Instantly, I can conjure up three reasons to support the claim of heroism for third party recruiters.

First of all, you have overcome being one of the 5 million or so Americans to continue to file for unemployment reimbursement after the recession ravaged approximately 8 million jobs.

Secondly, you most likely earn your income through pure performance.

That’s right. According to results from the Survey of Search Firms owners I conducted at Fordyce Forums 2007-2010 as well as RMAR.org owner/operators, more than 2/3 of the headhunters in the United States of America with more than 2 years of experience do not get paid a base salary; at all. So, you are probably a straight-commission “sales” professional that has learned how to execute in an extremely challenging economy to pay your bills. If you make placements often against rigorous odds and multiple obstacles, you survive. Fail to find a client company willing to engage your services and then identify the ideal candidate for them, and you perish.

As a “solo” operator of a search firm myself, I like to keep it simple so that my audience gets the message. No one is paying me except myself. If you are on your own, I am sure you feel the same way. Either way, your boss’ payroll is only as good as your last successfully orchestrated deal and invoice…once paid. In other words, in a society laden with excess baggage, executive recruiters carry their own weight!

Thirdly, and I believe most importantly, independent recruiters create jobs for Americans and help put people to work every day.  Sure, some companies rely upon us to “fill openings”; which in and of itself is a noble task. But what rarely, if ever, gets reported are the calls we make to prospective employers to create a sense of urgency for them to hire by exposing them to a gem of a candidate that is highly qualified to benefit their company. The bottom line is that “we”, the executive search and placement industry, significantly impact the economic efficiencies of our paying customer.

We survive because the candidates we uncover, recruit, and persuade to accept employment with our clients perform at the top ranks of corporate America. But due to the confidential nature of the relationships headhunters share with their hiring authorities and candidates, most executive recruitment activity never gets reported in the press or mentioned at the Monday morning meeting introducing the new, highly acclaimed employee. Add to it the fact that no one ever really thinks they need “us” until they do, and our industry lives on in virtual anonymity.

Despite over a decade of zero employment growth in this great country of ours, we move ahead. Our mere existence in an industry that has no growth and an increasing number of efficient, internet-based tools designed to couple job seekers and hirers at lesser costs is proof positive of our value and power. So, in honor of the freedom and independence we celebrated earlier this month, celebrate yourself, your role, and your contribution.

With the benefit of hindsight, the formula for successful networking with hiring managers is rather simple. You start by concentrating your attention on the best people in your industry. You get to know them professionally and, quite often, personally. You learn what they do and don’t do that makes them rising stars. You try to get opinions from people who know them about what makes them special and then discuss it with them.  In this way, you are developing relationships with both current and future hiring managers.

If you can create a connection when these people are happily employed and are not looking to change jobs, you build a relationship that could weather a storm for many years. Sooner or later, when they decide to look for new opportunities, you are there to help and advise. You build your rapport over a long period of time – someone with less than 10-15 years of experience in the industry is seldom senior enough to have influence in the hiring process.

So where do you begin?  Whom do you connect with? Be very careful in selecting members of your network. Concentrate on rising stars with whom you “click”. There has to be a connection at the personal level. Look for similarities such as attending the same high school or college, coming from similar small towns, an interest in sports and the like.   Then, over the years, you keep in touch by emailing them once a quarter or so, and make an attempt to meet them in person a couple of times per year (if possible). If you show genuine interest in what they do, the conversations tend to be rather easy and pleasant. The catch – it’s difficult to have a meaningful conversation with a rising star in any complex field if you are not an expert. So make yourself an expert. If not in the nitty-gritty technical details, then in learning who are the stars in your fields, where they work, what they do and what makes them special.

Information is key. Read all the industry publications you can get your hands on and every time you see an interesting story or article, share it with the people you are cultivating.  By being an expert in the people and companies in your field, you will be able to add valuable information to the exchanges you have with your rising stars. Very few professionals have the time or interest in doing the work it takes to really master this subject. As a rule, if you have an in-depth conversation with ten or more people working for a given mid-sized firm and you get them to tell you anything about the people around them, you will become an expert on that firm. This further encourages their belief that you are the only one capable of helping them.

