In my previous blog post, I presented four steps for creating your winning value proposition as a recruiting firm.
However, once you’ve established your winning value proposition, how do you make it work for you?
Earn their respect. A typical recruiter in a phone conversation with a hiring authority starts talking about fees before even explaining why they called. Wrong approach.
For too long, our industry has accepted the premise that no one should pick up the phone for less than a 30 percent fee. This is the most ridiculous trend in recruiting today. Good hiring managers and seasoned human resources professionals eat these over-eager recruiters for lunch.
You have to work for their business. Show them why you are worth more. Help them understand what you do and how you do it better than everyone else.
To truly get the most from your value proposition, you must have a real understanding of your clients and your markets. Be an active listener and interviewer. Conduct an in-depth needs analysis of the client and the position. Ask great questions and get detailed answers. Ask why often! Go three questions deep on important subjects.
Give yourself time to prepare a search strategy. After your initial contact, always set up an appointment later that day or the following day. Why a second call?
Because you need to go back and do your homework. Re-examine your information, come up with new questions, and discuss the specific search requirements with your team.
Can you fill this search? Do you have the resources and the time? You want the client to know that solid research is being done. This establishes you as not just another recruiter arguing about fees without any justification as to why.
If the hiring manager requests a service fee quoted off the cuff, say this: “I would love to be able to do that, but I can’t. I need to consult with my team. We will do some research on our side to evaluate the market and the difficulty level of the search. We take into consideration our pipeline of critical jobs to fill and the time commitment filling your position will require. We can then determine how to allocate our resources to give you the best results within your time frame. Only then can I quote you an accurate service fee based on a fair ROI (return on investment). Can we talk at 9 a.m, tomorrow morning, and I will have everything clarified?”
Saying this accomplishes five main things:
- It gives you a chance to turn this job into a search assignment by further qualifying and positioning yourself correctly as a professional.
- It allows you time to do your due diligence.
- It puts you in control, letting you determine the viability of this particular search at this time.
- It lets you decide whether this search is one you want to undertake based on the specific requirements and your available resources.
- Most importantly, it gives the perception that you are best recruiter in this business.
The call back is like the all-important second date. Both of you will be evaluating whether the relationship should continue. Review the job specifications in detail with the client to make sure nothing has changed. Let them know you and your team have conducted considerable research. Then make your proposal.
Explain with confidence the specific steps you will take to fill this search in the agreed amount of time. Talk about your value proposition again. Once you’ve convinced the client of your value and secured their agreement on your search plan, then and only then, you discuss the fee.
Your value proposition is not just for your clients.
Once you take the time to develop and articulate your key differentiations, it can change your career. This isn’t just a generic sales pitch or a script you are reciting. It is your unique story, the successful recruiter or recruiting organization’s touchstone. Believe in your professional worth. Never let a Vice President of Human Resources or a hiring manager bully you into lower fees.
You have shown them the value you bring to the table. Any service fee is based on a favorable return on their investment. If you have someone persistently badgering you to lower your fee, don’t waver.
Say, “We’ve explained our search strategy. Which step shall we skip?” I am so confident in my own value proposition that I will not be swayed, even by a talented negotiator, and neither should you. Remember, it is a fair price based on the service you will deliver.
Recruiting is not for the meek. You have to be sure of yourself and your value. This isn’t empty self-esteem “mumbo jumbo.”
It is confidence built upon hard-earned professional equity. Develop a winning value proposition today to earn higher fees and more retained work tomorrow.
— — —
Jon Bartos, a guest writer for the Top Echelon Recruiter Training Blog, is a premier writer, speaker, and consultant on all aspects of personal performance, human capital, and the analytics behind them. In December of 2012, Bartos joined trustaff Solutions as the president. Founded in 2002, trustaff Solutions has been distinguished nationally five times by Inc. Magazine as one of the fastest-growing, privately-held companies in the country. Click here to visit Bartos’s website.
Leave a Comment..