Category: Limitless Learning Newsletter

Welcome back to part two of our three-part series on how to become a world-class 360 recruiter.

In our last edition we spoke all about the technical elements that you need to master, here’s a quick recap if you missed it:

• Work on your business development
• Make your introduction short, sharp and personal
• Create a “hook” in the conversation
• Look at your time management and prioritisation
• Have a plan when mapping your market
• And finally, make sure that you’re building your online brand (using LinkedIn).

This week, we are focussed all on mindset.

Long-term subscribers of this newsletter will know how much we love to talk about mindset, and how it plays such a huge part in your success as a recruiter.

Let’s start off with how you approach 360 recruitment internally 

Too often when we think of 360 recruitment, we think about how you approach it from an external perspective.

How you build lists, how you present yourself to prospective clients and how you win those first few roles. 

However, if you only shift your mindset towards BD externally, you’re missing out on a ton of opportunity and low-hanging fruit internally.

Internal stakeholder management is crucial for your business development for three key reasons:

It shows that you’re thinking about the business. 

Internal stakeholders have a lot of say in how the business progresses and performs, and interacting with stakeholders and talking to them about business development shows that you’re looking through a team lens rather than a personal lens. 

Although business development is personal, and ultimately, you’re doing it to impact you, you want to be clever about how you approach business development and also ensure that it’s a win for the business not just a win for you.

It enables you to showcase your strategic thinking. 

Not every single account will enable you to win the best terms. 

So, if you need a senior stakeholder to sign off your terms – then you need to start thinking like a stakeholder and showcase your strategic thinking. 

If you’ve already started to build good relationships with them, you can then begin to build valuable business case studies which will enable you to win more business as a by-product. 

It creates a strong internal brand for you. 

Don’t be that recruiter that just sits behind their desk and isn’t involved with senior leaders in the business (who can help you to get a foot in the door for those first few clients). 

Ask questions, show interest, and build an internal brand for you whereby people know your passion for business development. 

Cross-selling

Most recruitment companies nowadays have rigorous commission structures that encourage cross-selling, and it can be an excellent way to boost your business development and get your foot in the door with clients.

Even if you aren’t placing someone for your vertical just yet.

Cross-selling also feeds into the earlier point about stakeholder management and having a strong internal brand. 

If people see you as someone who is a team player (who would have thought it in recruitment!) then they’re going to want to work with you, they’re going to trust you, and they’re also going to want to see you win. 

This opens up more opportunities for business but also more opportunities for meetings. Business development shouldn’t be seen as a “lone wolf” activity. 

Instead, it should be seen as a team effort to ensure that multiple people in the business can benefit. 

No one can manage a huge account on their own – so start cross-selling and creating great internal relationships where you support each other. 

Now, let’s look at the external mindset shift you need to adopt…

Aside from the obvious – which is that your clients are candidates and your candidates are clients, there is one singular mindset shift that you can make, which will enable the transition from 180 to 360 to become much easier over time. 

It’s what we call being a consultant.

Although the bottom line is that you’re a recruiter – this definition can bring limitations for those trying to break free from a 180 mindset.

A 180 mindset is excellent for those who are in resourcing roles – as by and large – you are a recruiter! 

You’re searching for individuals for roles.

However, becoming a 360 recruiter sometimes makes us see it as two separate things.

BD and candidate sourcing, when the reality is that you are, in essence, a business consultant. 

You solve problems for both parties and you must create a connection between the two to have success. 

If you see business development and candidate sourcing as two separate activities and entities, then it can be difficult for you to kick-start your desk and also become a trusted advisor to clients.

Zooming out and seeing the bigger picture is what a true consultant can do – so try to shift your mindset and think of yourself as a consultative problem solver rather than a 360 recruiter. 

For example, let’s say the client is struggling to find two specialist engineers.

A 360 Recruiter would say “OK” and go to market, find those two candidates and fill the role.

There’s nothing wrong with this, but it’s transactional, and it’s not consultative or really solving the problem.

A Consultant would say “OK” and go to market, find the two candidates and fill the role. 

But, they would also dive deep into why that client found it so hard to find that talent and they may even ask what other areas of the business are struggling and why.

