Advice given to people should change with the times. The answer to “How can I be a successful consultant” has changed in the last year or two and more than ever if you are serious about getting into, or staying in, the recruitment industry then you need to become brilliant at sales; specifically new business generation.
At this moment companies are being ever more careful and cautious regarding how and where to spend their money. The practical result for consultants is that there are fewer companies spending and those that are need even more reason to do business with you than before.
I was going to outline a number of different business generation routes in this article but preferring always to write detailed rather than shallow articles I have opted to focus on one area. . .
Vertical Market Specialisation
If you don’t have a vertical market that you specialise in then fast track your recruitment career and get one. One of the universal factors in every top biller I have ever seen is that they verticalise. If you this isn’t practical for you, perhaps you run a temp desk offering a certain candidate type to any industry then consider doing the below in a specific geographical area. The principles are then the same.
1) Realise this is a marathon not a sprint. It might take weeks of consistently calling to work your way through even a medium-sized industry. That’s okay because you are looking to develop long-term, consistent, business
2) Prepare before you phone. Specifically consider how you are going to introduce yourself, your company and your services. What objection handling lines and techniques will you use to the objections you can imagine coming up; the company isn’t recruiting, they have no budget, they have a preferred suppliers list etc
You might only get one shot at a decision maker within a particularly company so you want to be prepared to deliver powerful lines that will get their attention.
3) Get a list of companies in your chosen industry and call all of them. You will find that a lot of them are too small or for other reasons unsuitable as clients. That’s okay. You can’t prejudge companies accurately without ringing them at least once. So ring everyone.
Trade associations are great sources of members lists and do remember the classic source of sales calls – the phone book. There are several online versions which can again produce a list of potential companies in a handful of mouse clicks. These days there is simply no excuse for not being able to generate a good target list for a sector.
Online business directories have a place in the world but approach with caution – of all the methods of generating lists they, particularly the free ones, tend to be the least accurate.
On that point please realise that every target list ever created had some dud companies on it. The information is always going to be out of date so expect that and prepare to have to be flexible when you ring. Companies merge, change name, shut down all the time. Your target list is simply a starting point.
Now the really important part. . .
4) Have a diary system that makes you money – After you have rung your companies ensure that you keep accurate records; who you called, what was said, contact numbers, email addresses, whether they are a potential client now or in the future etc
The really important part is to then record in your diary system when you are going to call them again. It could be as soon as tomorrow if you failed to reach the decision maker today. Equally it might be six months from now when their merger is expected to be finished. The when you ring them again I leave you to decide.
Old school professional sales people will recognise the above technique – sometimes called the day book system – every day a sales person opens his day book, see’s who they have to follow-up and call them. By continually putting the details into a diary or day book system everyone gets called back and real business gets generated on the second, third or later call back as you build up a relation with the client.
Business you find on your first call is luck; business you find on your call backs is sales!
There are certainly other things you can do to develop your vertical market but I trust the above has given you something to get started with.
Consider the benefits of apply the above – your sales manager will love your proactivity, you might find business simply waiting to be called and lastly you will definately develop a network of industry contacts, who if you call regularly, will give you business!
That’s got to be a good thing!
Until next time; be successful
Stephen
Trainer, Coach, Public Speaker
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Coming next on edenchanges.com – Fight Club!
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