How to get a corporate recruiter to take your call seriously

Last week Emma from Sky mentioned on Twitter (you can read about why you should be using Twitter here) that she’d had 32 sales calls in one day (mostly from recruitment agencies). 

I think that makes her something of an expert in the field of cold calling.  So I asked her what makes her actually sit up and listen to a sales call.

• Positioning – Don’t pitch for the short term perspective (“I have great candidate you HAVE to see”, “How do I get on the PSL?”, “Do you have any vacancies”).Instead think (and talk) long term.  For example she had a call recently from a recruiter with some interesting insights around how Sky is seen in the marketplace (she had gathered this information from candidate’s she’d be interviewing for other roles).  Perhaps tell them something about their biggest competitor (without breaking any professional confidences!). Add value from the beginning.

Understand my Business – Even a company like Sky gets people calling up who don’t understand what the company actually does.  If you are tasked with calling corporates from a list make sure who know for each one what the industry is and what products/services the company offers.  Make sure you know the basics (Emma once had a cold call when she was at Unilever in which she the recruiter to send her some details by email.  The guy lost his credibility when he asked her how to spell Unilever!). Research, Research, Research (but don’t be put off asking “intelligent” questions)!

Differentiation – Ensure you can verbalise what makes you stand out from all the other calls your potential client is taking.  You may be able to differentiate yourself through the positioning of the call and your understanding of the business.  However, if your service is exactly the same as everyone else’s (and in most cases it’ll be pretty similar) use yourself as the differentiator.  I know it’s cheesy but “people buy from people”.  Show that you actually understand the role you are trying to pitch for a chance to fill, talk with authority about the industry, share details of the success you’ve had with similar roles in similar organisations.  Build rapport!

The deliverer making the call – For Emma getting a call from a business development person isn’t ever as successful.  She wants to speak to the person delivering on the account.  You either do it this way in your organisation or you don’t (if you don’t I’d avoid calling Emma at Sky if I were you!).

Use a recommendation - This isn’t about going around HR.  It’s about asking someone you know within an organisation to suggest to HR (in advance of you calling) that it’s worth speaking with you. 

Follow the rules – This probably goes against much “sales” advice about not giving up and finding a route in.  However, for some companies if you are told you must deal with HR and that you need to be on the PSL, trying to work around this will end up with you being blacklisted.  In some companies if HR knock you back you CAN get in with line.  I’m not sure how you know when to try this approach and when not.  However, Emma suggests you don’t try this with Sky.

So, how many of the 32 calls that Emma took that Friday hit these criteria….. none.