well they very well may need you in the future. Schedule your follow up calls. If your conversation seems to be going well and you really want to make the most of your call ask your new contact if they would like to be kept in mind for future opportunities. If so, find out a little bit more about this person so you'll recognize the right opportunity when it comes across. At this point, it really helps your credibility if you were asking for a referral on a management or other senior level opportunity at the outset of your conversation. Naturally, they'll be more enthusiastic about cooperating if this is the case. If you can pull this off, you will complete in one phone call what it takes most recruiters to do in three. A recruit/referral call was accomplished at the outset, you learned of their hiring needs and then established a new contact for potential new business. After all this you will also have left a lasting impression! Manager RecruitersCafe.com |
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