A consultant would go into the office to get a feel for the culture and organisational structure, as well as meet with more than just the hiring manager to embed themselves within the organisation and make a difference.

A consultant would also provide resources and advice as a follow-up to ensure that the client would want to use them again in the future.

The mindset of a 360 consultant is abundance. 

There is an abundance of opportunities out there to win – but there’s also an abundance of opportunity with one client, which is why you should nurture and dive deep into every relationship you have to guarantee the most success.

This edition is for all the 180 recruiters out there who are transitioning into a 360 role – we’ve got you covered. The thought of moving from 180 to 360 can feel pretty daunting – and in the first instances, it always is. We always seem to create a huge gap between what it means to be a 180 or a 360 recruiter, when in reality it’s the same thing: your clients are your candidates and your candidates are your clients. The chances are, you’re incredible at candidate management – that’s why you’re a 180 recruiter. The technical skills that you’ve acquired to be able to source rare talent are invaluable as a 360 recruiter.  In fact, it’s probably arguable that you’ll be a better 360 recruiter because you’ve had the opportunity to really pour time and energy into being a stellar 180 recruiter first. We’re going to break down the technical things you need to “get good” at to become a world-class 360 recruiter.  The obvious one… business development This goes without saying, but we needed to give it an honourable mention anyway. Business development is what makes a 360 recruiter, well, a 360 recruiter. Technically, being great at BD takes a lot of time, but here are a couple of tips from us to make your BD calls stand out. Make that introduction short, sharp, and personable Elevator pitch. No longer than 20 seconds – who you are, what you do, why you want to talk to them and then finish with a question to engage them in conversation. Don’t even think of them as a client – think of them as a candidate if that gives you less anxiety! Create a hook in the conversation Just like you would entice a candidate for a job role, what is the hook for the client to continue talking to you? Research their company, drop a competitor’s name in the conversation to grab their attention. Don’t go into a BD call without any prior knowledge – you wouldn’t try to screen a candidate without a CV. Time management & prioritisation A big thing that I’ve heard 360 recruiters struggle with is time management and prioritisation, and essentially, your time is going to be cut in half now that you’ve moved from 180 to 360.  Time management is a technical skill, and it can be your superpower as a recruiter if you can master it.  This doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to be militant with every hour of your time, but prioritise your clients like you’d prioritise your candidates – what is going to give you the best return? Who is reliable? Who isn’t? You need to use the same techniques you’d use to prioritise candidates just like you would for clients. We’ve spoken in the past about creating ways to section your clients into “A”, “B”, and “C” clients. Having a plan and market mapping Just like you’d map a candidate/talent pool, you can do the exact same for your business development. A great way of thinking about this is looking at places where you’ve placed current candidates of yours and utilising these connections first – who can they put you in contact with? What companies do they typically tend to hire from? You can then start to build out a very targeted BD list: the more niche the better. Think of the top 20 companies that you know hire talent (or places that you have placed candidates before) and use that as your starting point. Map out the C-Suite, key hiring managers, and talent acquisition and use that as your baseline.  With BD people tend to overcomplicate it – you don’t need 200 companies; otherwise you’ll never feel like you’re making any process. Start with 20 and then build out your list from there.  Create a stellar follow-up strategy that you can commit to for those 20 companies and set yourself a time limit and some goals that you want to hit – you’ll be surprised at the success you can see and the relationships you’ll start to build! It’s not going to happen overnight. Focus on creating quality conversation and laying down the foundations. TIP: It sounds old-school, but create a visual way (even a spreadsheet) that enables you to track your progress. Although you should be using your CRM/database, you want to make BD a fun and engaging activity where you can see your successes. You know what I’m going to say – personal branding! It’s time to start putting some more time into your LinkedIn and growing your network. Not just posting about jobs, but posting market insight that your audience is going to care about.  Whether it’s joining LinkedIn groups, attending online events, writing your own content or simply just being more active, you need to ensure that you are investing time into your online brand as a recruiter so you can start building a solid client and candidate network.

