Calling the Right Person at the Right Time and Saying the Right Thing
Longing for the glory days?You know, that golden time when clients were fighting for talent, and your earnings seemed to increasemonth by month.Economists may be just starting to admit it, but we saw the economy move past "slow down" long ago. In aslow period the simple fact is there are, and will continue to be, fewer positions to fill. In light of thisreality, what can we do to maintain earnings?
To thrive in today’s economy, co
nsultants need to execute assignments with greater precision.
Every action taken
–
from client prospect call to candidate recruit call
–
becomes magnified for the veryreason that there are fewer marketing opportunities available.Quantity still counts, but now the quality of your calls will have significantly greater impact to yourearnings.
It’s time for us to make a fundamental mental shift from salesperson to consultant.
Consultants ask the hard questions and listen carefully to answers.Consultants find solutions and solve problems.Consultants do their homework first.Therefore,
before
you pick up the phone to make your next marketing or recruiting call, do a littleresearch.
Make sure you’re ready to say the right thing to the right person.
Le
t’s take a closer look at new client acquisition
-- the client cold call.1.
Calling the right person.
Who is the right person to call? Successful consultants know that the primary contact is the hiringmanager to whom an open position reports. A second poi
nt of contact could be the manager’smanager. Only as a last solution, might you call the department’s human resources person (as least
initially).
As you’re aware, speaking with the wrong person will get you nowhere fast. Just think about the
times you made a perfect presentation to a subordinate or a department assistant. Your cover is
blown, decreasing your chances to get to talk with the hiring manager. To insure you’ll be speakingwith the right person, obtain the hiring authority’s name
and
position title before making yourmarketing call.
2- At the right time.
When is the right time to call? A consultant recognizes that the best time to call is when there is aproblem to be solved or need to be filled (i.e., an open position). The exact timing of your callshould occur when the hiring manager is available to speak (i.e. break in his schedule). In fact, you
can learn of the hiring manager’s availability by calling into the department and asking themanager’s assistant his/her schedule for the day.
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