There are challenges in maintaining these activities productively. You must work very hard at distinguishing the difference between Data and Metadata.

Data is resumes with their collections of education, firm names, project descriptions, technical skills, other keywords, visible progression of responsibilities and the like. Data is when a candidate describes to you their projects – what they did and what the results were. Data is when you collect lots of resumes or LinkedIn profiles and determine which candidates are open to the opportunities you have. Data is facts.

Metadata is the collection of opinions about all of these. You need to be as well informed about these as possible, and that gives you an edge and allows you to enhance your relationships with your rising star hiring managers. Metadata is knowledge of what are the best schools in your field at the Bachelor level and at Master level?  They may not be the same. What firms are the hardest hires? Who do they tend to select? Who can share with you internal opinions about various potential candidates? To what degree can you rely on those opinions? What do you do when you have multiple opinions that disagree? What are the hottest technical skills? To what degree do different firms have proficiency in deploying the latest technology that calls for these skills? What kinds of questions do you ask to ascertain if the candidates have these skills, and to what degree?

As your mid-level hiring stars progress in the field, you will be called upon to help them build their careers, teams, and eventually, their companies. By this point you should have a good idea of who the key firms are in your field, who are winning in the market place and who are losing. As your contacts’ levels of seniority rise they will become more and more interested in discussing their industry and where the various firms are in the competitive market place. Here again your research will pay off.

As you get more involved with your hiring clients you should become more aware of the organizational issues they are dealing with. What are the conflicts the organization is dealing with today? What problems had the organization dealt with in the past and how did they deal with these? What worked and what did not? In other words, to the degree possible, become an expert on your hiring manager’s companies.

How will this benefit you in the long run? In today’s ultra competitive recruiting environment, unless you have a sustainable edge you will be out of business soon enough. Lowering your fees is NOT a competitive edge – your competition from low labor cost countries has you beat on that one. Having a strong relationship with hiring managers where your integrity, your expertise in a competitive labor marketplace, knowledge of technological competitiveness, in-depth knowledge of what makes your clients’ firms and your clients individually tick – all of these constitute a high barrier the competition will have a hard time overcoming.

1. You must get your prospect’s attention. Nothing else matters if you do not gain their attention.
2. You must eliminate or at least not create a “reflex rejection” — an automatic negative response to your opening statement.
3. You must change the call from a monologue (you talk) to a directed business dialogue (they talk in response to your questions while you listen).

If you achieve these initial objectives, one of the following outcomes should be possible.

1. You secure an opportunity to provide a service, e.g. a search/ job order, contract assignment or consulting options.
2. You do not secure an opportunity to be of service at this time but determine when and under what circumstances to make a follow-up business development call/ contact.
3. You determine there is no need for your service now or in the foreseeable future. However, the prospect does have long-term potential and you lay the foundation for a future business relationship.
4. Although the prospect has no real potential to become a client, they may serve as a source of referrals or as a center of influence.

As important as the opening of your call may be, the manner in which you close it many times will create a more lasting impact on your prospect.

This is particularly true in those instances where you do not come away with an immediate opportunity to provide service. This is the outcome that most recruiters achieve on the majority of their marketing calls; therefore, it is imperative you know how to properly close the call.

The standard close is to establish a time and date for a follow-up call and to send/e-mail information about your company and services. In and by itself, there is nothing inherently wrong with this close. However, it is not memorable and certainly doesn’t separate you from the others who call and close in a similar manner.

Remember

The close of your marketing call provides an opportunity to offer value to your prospect in a unique and sometimes unexpected context.

The value I reference has more to do with your knowledge of those who function within your specialty than with your ability to put together a deal.

What most recruiters fail to appreciate is that starting with their first day in this business they are continually building a knowledge base consisting of names, contacts, company information, and industry specific intelligence, all of which have value under the right set of circumstances.

Perhaps the first time I realized this was when I overheard my five-year-old daughter tell a friend that, “My Daddy doesn’t know everyone but he knows people who know everyone.” Daily, over these many years, I am reminded of the truth contained in those words as I refer to my “Carefully cross-referenced network of contacts.”

