{"id":5431,"date":"2016-04-26T09:00:01","date_gmt":"2016-04-26T16:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/recruitloop.wpengine.com\/?p=5431"},"modified":"2023-05-12T11:35:50","modified_gmt":"2023-05-12T18:35:50","slug":"recruiter-tips-its-time-to-lose-the-script","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/recruiter-tips-its-time-to-lose-the-script\/","title":{"rendered":"6 Essential Sales Tips For Recruiters"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have trained thousands<\/em> of recruiters in my time. So I would like to think that I know what works and what doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Recruitment is sales.<\/a><\/p>\n

There. I said it.<\/p>\n

Sure it\u2019s about helping candidates get jobs; or finding the best talent for employers. But when all is said and done (and whether we like it or not) as recruiters we are all in the game of sales.\u00a0And that in itself often comes with a bit of baggage, a stigma, a reputation \u2026 I\u2019m sure you get where I\u2019m coming from.<\/p>\n

Over the last few weeks I\u2019ve been doing some “back to basics” training with our own sales team. I’ve also been spending quite a lot of time myself\u00a0doing hands on sales\u00a0\u2013 something I love doing but at the same time it’s been a process that for me has really reinforced the synergies between the role of a recruiter and that of a sales person.<\/p>\n

Free Guide:<\/strong> Download these 7 simple recruitment strategies that you can take back to your desk to ensure you're a successful recruiter. Download Your Copy<\/a><\/div><\/div>\n

After all, just think of all the touch points when as a recruiter we are truly<\/em> in a sales mode:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • On every prospecting call;<\/li>\n
  • At every client meeting;<\/li>\n
  • Every time you\u2019re \u2018showcasing\u2019 a candidate to a client;<\/li>\n
  • Every time you\u2019re promoting a position to a candidate;<\/li>\n
  • Gosh even when you\u2019re asking for help from a colleague.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    For the purposes of this particular blog post, I\u2019m going to focus on our interactions with clients<\/em> (let\u2019s leave dealing with our candidates and colleagues for another time!) and so I will share exactly the same tips that I did with our own sales reps\u00a0earlier in the week. It\u2019s all about losing the S.C.R.I.P.T.<\/p>\n

      \n
    • S<\/strong><\/span>teak knives aren\u2019t necessary<\/li>\n
    • C<\/strong><\/span>ut the \u2018Canned Responses\u2019<\/li>\n
    • R<\/strong><\/span>obots can’t build trust<\/li>\n
    • I<\/strong><\/span> need to meet my KPIs<\/li>\n
    • P<\/strong><\/span>lease help me hit my target<\/em>!<\/li>\n
    • T<\/strong><\/span>rust me \u2026 I\u2019m a recruiter<\/em>!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      1. Always\u00a0sound credible<\/strong><\/h2>\n

      When you\u2019re calling a prospective client for the first time, you can’t\u00a0sound like the voiceovers on those hideous TV commercials.<\/p>\n

      You know the ones \u2026 trying to flog a vacuum cleaner that can suck up a tenpin bowling ball; or some contraption that practically guarantees to give you a six-pack during the ad break; or some freaky \u2018kitchen whiz\u2019 that can whip up a 3 course meal while you\u2019re vacuuming tenpin bowling balls around the house!<\/p>\n

      Nobody\u2019s going to believe you if you sound like someone who\u2019s about to ask for credit card details or a money order now to get a set of free steak knives thrown in. There\u2019s a huge difference between sounding professional, articulate and credible as opposed to sounding overly salesy.<\/p>\n

      No matter what you may have been told from your \u2018powers that be\u2019, if you approach your calls with the expectation that someone will actually agree to \u2018do a deal\u2019 with you on that first call, then you\u2019ll only be letting yourself down. It\u2019s not going to happen. Build trust. Be genuine. And throw away the steak knives.<\/p>\n

      2. Avoid\u00a0clich\u00e9d or rehearsed statements<\/strong><\/h2>\n

      Avoid Canned Responses at all costs. If you\u2019re not quite sure what I\u2019m getting at here, a \u2018Canned Response<\/em>\u2019 is a Google Mail feature that allows you to insert pre-formatted content you create into your messages.<\/p>\n

