6 minute read
The neglected art of sales in recruitment
Recruitment, a sales-driven industry, has forgotten the power of selling, and it’s affecting more than just our results.
Whether we realise it or not, we engage in selling every day. This goes beyond products or services; we sell ideas, perspectives, and even ourselves We sell our opinions in debates, our skills in job interviews, and our personalities in social interactions We regularly use our skills of listening, uncovering needs, and presenting solutions to reach an agreement.
I’ve recently observed a general fear taking hold of recruiters – a fear that’s been fuelled by market conditions, average standards, disconnected sales functions, dispersed teams, and limited training and feedback – it’s the fear to actively sell. And as recruitment leaders in an industry that has forever favoured building new relationships, it’s caught us off guard.
To thrive in today's competitive environment, recruiters must embrace that selling is an integral part of the human experience, one they are all capable of with the right support. And in my view, recruitment is THE human experience.
But as recruitment leaders, we may have been inadvertently contributing to the problem.
We invited recruiters new to the profession to only hone their inbound sales skills and enabled experienced recruiters to rely on their account management strengths. We’ve allowed new customer acquisition to move to the bottom of the priority list and limited growth in both scenarios.
I believe the opportunity recruitment leaders have is to strike a balance between two seemingly opposing forces: building a sales culture for immediate results and fostering a customer coaching culture focused on future needs In my view, one enables the other, to nurture relationships and close deals, drive sustainable revenue, and ensure customer satisfaction.
Here’s 4 starting points to unlock a selling and customer coaching culture in your team.
1. Connect Your Teams
Align your 360 recruiters, account managers and sourcing teams goals and responsibilities. Create a pipeline of leads from sourcing teams for recruiters and account managers to qualify and convert to opportunities. Align incentives and rewards to support desired selling and coaching behaviours.
2. Expand Your Metrics
Look beyond revenue and measure conversion rates, customer acquisition, satisfaction, retention and referral rates, and overall portfolio growth. These metrics will guide you in understanding the effectiveness of your sales and coaching methods, helping you to make informed decisions about where your recruiters need the most support.
3. Evolve Your Management Style
Prioritize how a recruiter engages with and coaches the customer alongside sales outcomes achieved. Recognise your team’s progress and nurture a culture of psychological safety whereby errors are learning opportunities, and development and support are prioritised responses.
4. Invest in Training
Empower your team with a discovery mindset. Develop recruiters capable of adapting to customers' needs to deliver personalized solutions. Equip them with the skills for outbound selling, effective questioning, value alignment, insight selling and commercial negotiation, to bring the customer coaching culture to life.
The recruitment industry must reclaim the power of selling and the art of customer coaching to foster growth and success. If we can find the right balance, and equip our teams with the mindset, skills and habits they need to adapt, we can achieve remarkable results and support this transforming industry.
One Recruiter is a new APSCo Affiliate Partner and this year's APSCo Awards for Excellence L&D Program sponsor.
To find out more about One Recruiter's bespoke program offering, visit https://www.onerecruiter.one/