Your actionable takeaways ✅ Here are your actionable steps to implement & apply what we have shared with you today. 1. Shorten your introduction to 20 seconds or less and make it personal. 2. Create a hook in the conversation to grab the client’s attention. 3. Prioritize clients like you would prioritize candidates by using techniques such as sectioning clients into “A”, “B”, and “C” categories. 4. Map out a targeted list of companies for business development by utilizing connections from current candidates and focusing on the most niche companies. 5. Create a follow-up strategy with goals and track your progress. 6. Invest time into your online brand as a recruiter by creating market insight posts, attending online events, and being active on LinkedIn.

Salary surveys aren’t a “new” thing in our industry – but they have been done to death, and in some instances – not very well. The reality is that nearly every recruitment company sends out salary surveys, and a lot of the time, although they can be helpful. You need to think about what more you can do in the current market to keep your clients and candidates engaged. Industry reports are a level up from salary surveys. They talk to your community more than the masses – and can enable you to provide a comprehensive breakdown to your clients and candidates beyond sending them a spreadsheet of numbers and salaries. They can be a great tool for client meetings and even as part of a business development call. I’ve split it into five key sections (and one bonus section) to give you the basics to start building the ultimate industry report! Salary and bonuses The baseline of your industry should include salary and bonuses (or day rates if you’re a contract recruiter). The idea of putting together an industry report is that its super niche, so if you only recruit .Net developers in the BeNeLux region – make sure that your salary and bonuses section accurately reflects this. The more data you correct (and the more specialised it is), the better your results will be. The more granular you can be, the better – even down to the location and company size. This will enable your clients and candidates to draw parallels and, in turn, be able to find the data they’re looking for much quicker. TIP: Remember, presentation is everything Not every candidate and client is going to be great at navigating data, so break it up and make it look good. If you aren’t a designer – work with a graphic designer or your marketing team to make it as palatable as possible. Don’t let this be the reason why you don’t take action; you can easily get the resource you need from easy-to-use websites like Upwork & Fiverr – I have used them tons of times) Culture and people This can cover everything from company culture, benefits, succession planning, diversity and inclusion, environment and sustainability, initiatives etc. Think about this section appealing to your C-Suite, your heads of Talent and the Internal Recruiters you’re trying to partner with. We need to stop seeing Talent and HR as the enemy and instead see how much smoother your partnership will be if you’re able to provide them with value. What have you heard in the market? What do people want? What cultures are thriving right now? Share that knowledge. TIP: Get TA and HR involved. Why not get direct quotes and involvement from the TA and HR leaders you want to partner with? Not only is their insight going to be valuable for peers in the industry. It’s a different way to build a relationship with them beyond your ‘typical” business development techniques. I know that getting “in” with TA takes time – so look at this industry report as a way to create a community and give back to your market. Hiring ratios and statistics (great for clients) This is when you can subtly sell yourself as well as the wider organisation. What are your current hiring ratios within the team? What issues are you seeing, and what solutions are you proposing? What typical solutions are clients going for, and what has the outcome been? This is a huge educational piece for clients. If they can see that the majority are now hiring contractors, then it may encourage them to rethink contract resources. Equally, if they can see the interview-to-placement ratio across retainer or retainer-lite projects, it gives them something tangible to work towards. New technology and systems and what this means This section will be very dependent on your industry and whether tech and systems vastly impact how you recruit. For example, let’s say you operate within the developer space – is there a new coding language that is in demand? Are there new systems that are attracting candidates to one business over another? This enables you to become a true consultant. You’re looking beyond the candidate>placement routine you’re used to, and instead, you’re becoming a voice for your market and a voice for your community. TIP: Gather qualitative data for this as well as numerical data. Qualitative – long form. Tangible answers. Do your research, and if there’s a lot of numerical data leaning toward something. What can you find online to back this up? Can any of your survey participants offer quotes? Can you talk about the pros and cons? Current affairs – how this affects your market and predictions There will be larger current affairs (such as the war in Ukraine) that will affect all markets and industries. However, there will be micro-current affairs within your market that will affect hiring as well as a number of other things. For example, mass lay-offs from a specific organisation. How did that affect things? Or, if you recruit within a specific geography or location, what local changes can affect your market? Again, you want to be as consultative as possible and offer solutions. What have you seen, and what are your predictions? M&A’s, companies going public, mass lay-offs, and big organisational changes are just some of the things that could fall into this category. You don’t want this section to become an echo chamber of what is already online. Instead, you want to see this section as an opportunity for you to look at it through a recruitment lens and offer actionable insights directly to your clients and candidates. BONUS SECTION: Direct quotes from your community Being an expert in your market is only achievable if you have an inch-wide, mile-deep mentality and a strong network of individuals. Sure, you’ll have certain things you can’t disclose, and you won’t want to pit people against each other and work for competitors, but instead, you need to see yourself as a neutral party. As a recruitment consultant, you need to show off your network and the insight that it provides you to incentivise clients and candidates to work with you. What direct quotes can you pepper throughout the industry report? The more senior, the better. This gives them exposure to hiring for their own businesses but also enables you to showcase the relationships and unique insights that you’ve been able to gather for those in your market. Still, need some inspiration? It can feel like a bit of a mountain to climb if you’ve never made an industry report before. But think of it as a mini version of reports that are produced by the Big 4 or even the huge recruitment companies (such as Korn Ferry) who produce comprehensive annual reports that cover even more. The goal isn’t to be the next Korn Ferry or EY. But instead, create a community for your clients and candidates and a smaller, digestible version that people are going to read. It doesn’t need to be war and peace, and it doesn’t need to be 25+ pages long. It just needs to have clear, concise information that people know they can’t get elsewhere – meaning that you create a demand, and people will come to you! You can find two great examples that I recently found myself enjoying here & here.