Even though your marketing call is designed to elicit interest on the part of the prospect in using your services, many times that interest does not result in actual business. It’s in those situations where you need to know how best to use your knowledge base as a value-add when closing the call. Here are a couple of examples.

You have completed your directed business dialogue with the prospect, established a time and date for follow-up, and promised to send/e-mail information on your company/services.

“(Client’s name), keeping in mind that I am a recruiter who specializes in this industry, is there any particular background, skill sets, or experience that if I were to encounter a (name position title if appropriate) professional who possessed them, you would want me to call regarding their potential availability thereby providing you the ‘right of first refusal’?”

This marketing call close is one that we have used for many years. We’ve tracked our results when using it and consistently hit the following numbers.

Approximately, one in four times we have used it with a qualified prospect they identify a target for us even if it’s only to have the “right of first refusal.”

Approximately one in four prospects who identify a target for us, upon further questioning, indicate they are actively seeking someone like this at the present time (even when they had stated “no openings” earlier on the call).

When using this close, one in eight marketing calls that would have otherwise concluded without an opportunity for business, suddenly present that possibility.

That’s a statistically significant ratio that is also consistent for those recruiters we have trained to use this close.

Here is another marketing call close that can be used by itself or in conjunction with the above-referenced option.

“(Client’s name), from time to time you may have a problem, question, concern, or situation arise where objective third-party input would be helpful. When that occurs, even if it has nothing to do with recruiting, give me a call. I may not be able to provide the necessary input but, because of my carefully cross-referenced network of business contacts, the odds are pretty good I can put you in-touch with someone who can. Will you keep that in mind?”

Many times the prospect is surprised by this offer and may ask about its cost. I generally reply:

“It costs you nothing. What I’m trying to demonstrate is the potential value of using me as a resource.”

Although most prospects (hiring authorities) will not initially call me as a resource, almost all remember that I offered to serve as one. This comes up many times in my follow-up calls, particularly when I remind them of my offer. The key here is to be remembered, to be separated on a qualitative basis from the competition.
Most of our ongoing clients learn very quickly that we bring added value by serving as a resource. From “who do you know …” to potential merger or acquisition possibilities, serving as a resource for our clients has brought added value and strength to our relationship.

Remember

The best way to retain a client is to have them view you as absolutely indispensable to their continued success both as an organization and as a professional.

The most important element of achieving “indispensable” status with your clients is the consistency in which you successfully provide your services. However, knowing how to properly close your marketing calls can provide a very important first step to achieving that status.

These companies also ranked in the Top 10 on Newsweek’s 2009 Green Rankings List. This list identifies their exclusive environmental ranking of America’s 500 largest corporations.

Whether you are a small or large recruiting firm, I think it is equally important to show your clients and candidates your green credentials.

Green recruiting, essentially, is the sharing of your company commitments to the environment with the candidates you are trying to recruit, and it transcends whether it is for your own firm, or for your clients. After all, third-party recruiters are companies and we all must make an active contribution to the sustainability of global resources. We take our social responsibility very seriously and are acting because it makes us feel good and is the right thing to do.

As recruiters and companies, we should continuously seek ways to set and implement best practices which reinforce our commitment to a greener environment. In our business this may mean doing the following activities in our daily operation very differently:

• Fly less. Recruiting firms are choosing video conferencing to increase productivity and improve efficiency. Today businesses realize that videoconferencing is a powerful green technology solution. It can be used instead of travel, and will streamline the hiring process. High-quality videoconferencing can provide a realistic candidate impression that recruiters can utilize for a nationwide interview process. We have had clients also use videoconferencing to replace the first set of in-person interviews. Implement other interviewing ideas and techniques which allow you to more effectively evaluate and assess candidate interests, qualifications and cultural fit via telephone and Webcam (Skype). We’ve been able to reduce the amount of air travel to candidate interviews and do face-to-face interviews with the top finalists for a search project. This equates to less travel, less cost, and faster search project cycle time.
• Have candidates travel less. Invite finalists to visit you at the airport, scheduling multiple interviews on one target date whenever possible. Candidates never leave the airport (no rental cars and no ground transportation – dollars saved, reduced emissions, and no missed return flights).
• Strive to operate in a paperless office, and automate your recruitment process. You can preview and final edit all your documents on-screen. If you use a copier see if you can re-manufacture/recycle the toner cartridges. If you need to print, use recycled paper and create double-sided copies. Scan, transmit, and store documents electronically for instant retrieval. This creates a reduced need for file folders or cabinets (less office floor space required-smaller footprint), reduced energy requirements.
• Provide personal recycle bins for employees. Your kitchen supplies – everything from cutlery and plates to cleaning supplies can be eco-friendly. Substitute eco-friendly alternatives in your office supplies as well.
• Use fuel-efficient hybrid cars for your transportation services.
• Use working from home as an option for your team members. In the recruiting industry face to face meetings are still seen as the primary way to win business. Until we can get business in this country to buy-in to the idea of teleconferencing we will still continue to drive to client meetings and candidate interviews!

