System of Getting New Clients

hi, this is my first blog post ever. I have been a recruiter for 9 years, and business development has always been somewhat of a challenge. I'm sure everyone reading this has heard that you need between 6-20 contacts in order to develop a client. However, other than simply marketing a candidate or decribing/marketing my services, I have never been able to develop a true ongoing system to communicate with prospective clients. While I know that marketing candidates is effective, I'm looking more for a systematic approach I can execute on a daily basis (ie. maybe a softer sell approach). I don't think every correspondence should be "buy from me".

Any thoughts of effective client marketing system?

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Permalink Reply by Ari Plitnick on March 20, 2009 at 4:28pm

I've heard that sending articles of interest to clients can be helpful. I haven't done it myself, but maybe someone could comment on it.

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Permalink Reply by Toni Rankin on March 23, 2009 at 3:29pm

I try to have a schedule of calls that I map out in advance. The first call is to find out something about the client and let them know I'm out there and maybe email them some info. The next time I call it would be to follow up on the info I sent. The third time I see if I can get in to see them. I haven't tried to sell them anything yet. There might be a couple more calls to get an appointment, or a call to follow up after a meeting. Then I will touch base regularly, market a candidate here and there.

It doesn't work with everyone, but I find that most clients don't mind taking my calls once I've proven - several times - that I can chat with them without trying to sell them something. If nothing else, they get to know me and when they do have a need, I'm the person they call.

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Permalink Reply by Gino Conti on March 23, 2009 at 4:17pm

Debbi -

I've been on both sides of this fence, and it wasn't that long ago when I was the one making the calls so I remember what you're going through quite well. Being on the receiving side of the calls now has given me a bit of a new perspective, though.

Take this with a grain of salt if you will as it is just my opinion, but I agree that for many clients a softer sell is going to be more effective for developing a relationship for a few reasons. First and foremost, many firms are not hiring right now, so calling to market a candidate may well get you nothing but a hangup. Even when times are good many corporate recruiters and hiring managers don't appreciate being sold anything if they aren't necessarily in the market to buy. As such, although I don't recommend the candidate marketing call for all customers, reserve this for a prospect that you know is looking to hire. Try to have a candidate who is in the right ballpark for the position in question, and it may generate further conversation.

That said, I still don't recommend this as your general approach. I personally appreciate it much more when a prospective supplier calls me armed with a good knowledge of what my company does, how we do it, and what type of employees are in our various locations. It seems very elementary, but one might be surprised how many times I get calls from people who apparently have no idea what my company does. I get phone calls almost weekly marketing manufacturing engineers who live (and want to stay) in Southeast Michigan since I work for a car company. Unfortunately for them, our closest plant is in Tennessee.

Having this background information is paramount and you shouldn't pick up the phone to make a sales call unless you're sure of what they do in each location. Again, this is very 'sales 101' of me, but it is the most frequent error of those who call me. Beyond that, frame the call around your desire for future partnership understanding that the prospect may not have the budget or need for new hires right now. Set a mutually agreeable date for a call back and actually make the call. If you continue to do this without begging for business, it will prove you have a sincere desire to work with the company on their staffing objectives.

Beyond this, have several options available if possible. Being a flexible service provider will make you a better option than some of the one-trick ponies out there. If you offer a robust enough service, you can develop the newly formed relationship until you become part of the company's human capital management strategy.