Your actionable takeaways ✅ Here are your actionable steps to implement & apply what we have shared with you today. 1. Skip the salary survey and create an industry report instead. It provides a comprehensive breakdown of your niche market and talks directly to your community. 2. Make sure your report is visually appealing and easy to digest. 3. Cover everything from company culture to sustainability initiatives. Provide value to C-Suite, heads of Talent, and internal recruiters you want to partner with. 4. Include hiring ratios and statistics to sell yourself and your organization. 5. Consider the impact of new technology and systems on your industry. Become a true consultant and look beyond the candidate-placement routine. 6. Cover current affairs and provide actionable insights. 7. Gather direct quotes from TA and HR leaders you want to partner with. Showcase the relationships and unique insights you have gathered from those in your market.

I’m sorry to call you out like that…but are you?

If you’re sitting there struggling to come up with an answer, don’t worry – we’ve got you covered in this edition.

Sure, if you actually boil down what your job is, it’s to fill jobs, which I’m sure you do really well.

But let’s be honest – the market is tough right now, the recruitment industry is changing, and clients want more, and rightfully so.

From a client’s perspective, if they’re paying an external partner, they want to ensure that they’re getting their money’s worth and, equally, that they have a good relationship with that recruiter/agency.

Especially HR and TA (which I know can be your biggest blocker) appreciate a holistic service and working with someone who can offer more than putting bums on seats.

Let’s get into what you can do beyond filling jobs to make a difference.

Networking calls and giving advice

Particularly in startups and SMEs, it’s likely that you’ll be working with a senior leadership team who may need advice with succession planning.

Whether this is a strategy or lining up candidates to fulfil the said strategy. 

Interview processes

Although you should be doing this anyway, look to advise clients on their interview processes continuously.

Not only will this enable you to have more control over the process if they choose to partner with you, but you will be able to give them insight that will be invaluable in the long term. 

Competitors landscape

What are their competitors doing, and how should they respond to it?

This could be recruitment-based but also what tech they’re using, offices openings and offering benefits.

Introductions to people who can help

The trick is not expecting anything back as a by-product of this.

Who do you know that can solve your client’s problem (even if they aren’t your client). 

It pays nothing to be nice, but it will pay in the future when the client remembers what you’ve done for them.

Doing things just because you want to help (contrary to popular old-school recruitment belief) goes a much longer way than you think.

Industries are small, and everybody knows everybody – get a good reputation by simply being helpful and connecting with people.

It’ll pay off in the long term. 

Industry Reports & Insights

Salary surveys on steroids

Salary surveys are a great way to engage with both clients and candidates.

But they’re relatively standard and the “done” thing nowadays.