I recently saw an advertisement for GreenBizCheck – an environmental certification company located in Australia and New Zealand. Recruitment Extra, wholly owned by Thomson Reuters, a leader in publishing, is also teamed up with GreenBizCheck.

It caught my attention because they provide the recruitment industry with a “credible, practical environmental assessment and reporting program which provides firms with a world-leading, low cost, independent green sustainability programs” and certification packages offerings. Its website lists six recruiting organization partners and clients – all outside of the United States. Interesting!

For all of us in the recruiting world, the short-term corporate objective is to reduce our environmental impact by energy usage reduction policies, reducing reliance on paper copy, recycling of all possible waste, investing in green cars, and in carbon offsetting initiatives.

From a marketing/sales point of view, this could well be the difference between winning and losing future business.

Optimistic, perhaps, but it’s this sort of positive thinking that landed him MRI’s 2009 “Best-in-Class Consultant” award.

We recently chatted with him to learn more about what the MRI award means to him, his background, his views on our industry, his experience coaching recruiters over the years, and more survival strategies.

What did you do prior to becoming a full-time consultant to the recruiting industry?

I have always been an entrepreneur, and my first real experience was building a wholesale book distribution firm selling and merchandising computer books for computer retail operations. After that, I attempted the “employee path” in as close to a real job as I could, by getting a commodity broker’s license and selling Commodity Options over the phone.

That was amazing training, and it has influenced everything I’ve done since. It was also where I got what I call my real sales training. My first years as a consultant were kind of a smorgasbord of small businesses, but always focusing on improving sales performance, as well as improving the life and rewards the owner took from the business. It was actually six years after I started my practice that I sold my first recruiting client, back in 1993.

You were awarded Best-in-Class Consultant by MRI for 2009, and many of the biggest shops in the network attribute their success in large part to the guidance and support you give them. Yet you have never been a recruiter yourself. How do you help recruiters if you have never been one?

It’s funny. Back in 2002 when I was honored with inclusion in the recruiting industry’s top 100 most influential people, they got my profile wrong, assuming I’d sold a recruiting firm before I became a consultant. My ability to coach and consult is my real contribution, not my particular experience, per se.

Allow me to qualify. If I wasn’t a salesman and a businessman myself, I don’t think I’d be able to serve recruiters. In so many ways, the business of my practice and the selling of my services match the recruiting art such that no one has ever been able to challenge the relevance of my teachings.

I have always been able to help any client in any business learn more about their business and how to improve it. By teaching me their business, I help them build a completely new vision. My learning method actually improves the performance of my teacher, who is of course my client. That was true for all the businesses I served prior to finding recruiters, and was also true for all my early recruiting clients.

Interestingly, it took me six years to analyze enough of the recruiting industry itself from enough clients’ various perspectives to begin to feel I had an edge in my understanding of the business from those studies. That was in 1999, and there is a story I could share about exactly how the shift took place.

At that point I began to feel like I could see the industry as a whole, and that I was building an understanding that perhaps no one else quite shared. In the decade that’s followed, I have come to believe I have the best bird’s-eye view. Although it may sound arrogant, I believe that I’m one of the strongest analysts of the recruiting industry today.

Other than winning the Best-in-Class award, what other successes are you most proud of?

Some of my proudest moments are presented by the people I’ve served in their own words at my LinkedIn profile.

