You’ve got face time with me – don’t waste it
It happened again this morning.
A Teams call booked via an app with a supplier who got lucky. His unsolicited automated outreach campaign happened to land in my inbox the day after I had identified a need for his product on behalf of my client (a recruitment business).
The guy arrived a little late. He then cheerfully told me that he would tell me all about his product, and then (lucky me!) I could ask questions. Then he told me that I was “probably having issues finding quality candidates”.
When I asked him what research he had done into me, he seemed surprised. His system was set up so that “pre-qualified” appointments arrived at 30-minute intervals. He never researched in advance.
Here’s my take. I am – ahem – reasonably well-known in the world of recruitment. I’m in a position to refer a lot of business. I only do so to suppliers who treat my clients as individuals and give them value for money.
A 1-minute scan of LinkedIn, or my website, would have told him all this. The courtesy of preparing properly is the least I expect if you want to sell me something and you are asking for face-time with me.
But…
I know that recruiters are guilty of the same thing.
I know a recruiter who had secured a first meeting with the Managing Director of a growing engineering business (actually, he was standing in for his manager). It should have been a golden opportunity. The MD had growth plans and several frustrations with previous agencies. But the recruiter arrived with a slide deck and spent the first twenty minutes talking almost entirely about his own firm: their expansion plans, their new office, their revenue targets, their sector strategy and their ambition to become “the leading recruitment partner in the region.”
Eventually, the MD leaned back, smiled politely and said, “This is fascinating. I feel I should invoice you for the business coaching session.” Then, pointing towards the factory floor, he added, “When you’ve finished recruiting for yourself, perhaps we could talk about what I actually need.”
It was funny, but it made the point. The recruiter had mistaken a client meeting for an internal sales presentation. Instead of making the prospect feel understood, he made them feel like an audience.
That is where many recruitment conversations go wrong. The value of a site visit can be lost if the recruiter uses the meeting primarily as a sales pitch about themselves. Many recruiters talk too much about their own business: their database, their awards, their process, their success rates, their history, their sector expertise. Some of that may be relevant eventually, but it is rarely what a prospective client wants to hear first.
It’s a misguided attempt to differentiate oneself. Most buyers of recruitment services are not initially interested in the recruiter’s business. They are interested in their own problem. They want to know whether you understand their vacancy, their pressures, their customers, their growth plans, their frustrations and the risk of making the wrong hire. If the conversation becomes too much about the agency, the client can quickly feel that they are being sold to rather than listened to.
The best recruiters reverse the emphasis. They use meetings to learn, observe and ask thoughtful questions. They talk about the client’s world before they talk about their own service. When they do explain their approach, they connect it directly to what they have learned: “Because your team is under pressure and the role needs someone resilient, we would assess candidates differently.” That is far more powerful than a generic pitch. Or “As your main driver here is to minimise wastage, I think we need to look for exposure to Quality Control”.
Has the ability to send outreach to the widest possible audience made us forget that listening matters?
Your best differentiator is the one that matters to your prospect. The rest can follow in an info pack.
If your team aren’t getting the results you would like, this is one aspect of the tactical AND strategic approach to BD that Alison takes. With expertise across process, reward, HR, systems and sales, her advice is hands-on, practical and focused on ROI.
With nearly four decades in recruitment, Alison Humphries is a trusted advisor to recruitment agencies looking to grow and maximise value. An Oxford graduate and REC Honorary Fellow, she combines deep expertise with a practical, people-first approach.
Through Recruitment Leadership Ltd, Alison has helped hundreds of agencies improve performance, expand and prepare for sale. She is also a speaker, podcast host and co-founder of Women in Recruitment Leadership. Get in touch with Alison to tap into her expertise today.