Focus on what else you can include in your salary surveys, such as the following: 

Employee Benefits

A comprehensive list of employee benefits (not just a graph showing who has what) as well as qualitative data and quotes to back up what is trending and what is adding the most value. 

Popular skill sets required

What skill sets are in demand? Or, what emerging skill sets (or hybrid skill sets) do you think are needed?

If this can be backed up with data, it can be a valuable business development tool as well as informing candidates of what else they need to be upskilled on 

Companies that are hiring

Don’t forget about your candidates.

Create a mailing list of your core network and reach out to candidates directly and consistently to keep them in the loop with what is going on.

There is also a considerable amount of value in creating hiring reports that can be shared with clients and candidates.

I saw this & thought of you emails.

Inspired by our good friend & mentor at Recruitment Mentors – Mark Long.

We love this tip.

Have you read or seen something and thought of a client?

Instead of keeping that thought to yourself, why don’t you share it with them?

Whether it’s an interesting article or some knowledge you’ve acquired that you know they’ll benefit from, there’s tremendous value in sharing this.

Even if you don’t get anything back.

Do this once or twice a month, and it automatically gives you a talking point the next time you decide to call them up!

Here is what it might look like in practice …

It’s SCARY how quickly this year is already going by – so let’s make it count.

As Q2 is fast approaching, you’re probably feeling pretty reflective on how Q1 has gone: from your performance all the way down to your mindset and how you’re approaching your desk.

It’s no secret that the market has been different in the past 6 months – and it has created a new set of challenges for recruiters who need to adapt to the demands.

We wanted to unpack (and give you some practical insight) on how you can reallly make your Q2 count.

Business Development

Business Development is one of, if not the most important skills that you need to develop and consistently improve on as a recruiter.

Let’s get into some key areas to consider:

Valuing your worth

When business development is at its toughest – like what we’re currently experiencing in the market – it can be easy to go for “quick wins” to look busy or broaden the market that you currently recruit for to make placements.

We’ve all done it, and sometimes it can be successful – but are you valuing what you’re truly worth? 

It’s crucial to stay hyper-focused on the market you recruit for, but equally, ensure that you are prioritising high-quality rates and winning “A” jobs. 

Some tips you can use:

• Have a rate that you are comfortable walking away from

• Don’t work competitive jobs
• Go for high-ticket (retained, exclusive, high volume) roles

Leverage your track record – it’s time to start marketing yourself

Whether you’ve been in the industry for 6 months or 6 years – you’re going to have some sort of track record that you can draw upon and use to your advantage in business development.

But, when was the last time that you did this on a business development call?

Do you have any marketing collateral or a one or two-page spread that you can send to your clients or candidates so they have more information on who you actually are?

Creating a one or two-page document that demonstrates your track record.

Encompassing testimonials and case studies, can be a great way to present yourself to candidates and clients.

It ultimately gives you the confidence going into a business development call that you have the right roles to make the call or meeting as successful as possible.

Here is a recent example on what this might look like that was taken from a live learning session at Recruitment Mentors with Arjun Gillard – Download Testimonial Graphic Example.

Client meetings

We’ve spoken about the importance of client meetings time and time again here at Limitless Learning – and this edition will be no different.

Client meetings should be your bread and butter for business development. 

There is nothing better than being face-to-face with your clients, being in their offices and getting under the hood of their business and team structure.

Even if your client meeting doesn’t always result in picking up roles, it’s still a networking opportunity and an opportunity to start building the foundations of a great professional partnership.

Top tip: Utilise your case studies and testimonials to book more client meetings, use your track record and results to give the other person more confidence that you could help them now OR in the future.

Mindset

“Those who believe they can and believe they can’t are probably both right.”

This quote resonates with me & I read it daily.

Mindset is everything in recruitment – from how you converse with yourself (in your own head) through to the content that you consume and take inspiration from and influences your mindset.

When times are tough in recruitment, this can be hard to cultivate.

The highs are high, but we all know that the lows are LOW in our industry.

Another quote that I keep top of mind especially when it comes to managing imposter syndrome & self doubt – ‘Every great man is an actor of his own ideal’

Try and detach from the outcome

This is particularly difficult to do.

But we’ve all been that recruiter who has spent the commission in their head before they’ve even made a placement. 