But let me tell you about two types of clients. One type of client comes to me, after many years of struggle and frustration, looking for the keys to open the treasure house that never opened up before. Typically, we focus first on his or her desk performance as a recruiter.

Then, with victories in hand, we move over into building leadership. The transformed operations of this kind of client make me smile to even think about.

The second type of client is the big producer who will do great whether they work with me or not. They often have long track records of top performance dating back years before we met. But they come to me because after having won so much, they bump their heads into glass ceilings that they can’t break. The sound of that glass shattering as we explode through previous limits is another thing that makes me excited when I get up in the morning.

How would you characterize your particular style of coaching?

I’m fast. I give each client 100% of my attention. Experiencing that alone is something everyone remembers afterward. It’s pretty rare, you know, 100% attention.

What I’m doing with all that focus is just one thing: I have to find the problem.

Well, at the same time, I have to find the strength. Sometimes you have to fight weakness; sometimes you have to target and release strength, or enhance it. In all cases, there are blocks holding clients back. I find those blocks and we overcome them. So, intense, focused conversation, white hot, really, is a very big part of the deal.

What makes it so effective?

Perhaps some context in the form of a model will help. I use three steps to might – “might” meaning your ability to explode your performance.

The three steps are simply “intellect, emotion, and decision,” but I think of these as “head, heart, and soul.”

When your head, heart, and soul are united in what you do, you’re unstoppably mighty. Let me say that one other way. Each person really does know the truth. They know who they are, and they know what they need to do, too.

But there are always things that make them miss. So our job is to find the intellectual and emotional truth that informs the best decisions and actions. My style is to zero in on those truths with a type of almost blinding speed.

The truth then guides everything else.

But maybe you’d like some pragmatics. Well, there is always something, just one thing, a truly pragmatic area of performance where immediate improvement will win improvement everywhere. We immediately search to find that area, and then we set daily targets for progress which we either win or lose. This can be executed, literally, from one day to the next. That rapid flow from discussion into action is the key to our pragmatic work.

You’ve been coaching recruiters for over 16 years. What advice would you give to someone just getting started or who is struggling in the current economy?

I have a series I am working on right now, Revolutionary Fundamentals of Recruiting. The first revolutionary bit of counsel I emphasize is recruiting in the morning, marketing in the afternoon.

This is contrary to common practice and the reason is quite compelling. It is the stories of great-performing candidates that best gets the attention of your hiring manager prospects. This requires that you pick a clear market niche to focus on, so I’d better give some quick counsel there.

The most important thing is that you be actually interested by the field of work of those you’ll place. You’re going to become the top expert in this field, and fast. But if it bores you, then that will slow or prevent your learning. Find something you’re actually truly interested in.

Are there any specific markets you recommend?

Don’t worry about the market, or market conditions. I know, that may make little sense, but it is correct. Only focus on what you’re actually interested in. Then, with that commitment in place, spend your mornings finding the best-performing, most interesting candidates you can, and make sure you build real, honest, heart-to-heart conversation.

To do that, you have to have your candidate’s best interest at the top of your concerns list. Then, in the afternoons, you’ll be presenting those stories to the executives who urgently require those very abilities. Last thing, in the afternoons, when you’re marketing, you tell stories to get attention.

But your first sales purpose is actually to shut up. That’s right. You speak only until you’re interrupted, and then your goal is to encourage your prospects to talk at least twice as much as you do.

So, by whatever means possible, you must connect, really connect with candidates and hiring managers?

Yes, any time you’re not doing that, you should be wondering whether you’ll make it as a recruiter. Every minute you are connecting with candidates and hiring managers, you should be absolutely certain you’re on the path to becoming the greatest recruiter in the world.

Timing? Market conditions? Hogwash. Pay no attention to that.

Simply be the one and only recruiter who will never go out of business, no matter what, and you’ll discover there is always need for your service, even when all the other recruiters around you are dropping like flies.

It’s the greatest job in the world, under any market conditions, if you only keep yourself constantly connecting.

If you are stuck in the days of selling the fact that you can “find” talent then you are spinning your wheels, or you soon will be. Clients are more demanding and HR leaders need to believe that you can provide value so that they prove ROI.

