I love my job. There I said it. I.LOVE.MY.JOB.
Not because its commission based, not because I get to start at 9.30am, I love my job because every day I get to indulge my slight obsession with the construction industry. If anyone had told me 10 years ago the construction of roads and buildings would be of interest to me I would probably have laughed at them. Now however, my weekend strolls around London town with my partner involve a game of ‘Spot the construction banner’, I even have the poor bugger texting me companies on his commute home. I think it’s safe to say that’s borderline case for being sectioned. I have always loved recruitment – not because of the reasons you probably think however. I don’t get off on ripping people off, I’m also not a money hungry, morally repugnant human…..no I love recruitment because I enjoy finding people work. Simple as. I also like being rewarded for the immense amount of effort I put into this. I also enjoy changing people’s minds about the industry I am in. There are a couple of things about me that make me slightly different to your archetypal recruitment consultant and let’s face it you all have your own preconceived opinion of us. Some of my favourites have included the greasy haired pretty boy, the pouting idiot with a landmark first name, the failed estate agent or the individual that has ‘no qualifications in anything else’. I’ll have you know recruitment is a hard job! Before I get on my high horse however the difference between me and your preconceived ideas are simple. I don’t see myself as a ‘sales person’ per se – when I think of a salesperson I usually get the same feeling that I get when I think of a giant spider or a plate of liver. I do not enjoy having a sales person call me, I detest the completely insincere “How are you” pleasantries and even more so I hate the round the houses approach of telling me why they are calling me. JUST SPIT IT OUT! And when they call me ‘maam’…..well I completely lose myself. So based on these pet peeves I make damn sure I am not one of those people. Now before I upset the very people I have just said I don’t want to be like let me just say, some people will like that approach, some people enjoy being asked how their day is and if you are given the 30 second window to ask all the pleasantries then knock yourself out. From my experience the longer you babble and don’t get to the point the quicker your potential target has decided they hate you. Clients tell me I’m wrong here.
I hate sales pitches with a passion, probably the main reason being because I am absolutely pants at them – I end up sounding robotic or even worse I can’t read my own writing and end up spluttering like an idiot…. worse is the awkward silence where you discreetly try to hang up the phone so it looks like you’ve been cut off. Oh come on we have all done it! So with the sales pitch out the window I tend to rely on old fashioned manners, a genuine tone and a bit of spontaneity….basically I wing it and hope that the prospective client on the phone gives me 10 seconds to impress them. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t but at this point the only thing I’m trying to sell you is me. Recruitment is a crazy rat race and sometimes the only way of getting yourself in the door and away from the pack is to stand out. Some of my most loyal clients have suggested perhaps pouting may bring in more business – a swift slap usually shuts them up. My point here is that when I call you out of the blue and you don’t know me, yes I am undoubtedly after your business. I don’t make a habit of calling company directors just to heavy breathe at them…but when I do call you the first time please don’t just assume I am the same as everyone else. I’m not. It hurts my feelings. Really it does.
One piece of advice to fellow consultants which I have found to be a complete life saver is to just be honest. When you have to go through hell daily to get past gatekeepers trained in the art of ruining your sales targets why make harder work for yourself when you do get through? I mean you battle your way through, tell the receptionist you are the dentist calling regarding Mr Smith’s root canal appointment ( I have actually done this I admit) and when you get through to Mr Smith and he inevitably knows you are not the dentist you fall apart. When Mr Smith asks you if you are a recruitment consultant please stop saying “Well no Mr smith actually I’m a specialist search consultant working across London and the South East looking to find out whether my company can assist you in the sourcing of exceptional staff either now or in the next few months” – Mr Smith isn’t an idiot – you’re a recruitment consultant. Just say YES! Yes I am a recruitment consultant. For goodness sake you aren’t a baby snatcher, you don’t kidnap baby animals for a living– you get people jobs. Every director and his brother knows our game – why can’t we just all play nicely together. When Mr Smith asks me if I am in recruitment I say yes – much to the dismay of my managing director – what can I say, I am untrainable. Look the fact is my job is to find superb candidates new work opportunities and for this I need ‘yes’ saying clients who genuinely have a need for these people in their business. No schmoozing, no vomit inducing sales pitches just a good old fashioned chat with a solid actual real life candidate who needs a job.
For me sales pitches and the hard sell are outdated and in my opinion only reinforces the negative opinions surrounding sales people – if you are reading a script chances are you aren’t comfortable with what you are saying and the caller on the other line will know this. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve rolled my eyes when I receive a head hunt call – you can hear the paragraph pauses. Don’t be a robot, speak what you know and what you believe – this will speak volumes to the person on the other end of the phone and may actually give you another 2 minutes to prove you are the one they should be dealing with. You may not have hundreds of clients but you will have the ones who say YES.
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