Or the recruiter who has been so hyper-focused on a client or a candidate that they’ve developed tunnel vision. It happens.

The reality is, the better you become at detaching from the outcome the more abundance you can have when it comes to creating more opportunity.

Having a growth mindset, not being phased whether things do or don’t go your way, and always trying your best is the ‘holy trinity’ of cultivating a healthy relationship with this line of work.

Another quote to bare inmind to drill this home (Sorry full of quotes this edition)

Make ‘doing the thing’ the goal, not “what you get” from doing the thing

Only focus on what you can control

Contrary to what “old school” recruitment preaches.

There are things that you can’t control, and relinquishing that control enables you to have a healthier mindset on the recruitment lifecycle overall.

For example, as much as you can influence and have control over the candidate process- you’re still dealing with humans at the end of the day, and humans can be unreliable.

We can change our minds, lie, tell you what you want to hear and ultimately, let you down. 

What you can control is your ability to qualify, your intuition and ensuring that you leave no stone unturned – but even then, there will still be things out of your control.

Focussing on what you can control enables you to not just be a better recruiter, but enables you to also rationalise things as and when they happen.

The quicker you build this mindset the more successful you will become in my eyes.

What has massively helped me cultivate this mindset is Stoiscm, specifically Ryan Holidays work.

I would highly recommend reading ‘The Obstacle Is The Way’ if you want to delve more into this.

Here is another quote taken from the book.

‘Focus on the things you can control, let go of everything else and turn every new obstacle into an opportunity to get better, stronger, and tougher.’

Candidate management

You’re probably in a position where you’re reviewing how your candidate management has been the past quarter – and equally how your clients’ processes have been.

Don’t let poor processes and poor candidate management (from either side) get in the way of your interview-to-placement ratios.

Commit to world-class basics

To effectively manage candidates, you need to ensure that you’ve got your basics completely nailed down: qualification, feedback, process management and offer negotiation!

We love this saying & it is taken from The High Performance Podcast.

Highly recommend giving it a listen if you haven’t before, they speak about the power of having world class basics a lot & we love this perspective.

Consult your clients

If a process isn’t working, don’t sit on your laurels and hope that it gets better.

If there are things that have bothered you – or your candidates – don’t let this bad practice bleed into Q2.

Consult your clients and let them know how they can improve their process.

This helps you but it also helps them to achieve their strategic talent goals.

Understand drivers and intrinsic “why’s”

Aside from the technical capabilities that you’re testing candidates for, make sure that you’re really diving into people’s drivers and their “why’s” for leaving their current organisation. 

Especially in a market like this, where less candidates are moving, and clients are hiring less (again, largely dependent on your industry)

Testing commitment and drivers is more important now than ever before.

In our last edition, we spoke all about the pieces you need to build a business development engagement strategy.

So, how can you elevate each part and get better at it each day?

We’ve broken it down and given you two tips for each part of the strategy so you can consistently improve. 

Short term:

Calls

Tip #1

Set yourself a daily goal of how many business development calls you’d like to make – think of these as connected calls to a hiring manager where you discuss potential partnerships.

They don’t have to result in winning a role, but it’s instead being one step closer to building that relationship in the business development process.

Make doing the thing, the thing.

Focusing on the process and detaching from the outcome will enable you to win.

A quote we love from a guy call Alex Hormozi to remind you of this is, ‘Reminder to make “doing the thing” the goal, not “what you get” from doing the thing.’

Tip #2

Define what constitutes a “good” business development call.

This can be difficult to do as we are often taught that a successful business development call must result in winning a role (We’re not a fan of this)

But there can be different types of business development calls that can be equally as successful.

You need to define what that looks like for you so you can measure your performance and ensure that you’re keeping yourself accountable to your BD goals.

For example, you could agree that a good business development call results in a follow-up.

This could be a secondary call, a meeting, or an introduction to someone else within the business who is hiring.

Top Tip: Pre-plan your call sessions, so your blocked-out time for calling is only spent on calling. Go into this time equipped with talking tracks, scripts & credible questions.

Network building

Tip #1

Attend one event a month. It could be an event you host yourself, a networking lunch or something related to your vertical. The amount that you’ll learn and the amount of market insight and understanding you’ll develop will enable you to be even better at business development.