Everyone is using social media to build their networks and connect with more people in more ways and in more places than ever before. With information so easily available, almost anyone with a computer can become a “recruiter” and throw a resume, or 10, out to an HR manager in need.

But how does this create value?

The answer is that is doesn’t. It does not save time. Nor does it provide value in the form of a service that they do not have the ability to do themselves.

All of us are now expected to do more with less. Those business leaders who can find creative ways to partner with experts who can help them manage critical processes to improve their business will be the ones who flourish.

So what does that mean for recruiters and the firms who employ them?  If you can’t assess and screen talent, manage the scheduling, work through the offer stage, and creatively market your clients’ organizations then you had better learn how… and fast.

The truth is that we can no longer be recruiters because finding and presenting resumes is a small part of the process. It is what happens after that and how you can manage that process for others where you have the opportunity to make a difference.

How is value created?

First, we need to understand that this new way of recruiting is not just providing great candidates for the company to interview.

I know… I thought that was the goal, too: find the best people in the most creative ways and your clients will keep coming back.

This is the old way of doing business, and though it is working now and has for the last 50 or so years, just like Bob Dylan said “… you better start swimmin’ or you’ll sink like a stone for the times they are a-changin’…” He was right in 1964 when he wrote those words and they hold the same truth now to our industry.

I had a conversation recently with another prospective client and he asked me, “What makes you different from everyone else?” Every recruiting agency has a tag line to differentiate and every recruiter thinks they do things differently than all the others. “We are faster” or “We have a great network of candidates who are not actively on the market” or any number of other reasons, but guess what? So does everyone else and these are not setting you apart. They only confirm that you have all the same answers as those before you and can’t add additional value.

Don’t be fooled into thinking that you are different than others unless you truly are. It is different that is starting to matter, not just the perception of being better. And trust me…it is only that, a perception.

So what is the answer? I would not be so bold as to make the assumption that I have the perfect answer. What I can tell you is that if you can eliminate their need to spend time and money on internal process by engaging your services, then you are adding value.

It sounds simple, and most people think they are doing just that. But if a company has to use its resources to screen, interview, schedule, negotiate, and a number of other processes to finish your job…you better get your resume together. It will no longer be good enough to provide talent; you have to provide the talent and the process so that your client only has to do one thing.

We, as an industry, need to distress the comfortable and comfort the distressed; to start thinking in different ways.  The need to innovate and the willingness to step out of the comfort zone, where you have made a lot of money in your career, has never been greater than now.

There is a call to action and it is being shouted in the marketplace every day. But if we are listening to the same old rock ‘n roll and only reminiscing on what it used to mean, then we are not allowing the music to reach its full potential to change our lives or shape our futures.

Do not allow you and your organization to be paralyzed by the discomfort of change because you are holding yourself back from reaching the potential to add new value; your clients are noticing the shift, and so should you.

Your database is your most precious asset in this current sales economy, so managing it appropriately can exponentially increase sales and profits. We all must remember that your current clients are only as valuable as the quality of the relationship you have with them — quality judged by that client’s opinion of your relationship.

The old saying that your customers are always right (even if they’re wrong) still rings true.

Thank your customers for both positive and negative comments. Do all in your power to make them satisfied and happy, as your profits also improve considerably when customers stay on board for longer periods. The longer you keep customers, the more years over which these one-time costs can be spread.

Beyond the basic strategy of retaining customers by providing superior product and service quality are eight strategies for retaining clients:

• Always follow-up on your commitments. Be consistent in your approach and communications. Treat your clients with respect, honesty, and humor. They will see you reliable, credible, and trustworthy.
• Connect with your customers. Ask questions and find out what you share in common with your clients. They will remember you and this encourages a deeper sense of mutual understanding.
• Solicit feedback, input and references. Figure out when to ask how they feel about working with you, if they have suggestions for improving the working relationship, or outcomes. Don’t wait too long to gather this data.
• Information and resource sharing. Do you know of a good book that your clients might benefit from reading? Tell them about it. This is an easy way to build satisfaction and loyalty.
• Express your enjoyment. It’s easy to get caught up in the deliverables. This is obviously important, however, clients also want to work with people who enjoy what they do. The more fun you can have while providing strong outcomes, the longer your clients will work with you.
• Commit to becoming a resource forever. You are building relationships and let your customers know you will be around after the project ends. There is comfort in letting them know they can come back whenever they need.
• Ask your clients to partner with you in a marketing effort – create a seminar or industry presentation. These provide more opportunities to spend time with your clients and connect on a personal basis.
• Invite your clients to a special seminar or industry conference as your guest.