      It\u2019s an amazing<\/em> feature \u2026 for emailing<\/em>. But you need to be careful that you don\u2019t sound like you\u2019re just \u2018inserting\u2019 pre-determined phrases into your phone calls that have nothing to do with what your prospective customer has said or asked.<\/p>\n

      Overly salesy recruiters have a tendency to just rapidly fire off statements or phrases (often ones that appear on their company website or brochure) without listening to a single word the person on the other end of the phone is saying or asking.<\/p>\n

      If you really fill your sales pitch with a series of clich\u00e9d or rehearsed statements, you might even get hung up on! So stop thinking about what you<\/em> want to say next and actually listen to what your potential customer is saying. It might even result in a two-way conversation and not a sales pitch monologue from you.<\/p>\n

      3. Build trust. Don’t\u00a0sound like a robot<\/strong><\/h2>\n

      It often comes down to the simple fact that nobody will ever buy anything from somebody they don\u2019t like or trust. And the key to gaining a prospective client\u2019s trust is to build rapport.<\/p>\n

      Anyone can pick up a phone and dial a number. Anyone who dials enough numbers will eventually get to speak to someone. There\u2019s plenty of technology out there that can even do\u00a0the dialling for you.<\/p>\n

      But as we all know it\u2019s what happens after the prospect picks up the phone that matters. As I mentioned earlier, if your only objective is to close the deal, or if you baffle your prospect with bullsh1t, it\u2019s never going to happen. A robot can dial a number. A robot could even repeatedly recite a series of facts. But a robot can\u2019t build trust, rapport or a long-lasting business partnership.<\/p>\n

      4. Believe in what you are talking about<\/strong><\/h2>\n

      Whilst you certainly don\u2019t ever want to come across as overly salesy, you also don\u2019t want to sound like you don\u2019t believe in (or worse still that you don\u2019t care about) what you\u2019re talking about.<\/p>\n

      It\u2019s damn hard to sound as enthusiastic on the 27th prospect call of the day as it was on the 1st one. But if you just sound like you\u2019re \u2018going through the motions\u2019, it\u2019s never going to work in your favour.<\/p>\n

      I used to encourage my recruiters to have a small mirror on their desks. And whilst I<\/em> may have sounded like a robot walking around the office saying \u201cremember to smile when you dial<\/em>\u201d, I\u2019m telling you it worked. If you look enthusiastic, and you look like you believe in what you\u2019re doing, that energy (and hopefully passion too) will come across over the phone. If you don\u2019t then it won\u2019t. It\u2019s as simple as that.<\/p>\n

      5. Never sound desperate<\/strong><\/h2>\n

      Then there are those recruiters who no matter how hard they try to mask it, they actually sound desperate over the phone.<\/p>\n

      Maybe it\u2019s the pressure of the KPIs or call quotas that gets to them, but it\u2019s not a good look when a prospective client\u2019s first impression is that you are begging<\/em> them to talk to you (let alone to buy from you) simply so that you can meet your numbers.<\/p>\n

      Listen to yourself very carefully when you\u2019re next on the phone. If all your phrases end with your voice going \u2018up and to the right\u2019 (as I like to explain it), then all your prospective client is hearing is \u201cplease?<\/em>\u201d, \u201ccan\u2019t you just give me one chance?<\/em>\u201d, or \u201csave me \u2026 I\u2019m drowning here<\/em>\u201d!<\/p>\n

      6. Being manipulative is never going to work in your favour<\/h2>\n

      Whilst you might (by some sheer fluke) succeed in getting some kind of verbal<\/em> commitment over the phone (potentially helping you hit your target), as soon as the call is over your prospect will have a chance to reflect and they will then most likely pull out of any deal, or just not go ahead with the \u2018order\u2019.<\/p>\n

      Personally my first reaction if I ever feel like a sales person in a store is pressuring me, or if I feel they are being a bit too suave is to run.\u00a0It\u2019s the same on the phone \u2026 only instead of running they just need to hang up.<\/p>\n

      So rather than coming across as \u2018too smooth\u2019, take the time to ask open ended questions and learn more about the person on the other end of the phone.<\/p>\n

      You might just end up working with them one day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Sure recruitment is about helping candidates get jobs; or finding the best talent for employers. But whether you like it or not recruitment is sales.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":9391,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[66,74],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n6 Essential Sales Tips For Recruiters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sure recruitment is about finding the best talent for employers. 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