Tip #2

Set a goal of how many new introductions you’d like to make.

Whether this is through current clients and candidates or through market mapping and learning the ins and outs of an organisation, introductions and building new connections are always easier when you have a mutual individual in your network to facilitate this. 

You should also utilise your colleagues and their network so you can cross-sell – this way, everybody benefits.

Top Tip: If you want to accelerate your networking-building skills, aim to connect at least 1-3 people in your network with other people in your network who you think could benefit from the connection.

Be remembered as the recruiter who made an amazing industry connection that they may have never made on their own.

Discovery meetings

Tip #1

Define what constitutes a “good” discovery meeting.

Ultimately, discovery meetings aren’t always going to result in roles – if they do, that’s great, but the whole point is that a discovery meeting is still fairly early on in the business development process. 

Instead, focus on what your core goals are at the current stage you’re at in your recruitment career.

It could be that you want introductions to more hiring managers – so make that a key metric for your discovery meetings.

Or, it could be that you want to learn if they have a specific challenge that you know one of their competitors have had which you helped them solve so you can sell a specific solution in line with their problems, for example, retainers or exclusive partnerships.

Tip #2

Always end with an action.

It can be easy to book a ton of discovery meetings and feel productive, especially if you’ve hit the goal in your head of what constitutes a good discovery meeting.

But, you must ensure that each meeting ends with an action.

What is the follow-up? Who is going to do it?

Try and ensure that you have an action but the client/candidate also does to test commitment and accountability.

Top Tip:  Again at this stage, make planning your best friend.

Work out what your power questions are & make sure you go into every single one of these conversations armed with your power questions.

The ultimate goal?

Have the potential client say ‘I have never been asked this question before or what a great question’ (Taken from Amber Penrose’s podcast)

Showcase your credibility with your questioning.

Medium Term

Personal branding

Tip #1

Start small but stay consistent.

For those who have been subscribed to Limitless Learning for a while will know the journey that I’ve been on with personal branding.

My biggest piece of advice to make this successful as part of your BD strategy is to start small but stay consistent.

If you can only post twice a month to begin with – that’s fine. But, stick to it.

Tip #2

Recycle your content.

No one is expecting you to be a TED talk pro and create endless videos, impressive monologues and push out visual content 2-3 times a week.

Recycle your content – and lean on what othres in the market are talkin about or what is on the news as inspiration. 

Even if you’re sharing an article you read on your commute in to work, it’s better than sharing nothing (remember, consistency is key). 

Work smarter not harder with your personal branding techniques.

Top Tip: If you want to utilise content in your strategy, then we love the – I Saw This & Thought Of You Approach.

Taken from our recent live session with Mark Long.

When you see content that you think could be useful & valuable for someone you are trying to build a relationship with.

Use the simple I Saw This & Thought Of You approach with your outreach – it works a treat & will enable you to stand out.

Land and expand

Tip #1

Get others involved.

The whole concept of “land and expand” isn’t just to benefit you and your desk, it’s to benefit the whole business. 

Two brains are better than one – so start your land and expand strategy with another consultant in another vertical who you know will be able to deliver and impress your client. 

That way, you can tackle meetings and communications together, and really start to bring your land and expand strategy to life. 

Tip #2

Ask for client feedback (so you can expand in a way that suits your client)

Expanding your relationship with a client relies heavily on feedback, dont just assume you know what the clients’ needs are.

Explain to them your intentions – that you want to grow the partnership. 

How is this possible? What have you done well so far? What more can you do to ensure that you can expand in the future?

Long Term

Holistic service

Tip #1 

My biggest tip for offering a holistic service for your clients and candidates is making it personal to what their needs are.

And, the only way you’re going to be able to do this is by asking them.

Don’t just follow what is trending in the recruitment world – sit down with your key target market and find out how you can offer them a better service.

Whether it’s salary surveys or regular coffee catch-ups, or even looking at how you bill and partner with clients.

Tip #2

Define what your USP is.

Everybody is offering a holistic approach to recruitment – but what makes you stand out from the crowd? What are you specifically doing differently, and how is it going to benefit your clients and candidates?