We also forget that is also important to spend time with your competition. Educate yourself on what they are doing in this competitive market, as it is very difficult to stay ahead. Stay focused and challenge yourself by coming up with new ideas to develop strategies in these areas.

This happens when we’re extremely frustrated or engaged with following many hot leads, and prospects who demand lengthy proposals, multiple meetings, conference calls, presentations, and references. It is this time when we need to be out there prospecting and focusing the key activities that produce new clients to ensure that a steady sales flow doesn’t suddenly disappear.

If you want to harness your organization to add more value, and engage with clients who are steadily reducing the number of firms that they are willing to do business with, aspire to the next level, which is trusted partner.

Tips for developing new clients:

• Do not fall into the trap of just doing twice as many proposals and presentations. Remember that you’re increasing activity to find more qualified prospects. Don’t waste resources giving proposals and presentations to buyers who aren’t ready to buy.
• Remember to use multiple prospecting techniques. Some will yield a high return, some a little, and some not at all. You cannot count on a “one size fits all” approach to sales, or a 100% close rate in sales.
• Turbo charging your activity means you must get organized, set priorities, and stop letting email and other distractions manage your day. It also means that you spend time making contact with prospects when they’re available and keep proposals and recordkeeping at night or at other nonproductive times.
• Increase the effectiveness of your presentation skills to deliver a great performance so you will be more memorable and separate you from your competitors.
• Bring value and credibility by doing your research about your prospective customer’s business and marketplace.

Top professionals know that prospecting is the key to selling. My list of top 8 strategy ideas for this economy includes:

1. Calling customers you have not heard from in six months or more.
2. Sending out a regular email newsletter.
3. Building and writing a blog. This may be time-consuming, however, it creates a way to connect with new users on your own website. Create useful contents such industry insights or how-to’s that keep prospects engaged and ultimately coming back.
4. Cold calls/voice mail messages. The average number of calling contact attempts before you actually connect with a prospect is 10 according to Jill Konrath, author of Selling to Big Companies. Your business contacts are busier than ever in this economy, and typically can’t handle one more thing on their schedule. So, your call should be a worthwhile interruption. Leaving a “gracious message” does not work. She suggests creating a script that will entice the “delete happy group” you’re trying to connect with. This means you must pay the price of admission and show that you have done your homework or research (looked at their website and report a result and call to action on your part, describe a success story that relates to the client’s industry), watch your language (avoid self-promotion, puffery, or arrogance), lead them to temptation, sound like a peer, and pique their curiosity. She even suggests leaving out your company name when you leave a voicemail message.
5. Leveraging media and new online technology using social networks as ready-made markets. Embrace Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook as part of your business-prospecting strategy.
6. Asking for direct referrals and introduction to prospective clients using your LinkedIn network.
7. Attending networking events, seminars, trade shows and conferences.
8. Offering a free white paper or eBook on your website.

In doing so, the sourcing and hiring comes secondary and without fail.

Additionally, I prefer using the term “providing a solution” vs. “providing a service.” We are ambassadors of our respective companies, who in turn provide a solution to our clients.

The solution is quality talent through a quality recruitment process. Below are several core objectives I use in building and maintaining my client relationships. I’m hopeful that in some way they can assist you as you strive to build strong, cohesive, thriving, and lasting client relations.

Know Your Product

What is your product? Your client is your product!

Far too often recruiters are ill-prepared when it comes to understanding their client.

What is their culture like? What services do they provide? What is their benefits package? What separates them from their competitors? What is the actual job description and requirements of the role? Where do they stand in the market? What makes them successful? It’s imperative to your success to know your client’s landscape inside and out.

Listen to Your Client

One vital key in building any relationship is knowing how to be a good listener. As a provider of solutions (talent solutions), we are considered subject matter experts (SMEs) in our field.

If we’re not careful, we have the probability to come across with a know-it-all mentality. What our clients need is the SME coupled with outstanding listening skills. We may think we know what our client wants, but if we’re closed off to truly listening to their needs and advising appropriately, we’re destined to fail at every step. We also short-change ourselves in being closed-off to a new idea and/or way of doing business. The old adage “less talking and more listening” is certainly apropos here.

Pick Up the Phone

Email is a wonderful tool. However, whenever possible, pick up the phone and speak one-on-one with your client.

Most clients welcome hearing a human voice on the other end, especially when you’re working on their behalf toward a hiring goal. Having a continuous dialogue in email can sometimes take the personal touch out of building a strong, lasting relationship with your client. Additionally, by speaking one-on-one with your client, you can avoid the back-and-forth of marathon emails as well as gauge your clients’ mood, reaction, and receive timely feedback, and if you’re really fortunate…a little well-earned praise!

Offer Timely Feedback and Updates

Provide timely updates on candidate status and projected time-frames. Based on your client’s preference hold weekly or bi-weekly status meetings. Provide immediate feedback on candidates when their status changes. Keep everyone involved in the process and in the loop, and always thank them for their time and support.

Build Credibility By Delivering Quality Results

Let’s face it; our clients want the biggest bang for their buck. Who doesn’t? Our objective is to provide top-notch candidates via a world class recruitment process. If we provide anything less, we don’t deserve to the opportunity to work for them. Stay focused on your objectives and don’t just work hard, work smart.

Don’t Promise Things You Can’t Deliver

I’ve seen former bosses, out of eagerness to land the deal, promise a service they couldn’t deliver only to have it drastically backfire when they couldn’t. Promising a service you truly can’t deliver, only to initially impress the client, will only diminish your credibility in the long run. Be honest about what you can deliver and when. You’ll be surprised at how far genuine honestly will get you.

Remember Whose House You’re In

Always remember you’re a guest in your client’s environment. When you’re a guest at someone’s home, you’re mindful of the rules, gracious, and respectful of your hosts. The same applies in your client environment. Be on time, if not early. Don’t rush out the door at 5:00. Show the client you care and are available by staying after hours from time to time. Let them know they can reach you after hours via cell phone (and remember to keep it on). Follow the dress code and dress one step above if you can. Maintain a tidy, proficient workspace. Always uphold yourself to a high degree of professionalism, dignity, and integrity. Even when you don’t agree with your client, always be mindful that you’re in their house and it’s their hard-earned monies that actually pay your mortgage.

Attitude, Attitude, Attitude

I’ve seen some of the best recruiters walked out the door due to bad attitudes. When we walk through the doors of clients’ offices, we leave our personal lives outside and put our game face on. Again, we are here to provide a solution, not be the problem. Stay positive and professional at all times.

In the event you feel you just can’t take it, step outside for a breather. Call your boss for a pep talk. I can’t tell you how beneficial this has been to me. I’ve done this a few times myself with my leadership and advisors. By doing so, I’ve remained professional, kept the integrity of my company, and myself, intact. Then I can get back to work and stay focused, even if I was gritting my teeth underneath a fake smile.

Always take it outside the walls of the client, even if they’ve truly wronged you. Our leadership team is first-rate, fair, and will aide you in whatever way necessary to rectify the situation. A positive attitude will always yield a positive outcome.

Stay Abreast of Industry Trends and Speak Their Language

By staying in tune with industry trends, both from a recruitment perspective and your client’s, you add tremendous value to your process, can provide valuable insight, and establish that you’re truly dialed in. It also provides you the aptitude to speak your client’s language and will garner you more credibility.

At the end of the day, our clients ask themselves one question: How successful were we in growing our business today?

I challenge each of you to ask yourselves that question as well: How successful was I in helping my client grow their businesses today?

When we grow our clients’ business, we in turn grow our own businesses.

When you daily challenge yourself with this question, I guarantee that you’ll be a superstar at building client relationships.

As the economy rebounds, some companies will be focusing on defining their future workforce plans, so share with me what you are doing (or would like to do in 2010) to support them.

I’ll be collecting your ideas and tips for an upcoming article in The Fordyce Letter, so please leave a comment below or send me an email at elaine@fordyceletter.com.